3f. Water Tracking

Good Measures Water Tracking allows you to see your progress against a daily goal for water intake.

Why is water important?

Water helps the body maintain balance. It does this by regulating body temperature, moistening tissues, protecting body organs and tissues, lubricating joints, helping to dissolve minerals and other nutrients so that the body can more easily absorb them, and many other functions. Water also allows for transport of nutrients to cells and removal of waste products of the body’s many processes.

How to customize your water tracking goal

To customize your water goal, simply change the goal amount that is displayed on the Personal Info page. Be sure to click the Update Profile button to save your changes.

Tracking water intake

To track water, in the Log, simply click the water droplet button to add water to a meal or snack. This will add 8 fl oz of water at a time.

To adjust the intake from the 8 fl oz increments that are added, put your cursor in the amount field for water and type your actual intake.

You can also log water by searching the food database for plain tap or bottled water.

At this time, Good Measures tracks tap and bottled water as contributing to your water goal. If you drink beverages such a coffee, tea, or fruit juice, and would like to have these contribute to your water intake, simply log these as “water.”

How does Good Measures set the default goals for water intake?

Good Measures uses guidelines established by the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Science called the Adequate Intakes (AIs) to set the default goal for water intake. Recommended intake for water is based on the average intake of generally healthy individuals who are adequately hydrated, meaning they have enough water in their bodies to support proper function. According to the Health and Medicine Division, individuals can be adequately hydrated at levels below as well as above the AIs provided.

The AI for female adults (19-70 years) is 2.7L. The AI for male adults (19-70 years) is 3.7L. The AIs are for total water in temperate climates. All sources can contribute to total water needs: beverages (including tea, coffee, juices, sodas, and drinking water) and moisture naturally found in foods. Moisture in food accounts for about 20% of total water intake.

Good Measures water tracking does not include water from food sources. Therefore, the default goals for water are 20% less than the AIs. Good Measures daily default water goal for women is 2.2L or about 74 fluid ounces (9 ¼ cups). Good Measures daily default water goal for men is 3.0L or about 100 fluid ounces (12 ½ cups).

Factors, such as climate, physical activity, medical conditions, pregnancy, lactation, and others affect your water needs.

Have questions? You can discuss your specific needs with the Good Measures Nutrition Team. We would be happy to work with you to make personalized adjustments to your water goal.