How Much Water Do You Need To Drink If You're In Your 30s?
Wallet, keys, water bottle? The importance of hydration is much more prevalent today than in past decades. Many have a water bottle on hand just about everywhere they go. It's on most school supplies lists these days, and we've all likely seen drinking fountains equipped with a bottle-filling spout. Hydration, after all, is a pillar of health, and we've all heard that our bodies are 60% water (via MedicalNewsToday).
Not drinking enough water can cause fatigue, muscle aches, and exhaustion (via Healthline). Drinking enough water, however, isn't all we need to do to stay hydrated — we also need to avoid dehydrating beverages. Coffee, soda, and alcohol can all lower hydration levels.
"Most people have never experienced the severe symptoms associated with dehydration and, if dehydrated, are usually mildly so and able to compensate without much effort," Dr. Rand McClain, founder of Regenerative & Sports Medicine, told Healthline.
"We have air-conditioned environments, water fountains, and fluids so easily accessed in most places. However, many people do indeed live in a mildly dehydrated state because of the diuretic beverages they consume, such as coffee, tea, and caffeinated soft drinks and alcohol."
As we age, we need to increase our water intake. With each lap around the sun, be sure to fill that bottle up even more frequently than before.
How much water to drink once you hit 30
You may begin to see a few gray hairs in the mirror once you reach 30, and leaving the house after 9 p.m. might become a rarity. Additionally, you'll need to drink more water — but this doesn't mean water mixed with other ingredients. Our water composition can drop to as low as 50% as we get older, according to Dr. McClain (per Healthline). Men in their thirties should be drinking around 13 cups of water daily and women should be getting 9 cups to stay hydrated (via Healthline).
There also happens to be an easy equation you can use to figure out just how much water you should be drinking — divide your body weight in half and your answer is how many ounces of water you should drink daily. If you weigh 150 pounds, for example, you should be drinking about 75 ounces of water per day. However, this doesn't account for exercise and high activity levels (via U.S. News and World Report). Be sure to drink even more water on gym day, but don't overdo it.
Be careful, you can drink too much water
Even with all this talk about drinking enough water every day, we need to remember that balance is just about always the answer to everything. As it turns out, you can drink too much water. According to U.S. News and World Report, an abundance of water in the system can create too much of a discrepancy in the water-to-electrolyte ratio. When these levels aren't evened out with enough electrolytes, it can be bad (even lethal) news.
This is where sports drinks can come in. These beverages can be great for hydration, so long as they don't contain artificial flavors and dyes. One even simpler option is to just add half a teaspoon of sea salt to a glass of water for similar benefits (per U.S. News and World Report).
If you're in your 30s, fill that water bottle multiple times per day. If you're an active thirty-something, don't forget to reach for the electrolytes.