HappyHealthy Fact Sheet: Water

Helping Mississippians live happier, healthier lives!

Water is vital to life! Getting enough water each day is important to your health. What you drink is as important as what you eat! Your body is around 60 percent water, and you lose water each day through breathing, sweating, and digestion. Your need for water is met through the beverages you drink and the foods you eat­—especially foods with high water content, such as fruits and vegetables. Be a role model for your friends and family by choosing water to stay hydrated!

Select

• Water instead of sweetened beverages.
  • Tap water is convenient and inexpensive.
    • Safe and thirst-quenching straight from the faucet.
    • Free at most restaurants.
• Fruits and vegetables with high water content.
  • Watermelon and spinach are almost 100 percent water.

Safety

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees bottled water, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates public sources of tap water.
• If you get your water from a private well, the water should be tested at least once a year. For information on private well water testing, contact one of the following:
  • The MSDH Division of On-Site Wastewater online or at 1-855-220-0192
  • Mississippi State University Extension’s Mississippi Well Owner Network online or at (662) 325-1788
  • A private laboratory

Benefit

• Drinking water can help:
  • prevent dehydration.
  • maintain body temperature.
  • cushion joints.
  • manage body weight by replacing sweetened beverages.
• Daily water intake varies by your age, gender, pregnancy, and breastfeeding status.
  • Your body needs more water when:
    • it’s hot outside.
    • you’re more active.
    • you have a fever, diarrhea, or are vomiting.
• Make sure your children choose water as a beverage and eat fruits and vegetables that have high water content.
• To learn more, visit HappyHealthy.MS and click on Tips and Videos.
  • How to Choose Water
  • Add More Fruits and Vegetables to Your Day

Enjoy

Flavored Water

• Choose your flavors!
  • Citrus fruits, berries, apple, pear, mango, and pineapple
  • Cucumber, celery, and carrot
  • Mint, basil, parsley, cilantro, and thyme
• Rinse ingredients and slice into small pieces.
• Add ingredients to container with a lid.
• Pour in tap water, cover the container, and put in the refrigerator for one hour or longer.
• Use within three days.

Fruit-Flavored Water

Citrus fruits and berries add great flavor. If you want more flavor, add more fruits, and if you want less flavor, use less fruit. Servings: 4

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup small strawberries
• 1 lime, sliced

1. Pour water into a container.
2. Add ice, strawberries, and lime slices.
3. Stir to combine flavors.

Prepare

• Carry a clean, reusable water bottle with you and refill throughout the day. Reuseable bottles cause less pollution.
• Freeze water in freezer-safe water bottles.
  • Take one with you for ice-cold water all day.
• Add slices of fruits or vegetables with herbs to add flavor.

Fun with Food

Children can help

• Select fruits and vegetables in the grocery store.
• In the kitchen, wash and dry the fruits and vegetables to make flavored water.
• Add fruit or vegetable slices to the water.

Work is supported by the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Publication 3816 (POD-01-26)

By Dottie Kenda and Joseph Ray, Mississippi State University Extension Service.