Water – Nutrition Basics – Nutrition

Water – Nutrition Basics – Nutrition

Nutrition

Water

Water plays lots of important roles in your body. For instance, the water in:

• Blood helps red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of your body
• Your stomach and intestines helps digest your food
• Urine helps your body get rid of waste products
• Sweat helps keep your body cool

In fact, water makes up more than half your body weight. So it's important that you get enough water. But how much water is enough? There's no magic amount of water that teens need to drink each day. You should always drink when you're thirsty. And you need to drink more when it's hot or you're being physically active. A good rule of thumb is to look at the color of your urine. If it's light yellow, your body probably has enough water. If it's a dark yellow, you probably need more water.
Your body doesn't get water just from drinking water. Milk, juice, and soda all have water. It's better to drink milk or juice because soda has lots of added sugars and no other nutrients. You can also get water by eating fruits and vegetables. For instance, watermelon is loaded with water. So are peaches, plums, peas, lettuce, and tomatoes.
For more information on water, check out Water: Meeting Your Daily Fluid Needs .

= This article, publication, website, or organization is from the U.S. government.