The Importance of Staying Hydrated at Work

To provide further insight, Emma Preece, General Manager at R+R Hub, specialists in Micro Markets, shares her expertise as to why hydration matters with some helpful tips on how to ensure that your employees stay hydrated.

The basics of hydration

In humans, a healthy body is about 60% water overall. The water composition of the body does, however, vary by organ. For example, bones are “just” about one-third water. The brain and heart, by contrast, are almost three-quarters water. The lungs and kidneys are both about four-fifths water.

If the water level in the body drops below this, a person becomes dehydrated. This means that their ability to function becomes impaired. What’s more, the impairment starts with the organs which are most dependent on water. With mild dehydration, simple rehydration will generally sort the issue quickly. With severe dehydration, by contrast, medical intervention may be required.

Why people become dehydrated at work

Dehydration is what happens when your water output exceeds your water input. There are three main ways humans output water. These are by going to the toilet, by sweating and by drying. The first two are obvious. The third may need some explanation.

Air and heat are both drying forces. Either will work on its own. For example, if you wash your hair and just leave it, it will dry on its own without a towel or hairdryer. They’re even more effective when used together. That’s exactly why tumble dryers use hot air.

Modern workplaces generally use climate control. Typically that will be air conditioning in summer and heating in winter. Both of these are dehydrating forces. What’s more, their effect can be so gradual and subtle that people do not realize that they are becoming dehydrated. They may not even consciously realize that they are feeling off their best or that their productivity is suffering.

The basics of hydration

In simple terms, hydration means drinking water. It can be hot water or cold water but it should be water. The reason for this is that water is pure. The kidneys don’t have to do any work to process it. This means that it goes straight through the body with minimal delay.

Once you start adding ingredients to pure water, the kidneys have to start working. This slows down the progress of the water and hence the time to hydration. That said, in the real world, this can be a fair trade-off. Many people enjoy cold water in summer but still fancy a change from time to time. In winter, however, pure water can be less appealing. Tea and coffee tend to be the drinks of choice.

In the real world, therefore, the basic rule is that the closer a drink is to water, the better it is for hydration. This generally means that natural soft drinks such as fruit teas are fine. Regular black tea, coffee and hot chocolate are usually fine in moderation. Cordials (diluting drinks) are variable. Diet fizzy drinks are generally not great but better than their sugar-filled counterparts.

Keeping your employees hydrated

Your first step to keeping your employees hydrated is to ensure that they have an easily accessible supply of clean, fresh drinking water. You also need to ensure that they actually know it’s there. If some of your employees have to walk a long way to get to it, you might want to provide them with water bottles.

Your second step to keeping your employees hydrated is to recognize that they’re not all going to want to drink pure, cold water all the time. In fact, some employees may not want to drink it at all. Ideally, provide at least a kettle if not a vending machine with hot drinks.