You reached for your third coffee in the morning before drinking a single glass of water. It has been nearly four hours since your last bathroom break. A mild headache is creeping in, but you are blaming it on Monday meetings. Sound familiar?
If you work in an office, spend hours in traffic or sit most of the day in an air-conditioned building, there is a good chance you are not drinking enough water and may not even realise it.
A snap poll of urban workers showed just how widespread the problem is. Asked how many glasses of water they drink on a typical workday, 48 percent said between zero and five glasses, while 22 percent said they simply do not keep track.
Plain water ranked only third among drinks consumed during working hours. Some 38 percent reported drinking a mix of beverages, 27 percent relied mainly on tea or coffee, and 14 percent on soda or juice. Only 21 percent said plain water was their primary drink at work.
Similarly, only 44 percent said they always keep water at their workstation. A combined 41 percent said they rarely or never do so.
More than half of respondents also reported feeling fatigued or lacking energy during the workday. Some 47 percent experienced frequent headaches, while 43 percent reported brain fog or poor concentration, often attributing it to heavy workloads or long weeks.
Silent habit
“That is exactly the problem,” says Dr Peris Koge, a nephrologist at The Nairobi Hospital.
“When your body gets used to not drinking enough water, your counter-regulatory mechanisms adjust. You stop feeling thirsty, and you lose the signal. So you don’t drink, and you don’t even realise you’re not drinking.”
The poll also asked workers why they fail to drink enough water during the day. The most common reasons were being too busy, forgetting and attending back-to-back meetings.
Some respondents admitted deliberately limiting water intake to avoid bathroom breaks during long commutes or busy schedules.
Dr Koge says the consequences of this habit can be significant.
Dr Peris Koge, a nephrologist at The Nairobi Hospital.
Photo credit: Pool
“When you are not taking in enough fluids, your kidneys respond accordingly. They produce less urine, and the urine produced is highly concentrated and full of waste products such as uric acid, calcium and phosphate. When you don’t have enough urine to pass, those substances begin to form stones.”
Kidney stones are not the only risk.
“When you don’t pass urine regularly, it sits in the bladder for too long, creating an environment in which bacteria can grow and thrive,” she says. “So recurrent urinary tract infections are another possible outcome.”
The longer-term concern, she says, is the effect of chronic low-level dehydration on kidney function.
“Think of it like a wound. You get a cut; it heals, but it leaves a scar. When you’re dehydrated, the kidneys experience what we call acute kidney injury. Eventually, you drink, and it recovers, but it recovers with scarring. This process happens repeatedly. In the long run, you end up with chronic kidney disease.”
Coffee culture
The poll found that 31 percent of respondents never use infused water, while only 18 percent do so regularly. The findings suggest many urban workers depend heavily on caffeinated and flavoured drinks as their primary source of fluids.
“You need at least 1.5 litres of plain water. Tea and coffee don’t count as your water when you add them on top of that to reach two to three litres a day. They are extra,” says Dr Koge.
She adds that the sugary and caffeinated drinks many office workers rely on come with additional health costs, including excess calorie intake and poor weight management and the high salt content of fast food eaten between meetings.
Desk-bound lifestyles also contribute to inactivity.
“Inactivity carries the same risks as smoking,” she says. “The same diseases, such as hypertension and heart disease, can result from sitting all day as from smoking.”
Brain pays the price too
The effects are not limited to physical health.
Dr Koge says persistent dehydration can affect concentration, memory and mood.
“Some of these workers are persistently fatigued. They have mood issues and memory problems. The body’s mechanism for coping with reduced fluid intake is also affected, including the brain’s role in managing blood volume. When you are chronically low on water, these things have a real impact.”
Constipation is another often overlooked consequence.
“If you’re not active, not drinking enough fluids and eating food with no fibre, you get constipated. This can lead to problems such as haemorrhoids and fissures.”
Hydration also affects appearance.
“Your skin reflects your level of hydration. You can lose moisture and elasticity, develop deep wrinkles and prematurely age.”
Sparkling, infused, hot or cold water?
The poll showed that 36 percent of respondents occasionally drink infused water. Dr Koge, however, advises consumers to pay attention to what is actually being infused.
“You have to look at what is actually infused. Some are carbonated, and some have added flavours with sugar. Carbonation can cause bloating, reflux and acidity, and some of those drinks have a pH level that can irritate your stomach lining.”
On the debate over hot versus cold water, she says there is little evidence to support either side.
“There are no studies to confirm one is better than the other. Water is water. If cold water works for you, that’s fine. If you prefer hot water, that is also fine.”
When asked whether their workplace actively encouraged hydration, about 54 percent of respondents said no or were unsure.
Dr Koge says the solution begins with building simple habits rather than waiting for thirst to signal a problem.
“Be intentional. Carry your own water bottle so you know how much you have drunk. Take it with you to every meeting. Keep one in your car. If you haven’t had a bathroom break in three to four hours, that’s a sign that you need to drink.”
She recommends at least 1.5 litres of plain water spread throughout the day as a baseline.
“Your smartwatch can alert you when you’ve been sitting for too long. Set a reminder. Take the stairs. Do at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week. Go for a wellness check to find out your blood pressure, blood sugar and BMI.”
She says the reason many urban workers are dehydrated is not that water is unavailable, but that it is absent from their daily routines.
“You can’t leave the room to go to the bathroom, but you can carry water with you into the room. That is where it starts.”
