How hydration helps our health

Hydration is vital for every aspect of life. It is critical in helping to maintain normal body temperature and for every physiological function.

All beverages hydrate, including those that contain caffeine. Some studies have shown that consuming a variety of drinks can help people achieve adequate fluid intake and therefore promote proper hydration. Coca‑Cola and all other sparkling drinks, both regular and no/low calorie, contain between 85 per cent and 99 per cent water, making them appropriate choices to meet your hydration needs.

When consuming calorific beverages, including sugar-sweetened sparkling drinks, it is important to remain within your daily calories limits, while meeting your nutrition and hydration needs.

A scientific opinion issued in early 2010 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) determined that reference values for total water intake include water from drinking water, beverages of all kinds, and moisture from food. The EFSA has set daily recommendations for water intake, with women requiring 2 litres of water a day and men 2.5 litres a day. This is because water makes up 60 per cent of our bodyweight and plays a critical role in our bodily functions.

You can get your water intake from a variety of fluid sources, including water, juice, milk, sparkling drinks, coffee and tea. Fruits and vegetables that are high in moisture content can also help keep you hydrated. By including a variety of drinks that you enjoy as part of your daily intake, research has shown you're more likely to drink more to stay hydrated and healthy.

Drink to think
It's not just your body that's affected by hydration, but your brain, too. Just mild dehydration (as little as a one per cent loss in bodyweight due to fluid deficiency) can impair your ability to concentrate.

Did you know? A person can survive for weeks without food, but for only a few days without water

Drink to cool down
If it's hot, or if your temperature is high due to physical exertion, you need to drink more. Feeling thirsty is your body's way of telling you that you need to increase your fluid intake. Another indicator is if your urine is a dark yellow colour during the day. If you are getting enough fluid your urine should be a pale straw colour.

Drink more during exercise
It's not just skill that helps you bag first place in the parents' race on sports day. It's also down to the water in your body. If you are active you will need to drink more. As a guide, an extra litre of fluid per hour of strenuous exercise is recommended. Water is fine for rehydrating after the kind of moderate exercise that most active people choose. However, for professional athletes and those participating in high intensity exercise, the electrolytes in a sports drink such as Powerade are needed to replace what you've lost in sweat, to support effective hydration, and the combination of hydration and carbohydrate fuel ensure optimum performance during prolonged exercise.

Drink for skin health
Those bank-busting skin creams need back-up. Water is the natural remedy for your skin and good hydration helps preserve your skin's elasticity and softness, bathing your skin cells inside and out. It's their version of spa time.

Drink for organ health
Water is essential to help maintain healthy organs. The water in your body helps remove waste products and toxins from the body via the kidneys, transports carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and other important nutrients to your cells, it aids in the digestion of your food, plays a role in normalising blood pressure - and much more.

Hydration and caffeinated drinks
We need to keep our bodies well hydrated for optimum physical and mental performance, as well as long-term health. While caffeine may have a mild, short-term diuretic effect on individuals who do not normally consume it, studies show that's not the case for people who enjoy caffeine regularly. A report in 2004 by the US Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that all drinks, including those containing caffeine, contribute to hydration. This has also been supported by a scientific review by the British Nutrition Foundation in 2010.