To maintain weight control and a healthy lifestyle, keep yourself hydrated with calorie-free beverages, and consider making water the beverage of your choice often if not always.

Water is one of the body’s essential nutrients, making up about 60 percent of body weight. Among other things, it regulates body temperature, helps to maintain blood volume, transports nutrients to cells and carries away waste products. 

How much water do we need? It is a common question. Although everyone’s needs are different, making it impossible to deliver a definitive one-size-fits-all answer, here are a few tips for consuming a healthy amount of this nutrient. Aim for eight, 8-ounce cups to start. For a more exact calculation of how much water your body needs, take your body weight in pounds and divide this number in half. The resulting number equals the number of ounces of water your body needs per day. For example: 200 pounds divided by 2 equals 100 ounces of water per day. 

Dehydration dangers. Dehydration can happen indoors, in a pool during a hot day or while  skiing on a winter day. Warning signs include thirst, fatigue, faster breathing, dizziness, and dark urine. 

Calorie culprits. Be mindful of calorie-filled beverages such as flavored coffee, sports drinks, soda, sweetened teas, juice, alcohol, and energy drinks. Water is a healthier alternative and it has zero calories. 

Laura Vetter, RDN, CDE, CSO, CSP, Outpatient Nutritionist, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, counsels patients on healthy eating. To make an appointment, reach out to her at nutritionist@saintpetersuh.com.