QUANTITY OF WATER NEEDED BY THE BODY
Certainly, one doesn’t need to overemphasize the importance of water because its uses are
enormous. The consequences of its absence from our day-to-day living are devastating. Water is
unarguably the most important liquid on the planet for both plants and animals.
In animals, transport within the body (moving of substances from one part of the body to another) is solely dependent on water, the same goes for plants. Nevertheless, excess or deficient of anything becomes a problem for the body.
Thus, taking excess water may lead to hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when the blood’s sodium level is too low.
With this condition, the body holds onto too much water. This dilutes the amount of sodium in the blood and causes levels to below.
Symptoms include nausea, headache, cramp, dizziness, confusion, and fatigue.
Limited fluid intake, medication, and hospitalization may be required.
The vulnerable category of people includes; persons with body mass index (BMI) below 20kg/m2.
BMI is defined as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of the person’s height in meters (kg/m2). It’s easy to know your body mass index; divide your weight in kg by the square of your height in meters. For example, an adult who weighs 80 kg and whose height is 1.88 m will have a BMI of 22.63kg/m2
80 (kg)/1.88 (m2) = 22.63 BMI
Below is the reference BMI table from WHO
| BMI | Nutritional status |
| Below 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5–24.9 | Normal weight |
| 25.0–29.9 | Pre-obesity |
| 30.0–34.9 | Obesity class I |
| 35.0–39.9 | Obesity class II |
| Above 40 | Obesity class III |
However, insufficient intake of water may lead to hypernatremia when there is a high concentration of sodium in the blood.
Hypernatremia most often occurs in people who don’t drink enough water. This often occurs when a person’s thirst is impaired. Examples include someone with dementia.
Symptoms include thirst and fatigue.
Treatment includes drinking more water
Who are those at risk for hypernatremia?
- Mental or physical impaired people
- Uncontrolled diabetes (solute diuresis)
- Advanced age people
What quantity of water is just enough then for my body?
There are numerous viewpoints on what quantity of water you should drink each day. Personally, I advise you to take in 2.5litres of water each day. You can know the quantity of water your body needs each day from your urine output.
Urine output = (volume of urine ÷ weight of person) / 24hours
The volume of urine is collected within 24hours, that is, from 6 am at the beginning of a day till 6 am the next day. It’s quite a job to do since you need to collect all urine during the day and keep. You need to always walk with a bottle during collection, should in case you feel as to pee you can store it in the bottle. For example, a man’s volume of urine is 1500L and his weight is 65kg, his urine output will be 0.96ml/kg/hr
(1500L ÷ 65kg) /24hr =0.96ml/kg/hr urine output
The reference urine output range is 1.5 – 2ml/kg. Therefore after doing the calculation of your urine output and notice it’s below 1.5ml/kg, it means you are dehydrated, and above 2ml/kg, it means you are over hydrated
Stay hydrated, don’t over drink, don’t drink less. Just keep the balance
By Agahbom Princewill Z.
