How much water to drink and when: simple rules

WHY TEA AND COFFEE DO NOT COUNT
Many people are sure that "liquid is liquid". It is not so. Tea, coffee, fruit drinks and shop-bought drinks do not replace water. What is more, coffee and black tea dry out the tissues — after them the body needs even more water. Count clean water only.

Three rules that change how you feel

The first — warm water in the morning. As soon as you get up, before eating, drink a glass of warm water, unhurriedly, in small sips. Warm, because it gently wakes the stomach and the intestine instead of making them clench, as ice-cold water does. This is the simplest way to "switch on" digestion and set the intestine up for its morning work.

The second — water before food, not during it. A glass of water 20–30 minutes before each meal. But during the meal and straight after it there is no need to drink: liquid dilutes the gastric juice, the food is digested worse, lies in the stomach longer and ferments. Wait an hour or an hour and a half after eating — and then drink as much as you like.

The third — by thirst through the day. Usually that comes to 6–8 glasses. Do not force litres into yourself: the body will tell you itself, once you start listening to it.

Common mistakes

Drinking in one go — water is taken up when it is drunk slowly. Counting tea as "water" — it does not count. Drinking ice-cold water in the morning — it does not wake digestion, it puts it into spasm.

What kind of water is right

The best water is clean and soft. Filter tap water: chlorine and fluorine are an unnecessary load on the liver and the thyroid gland. For medicinal infusions and juices I advise water that has been distilled: it does not carry extra inorganic salts into the tissues. Boiled water is only half "dead" — as everyday water it is acceptable, but a filter is better.

Water and age

With the years the sense of thirst grows dull — this is one of the reasons why older people drink little and suffer from thickened blood, constipation and blood pressure. If you are over sixty, do not wait for thirst: spread your 6–8 glasses through the day in advance — a glass after waking, a glass before each meal, a glass between tasks. In a couple of weeks the body will remember what real thirst feels like.

A plan for the first week

Do not change everything at once — bring in water as the only new habit of the week. Days 1–2: just the warm glass in the morning. Days 3–4: add a glass 20–30 minutes before lunch and supper. Days 5–7: stop drinking during meals and move it into the pauses between them. That is enough to feel the first result: an easier morning, steadier digestion, less heaviness after eating.

A word of caution

If you have kidney or heart disease and your doctor has limited your fluids — keep to the amount you have been prescribed, and introduce the morning glass of warm water only after talking to your doctor.