ORLANDO, Fla. – Water makes up 60 percent of the human body. Your brain and heart are 73 percent water, the lungs are 83 percent and your muscles and kidneys are 70 percent.
Water, Gatorade, juice, it’s good for the body and mind!
“It affects your mental functioning, energy levels. It affects the status of your kidneys,” Jennifer Plant, associate lecturer, told Ivanhoe.
But what’s the best? Water! For every pound of weight, you should consume a half-ounce of water. So, if you weigh 150 pounds that means you should drink 75 ounces of water or nearly ten cups of water a day. But what about other drinks?
“It just depends on your activity level," Plant said. “The more active you are and the length of time you are doing that activity then you can ingest something outside of water.”
Ingesting Gatorade or something with a carbohydrate will give you sodium which helps you ingest more water. What about milk? It contains water and can help in recovery but beware.
“With the amount of calcium that is in it could cause gastric upset,” Plant said.
But, according to Plant, the bottom line is, “water has been shown to be what people need, just in general to survive."
So, whether it’s in a bottle or from the tap, drink up.
To get the most water or hydration out of your drink, you should consume it at 50 to 59 degrees. And if you have not met your amount of water in a day do not try to chug it in one hour as this could lead to an upset stomach. And finally, you do not have to stay away from soda. If you do consume one, just drink 16 ounces of water to combat the calories.