- Water
. Adequate water intake is critical to your health and well-being. Merely not
being thirsty does not mean that you are necessarily properly supplied with
water. Most people do not appreciate the value of water. Coffee and tea
(unless decaffeinated) and alcoholic beverages do not count in water intake.
Drinks containing caffeine or alcohol can even increase your need for water
because of their diuretic effects.. ere are some serious consequences from long-term water deficiency
(dehydration). ese include kidney and urinary tract problems, e.g., kidney
stones.. It is much better to be oversupplied with water than undersupplied. e
negative consequence of excessive water intake is merely more visits to a
toilet. e negative consequences of inadequate water intake are major.. Ensuring adequate water intake is easy. Consume enough water evenly dis-
tributed over the course of each day to produce at least four clear urinations
each day (in addition to colored urinations). Until you produce your mini-
mum of four clear urination a day, gradually increase your intake of plain
water, juicy fruits, fruit juice, and perhaps even milk. (If you already drink a
lot of milk, your water intake may already be adequate.) Liquids need to be
pleasant tasting if you are to drink more of them. Get a water filter if your
tap water does not have a pleasant taste; or drink bottled water that tastes
good. Reducing or, better, eliminating coffee, tea and alcohol consumption
will make a big contribution to net water intake.. During and following training you need additional water, and during hot
weather you need to greatly increase your water intake. Stick to the four
clear urinations rule, and modify your liquid intake according to the climate
and your activity level.. If you take a lot of vitamin supplements you may find that your urine is col-
ored even though its volume and frequency of production are high. In such
a case you will need to judge your hydration by the volume and frequency of
urination rather than by their lack of color. But the discoloration caused by
some vitamin supplements will only occur within a few hours of supplemen-
tation, not all day. If your vitamin intake heavily discolors your urine that is
probably a good reason to reduce your supplementation because a lot of it is
going waste.