It's National Hydration Day! The 7 Best Thirst-Quenching Tips We've Ever Heard

Happy Hydration Day! Is this a made-up holiday? Maybe. But are we going to welcome the chance to ensure our hydration levels are up to par? You bet. 

Different from World Water Day (which raises awareness about the global water crisis), National Hydration Day is all about, well, hydration—namely, the importance of getting enough fluids as we embark on another scorching summer. Considering optimal hydration helps support nearly every bodily function—including immune support, temperature regulation1, and natural detoxification through the lymphatic system (aka healthy pee)—we could all use the friendly reminder. 

Somehow the notion that you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day became gospel. But according to Dana Cohen, M.D., integrative medicine physician and co-author of Quench, "Eight glasses of water a day—it comes from nowhere," she once said on the mindbodygreen podcast. Because let's be honest: How can two people with completely different body types, environments, and lifestyles require the same amount of water? "It doesn't make any sense," she adds. 

So, how much water should you actually be drinking? Well, it's impossible to give everyone the exact same rule of thumb, as diet, environment, and activity levels can affect how much water you need (example: Keto folks or those who simply eat more meat may need to drink more water to match the dehydrating diet). But for some general guidance, Cohen recommends drinking half of your weight in ounces. So, for instance, someone who weighs 150 pounds would want to drink around 75 ounces of water, which is about 9 cups.

In case you needed another reason to meet your daily water quota: Dehydration can affect brain fog. According to neuroscientist and author of Biohack Your Brain Kristen Willeumier, Ph.D., even if you have a 1 to 2% drop in hydration, you can start to have feelings associated with brain fog2, like tiredness, headache, and poor concentration. That's why, she says on the mindbodygreen podcast, "If I'm going to work with somebody and help them to have a better memory, the first thing I say is, 'How much [water] are you drinking?'"

If you drink water all day long and still feel like you need more, it's not you—it may be your water filter. Specifically, reverse osmosis filters: These filters are great, as they clean your tap of potentially harmful contaminants and byproducts, but they weed out everything—including healthy minerals and electrolytes. 

"If you're drinking all that plain bulk tap water that has nothing in it, you're flushing out electrolytes, not replacing those electrolytes," Cohen says. Without those electrolytes4 (sodium, potassium, and magnesium, to name a few), you may not feel aptly hydrated throughout the day. 

Chia seeds may not be high on your list of hydrating foods (cucumbers and watermelon tend to receive much more hype), but Cohen says, don't sleep on these thirst-quenching superstars. 

See, when you add water to chia seeds, it forms into a gel—that slime happens when H₂O molecules layer upon one another and turn into "structured" or "gel" water5. It's an incredibly hydrating glob, says Cohen: "It is in that form that's found in nature, and it's also in that form that's found within our cells," she notes. 

According to behavioral sleep doctor Shelby Harris, PsyD, DBSM, hydration is huge for quality sleep. In fact, many people who do not prioritize hydration during the day tend to wake up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, sometimes multiple times. "Some of these people are not drinking enough during the day, so come nighttime, they're super thirsty," Harris says on the mindbodygreen podcast. They chug a glass or two of water, and then they pay for it with trips to the bathroom. "I encourage people to really try and hydrate throughout the day so that you're not backlogging it at night," she says.

While this holiday raises awareness about the effects of suboptimal hydration, we'd be remiss not to mention drinking too much water—which is most definitely a thing. "Too much water dilutes the electrolyte concentrations in the blood, causing imbalance throughout the body's many systems," physician Catherine Waldrop, M.D., tells mbg about having more water than needed.