How much water should you drink?

You’ve probably had people try and sprinkle some water knowledge on you before. Things like ‘You need eight glasses of water a day’. Maybe they advised you to summon up the Math Wizard within you and calculate your necessary water intake per day. Both of those, have a basis in truth but are not entirely correct. Which makes sense right? Each person is different — the thing that makes you isn’t just your physique. It’s your way of life — your level of activity or sleep, and hey, it’s also your location. The climate in your area. The time of year. There are all these aspects that will determine the perfect amount of water for YOU. Not Jane or John Doe. But y-o-u.

Yes, yes, we know what you’re thinking.

“This is silly. Just drink when you are thirsty.”

In theory, that works. However keep in mind, you feeling thirst means that you have already lost 1% of your total water weight. Granted, that doesn’t seem like a lot. But what it means is that your body is already beginning to dehydrate and is asking you to ‘please, water me!’ We don’t want your body to ever reach that and start losing valuable water percentages. This is because once your body starts to dehydrate you lose out on a lot of benefits. Your energy level will go down. Your mood might start fluctuating. Concentration levels might start dropping. And you might feel the onset of one of those dreadful headaches. Not really ideal to put your body through that repeatedly, right?

“Alright fine, so if I just constantly drink water I’ll have no problems.”

Sure… in theory. We swear that’s not our new favorite word. There are just a lot of theories going around, and we want to make sure you have only the most accurate information. Did you know you can actually develop health issues from drinking too much water as well? Yes, even too much of a good thing can turn it into a bad one! For example, if you drink too much water the sodium levels in your body lower. This stops your electrolytes from doing their job properly. This in turn causes something called hyponatremia, which comes with its own list of unpleasant side effects.

Drinking too much water can also cause heart issues, due to the increased volume of blood in your body that causes increased pressure for your heart. Your kidneys are at risk too. This is because the glomeruli which are there to filter excess water get overwhelmed and can be damaged. Those are just some of the health issues you might end up experiencing if you overdo your water intake.

So, what is that perfect amount of water you need, to be the best version of yourself?

According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine the ‘right’ amount of water to drink (for an average person) is 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men. This is total water – from all drinks and foods. Around 20% of our daily water intake comes from food so that leaves the rest to drink. And unfortunately, alcohol and coffee don’t count.

If you are properly hydrated, you’ll feel the benefits come pouring in. You might not even notice them all at once, but suddenly you’ll be able to keep your focus longer. Your muscles will be better and you might improve your durability when doing various activities. You’ll sleep better, your immune system will improve, and not to mention your hair and nails will get healthier as well! All these benefits, just from that perfect amount of water! Almost hard to believe something we take for granted could work so much in our favor, right?

Well, the clever people at Bellabeat were tired of just knowing all of this. They wanted to bring all those health benefits directly to you!

And that is why Bellabeat created Spring.

Of course, investing in a water bottle might seem pointless to some — you can find a glass bottle with a cap anywhere, and there are apps in the vast spaces of the Internet that will help you try and figure out this stuff on your own.

But the Bellabeat smart water bottle will save you the time, and give you so much more than the Internet or other apps can.

Spring treats you as a unique individual – since you are one! It takes into consideration your physique, but it also considers your activity level, and your reproductive health such as pregnancy or breastfeeding. It will keep in mind your location — the climate in your area or time of year. Once it gathers the complete picture about you, it will then determine your ideal daily water intake.

But that’s not all. Everyone is different and everyone leads different lives. If you’re not used to regularly drinking water, Spring won’t just expect or demand you instantly drink 2.5 liters a day. It will keep in mind your pace, and adapt based on it. Try and help you reach that ideal hydration goal step-by-step, until you are able to drink your recommended amount with ease.

Investing in something like drinking water might have you on the fence — but if you are interested in improving your overall well-being, we think Spring will definitely prove worth it. And we hope you will agree.

Can you get the Bellabeat Spring bottles in NZ?

We haven’t yet bought any of the Bellabeat Sping bottles into NZ, but if you make some noise and want to see them here – let us know and we will make it happen! In the mean time, until you get a Spring bottle, you can input your amount of hydration into the Bellabeat app. This will be used alongside the other metrics collected by your Bellabeat tracker and go into your stress calculations. Just like that.

To learn about more ways to make life easier and better, stay tuned for more information from us. Like The FemTech Revolution on Facebook. Follow us on Insta or sign up to our newsletter.

We have reposted this article (with permission and with minor edits) from the Bellabeat website.