Drink Up!

My mother loves coffee. She could sip on it from sunup to sundown without a second thought. But water? If I ask her to drink a glass of water, she looks at me as if I’ve asked her to turn a backflip.

She lives near the Ohoopee River and draws her water from a deep well. “Best water you’ll ever taste,” she often says, and I agree. And yet, she drinks very little of her well water straight. Sometimes, to shut me up, she’ll fill a small jelly glass halfway and take one polite little sip. Just one sip! Indeed, one of her medications actually recommends she drink more fluids alongside it, but she has quietly disregarded that recommendation.

This has become something of a family crusade, as many of us have urged her to consume a little more water during the day. Every now and then, she mentions to me that she’s feeling a bit dizzy or off, and I immediately grow concerned. I ask, “Have you had any water today? Maybe you’re a little dehydrated.” And with my comment, I watch that familiar look of irritation wash across my mother’s face, and no one likes to see their mama get irritated. Well, it came to a head last week, and here’s where I have to come clean about something that happened. I called Mom on one of her two phones, and she was already chatting with my uncle on the other one. She thought she’d hung up on me, but she had not. Before I could end the call, I heard her say, plain as day, “They are all constantly telling me to drink more water, and I’m tired of hearing it. They all walk around with these big cups filled with water all the time, and when it’s time to eat, those big cups are all over my table, and there’s no place to sit down and eat. I’m tired of it.” I heard my uncle chuckle on the other phone. Then she added, “You just can’t drink water if you aren’t thirsty!” More laughter from my uncle. I hit the red button on my phone and ended the call. (Yes, I eavesdropped for about thirty seconds, and I feel a little bad about it, but most people would have done the same. In fact, I’ve witnessed my mother do the same.)

For days, I thought about what Mom had said. The truth is: You absolutely can drink water when you’re not thirsty, and millions of us do it every single day because the research is clear that drinking water is an important part of health and wellness. Moreover, it’s pretty easy to do and doesn’t cost much. Water makes up roughly 60% of our body weight. It regulates temperature, cushions joints, carries nutrients, supports digestion, and flushes out the bacteria that cause UTIs. Hydration helps prevent dizziness, enhances brain function, and helps to maintain healthy blood pressure. Even mild dehydration can cloud your thinking, dampen your mood, and drag down energy levels.

So we should all—all of us, every one of us, young and old, the masses—prioritize drinking water and other fluids during the day. According to the National Academies of Sciences, women need a little more than 11 cups of fluid daily (and that includes the fluids in foods), and men need around 15. And no, coffee and caffeinated beverages don’t really count toward that total. Caffeine is a mild diuretic, meaning it can actually push water out of your system.

I am not a doctor, and I have no formal medical training, but here’s my simple message for most of you reading my column: Drink more water. Fill a glass and put it on the counter to help prompt you to drink. Carry a bottle in the car and sip it. Set a reminder if you have to. Your body is quietly asking for it, even when your thirst is not.