Water, Water, Everywhere Recommended.

Pixabay--no attribute required but here's the link.

I should drink more water. I know I should.  The question is, how much?  I can tell when I am getting dehydrated because I get headaches and get tired. Of course, that happens when I am hungry, too, so it can be tricky to tell.

You may be thinking that if I get thirsty I obviously need water. The trouble is, I am on a medication that has a side affect of mouth dryness, so how do I identify thirst? I would be drinking gallons every day if I went by that.

There is controversy over how much water to drink.  That old adage of 8 glasses a day has been proven untrue.  There are so many variations in body type and climate that it's impossible to make one universal rule.  

Photo Credit

I remember once, when I was attending a college orientation in Utah with my son, on a particularly hot, dry day, in an already dry climate.  I met a woman from Florida, and she said she was drinking so much water that she was beginning to suspect that she had diabetes. However, it had only started within the last few days. I was drinking more than usual that day, and I reassured her that she was probably drinking more because her body was giving up more to the heat and dryness of the air.  I suspect that when she got back to Florida, it settled back to normal.
When I lived in Utah, my skin was always dry no matter how much I drank. I had canyons running down my legs, even with lotion.  Then I moved to a more humid state, and I rarely had dry skin. Now that I have moved again, to a place with a dryer winter, I'm noticing dry skin again.

If you want to ruin your day, Google "dry skin" and click on images.  There is some really gross stuff on there!

Back to the question--how much water should I drink?  I don't know. I do know to watch my body for signs of dehydration. Extra dry lips is a good sign for me. If my urine is strong-smelling in the morning, I need to drink more water. I don't know if that's medical evidence, but it works for me.  If I start feeling a headache coming on, or just a run-down fatigue, I pause to think about how much water and food I've had in the last few hours.

I keep water in the car, because when I'm out and about, running errands, going from outdoors to indoors and back again, encountering various micro-climates, I get dehydrated quickly.  I drink so much water when I travel by car that I have probably stopped at most of rest stops along major U.S. Highways, from Maine, to Florida, to Texas, and California, and dozens of points in between. 

Rest stop in California. Photo by John Martinez Pavliga,  found on flickr.