Drinking enough can sound like another chore on a long list. Canada’s food guide takes a gentler starting point: make water your drink of choice. Water helps you stay hydrated without adding calories, and it is one of the simplest public health habits to practise at home, at work or on the go.

This article is about everyday drinking habits. It is not a treatment plan for dehydration or for any medical condition, and it does not give a single number of glasses that everyone should finish each day. How much fluid a person needs varies.

Why water comes first

Our bodies lose water by sweating, breathing and getting rid of waste. That water needs to be replaced. Health Canada recommends water as the beverage of choice because it supports health and hydration without adding calories to the diet. Water is essential for ordinary metabolic and digestive processes, and it is the largest single component of the human body.

Canada’s dietary guidelines note that most people consume enough total water to meet their hydration needs, and that total water includes fluids from food as well as from drinks. Fruit, vegetables and soups all contribute. Physical activity and hot weather can increase how much you need. Young children and older adults are among those most at risk of becoming dehydrated.

Some communities in Canada, including some remote, isolated and northern communities, do not always have ready access to safe drinking water. If a drinking water advisory is in place where you live, follow local public health instructions.

Easy ways to drink more water

Canada’s food guide offers everyday tactics rather than a rigid schedule:

  • Drink water with your meals, hot or cold.
  • Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge or on the table so it is the drink you see first.
  • Carry a reusable bottle when you are out.
  • Ask for water when you eat in a restaurant.
  • Drink water during and after physical activity.
  • Try carbonated water if you like a little fizz, or add fruit and herbs if plain water bores you.

Pairing water with something you already do — sitting down at the computer, leaving the house, finishing a walk — is often easier than trying to remember “one more glass” in the abstract.

If you like a little flavour

Health Canada suggests adding fruit and herbs to hot or cold water. Official combinations to try include blackberries with mint, raspberries with cucumber, strawberries with fresh basil, chopped apples with a cinnamon stick, and pear slices with a drop of vanilla extract. Crushing berries, chopping or tearing herbs, and cutting fruit into cubes helps more flavour come through.

Lemon in water is a taste preference, not a cleanse or a medical treatment. Infused water is still water. If you add commercial flavour drops or powders, read the label for sugars and sodium.

Other drinks that can fit

Water does not have to be your only drink. Unsweetened fortified soy beverage, and unsweetened coffee and tea, can fit alongside water. Plant-based beverages should not be used as the main milk source for a child younger than two years of age.

Drinks to have less often include sugary drinks, alcoholic drinks, some vegetable juices, and specialty coffees or teas that are high in added sugar or saturated fat. When you compare packaged drinks, the nutrition facts table can help you choose ones that are lower in those nutrients. As a reading guide, 5% daily value or less is a little, and 15% or more is a lot.

A word about caffeine

Caffeine occurs naturally in coffee, tea, chocolate and some other plants, and it is added to some foods and drinks. It is a stimulant. Health Canada notes that it may be linked with insomnia, irritability, headaches and nervousness, and that it affects children more than adults because children have smaller body weights.

For most healthy adults, Health Canada’s recommended maximum is 400 milligrams of caffeine a day from all sources. The recommended maximum is 300 milligrams a day for people who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. An average 237 millilitre cup of brewed coffee has about 135 milligrams of caffeine; the same amount of brewed black or green tea has about 30 to 50 milligrams. If you are sensitive to caffeine, consider having less or avoiding it, especially later in the day if sleep matters to you.

Unsweetened coffee and tea can still fit as drinks you enjoy. They are not a replacement for water, and energy drinks or specialty coffees can add sugars and a large amount of caffeine without looking like “just a coffee.”

Who may need to pay closer attention

MyHealth.Alberta.ca notes that dehydration can happen at any age when you stop drinking enough, or when you lose a lot of fluid through diarrhea, vomiting, sweating or exercise. It is most dangerous for babies, small children and older adults.

Older adults may not feel thirsty even when they need fluids. Other reasons they can become dehydrated more easily include kidneys that do not work as well, medicines that increase urine output (such as some blood pressure medicines, diuretics or antihistamines), trouble getting to a glass or to the toilet, or choosing to drink less because of bladder concerns.

If you have a health condition, or if you take medicines that affect fluid balance, ask your healthcare provider how those facts change everyday drinking for you. Do not make large, sudden changes to fluid intake because of something you read, especially if you have been told to limit fluids.

Early signs that you may be getting dehydrated

MyHealth.Alberta.ca lists early symptoms that can include a mouth and eyes that are drier than usual, passing less urine than usual, and feeling cranky, tired or dizzy. Mild dehydration may mean you are more thirsty than usual and passing less urine. Moderate dehydration may mean much more thirst, a drier mouth and eyes, little or no urine for 8 or more hours, or dizziness when you stand or sit up.

Severe dehydration is an emergency. Warning signs can include a mouth and eyes that are extremely dry, little or no urine for 12 or more hours, trouble thinking clearly or staying alert, feeling too weak or dizzy to stand, or passing out. Call 911 or go to an emergency department if you think you or someone you are with may have severe dehydration or shock.

For milder questions — for example, after a stomach illness, or if you are not sure whether you are keeping enough down — call Health Link at 811 or contact a healthcare provider. Do not rely on an herbal product, a specialty drink or a “hydration supplement” to treat dehydration. If a packaged product makes a health claim, look for an eight-digit Natural Product Number (NPN) or Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) and read the warnings, then ask a pharmacist or other provider whether it is appropriate for you.

References

These sources were checked when this article was written. They are offered so you can read the same public information we used.

  1. Health Canada, Make water your drink of choice. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-guide/explore/healthy-eating-recommendations/make-water-drink-choice.html
  2. Health Canada, Canada’s Dietary Guidelines: Section 1, Foundation for healthy eating. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-guide/explore/dietary-guidelines/section-1-foundation-healthy-eating.html
  3. Health Canada, How to use food labels to make healthier choices. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-guide/eating-support/choosing-food-drinks/how-use-labels-make-healthier-choices.html
  4. Health Canada, Caffeine in Foods. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/food-additives/caffeine-foods.html
  5. MyHealth.Alberta.ca, Dehydration. https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=dehyd
  6. Public Health Agency of Canada, Mental health support: Get help. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/mental-health-services/mental-health-get-help.html