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Hydration Planner

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Hydration Planner

Build a drinking routine attached to the things that already happen in your day, rather than a daily total you have to remember.

Written and checked byThe Appetune TeamNo independent clinical reviewer yet

Reviewed July 18, 2026

In development — not yet reviewed

This tool is being built. The page describes what it will ask you and what it will hand back, so you can judge whether it is worth waiting for. Nothing here calculates anything yet.

Build a drinking routine

This planner does not produce a daily total, and it does not calculate one behind the scenes. It builds a sequence of moments attached to things that already happen in your day.

Why there is no number here

The panel that set the reference intakes declined to give one: "We don’t offer any rule of thumb based on how many glasses of water people should drink each day." A total is easy to state and hard to act on. A routine is the other way round.

This part needs JavaScript

The interactive form has not started. Everything that matters — the method, what the tool asks, what it hands back, and when to call someone — is below on this page and does not depend on a script.

Has a clinician set you a fluid restriction?

If they have, theirs is the number that counts and this planner works inside it.

Yes, or I am not sureNo

How you are right now

I am vomiting, or I have diarrhoea

This is a warning condition, not something the planner does sums with. Ticking it puts the escalation advice at the top of the result and changes nothing else.

Points in your day that reliably happen

Tick the ones that are true most days. Each one becomes a drinking moment — a habit you already have is a better prompt than a target.

When you wake upMorning medication or supplementsBreakfast, or the first thing you eatMid-morning — a break, a programme, a phone callLunch, or the middle of the dayAfternoon — a rest, or when the kettle goes onEvening mealEvening — sitting down, television, readingEvening medicationBedtime

What temperature you can face at the moment

ColdRoom temperatureWarmIt changes day to day

Drinking with meals fills me up before I have eaten

Plain water tastes wrong at the moment

How much you are drinking at the moment

Very littleSomeAbout what I always drank

Where you spend most of the day

Adds prompts, not volume.

CoolComfortableWarm or humidIndoors with the heating on

How active you are on a usual day

Mostly restingUp and aboutModerately active

Caffeinated drinks on a usual day

Tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks.

NoneOne or twoThree or fourFive or more

Alcohol

NoneOccasionallyMost days

General body size

Collected, and deliberately not used to scale anything. The result explains why.

Smaller than averageAbout averageLarger than average

I am filling this in for someone I care for

When this needs a clinician, not a recipe

Some of this is not a food problem. Contact your care team the same day — or use urgent care if you cannot reach them — if any of this is true:

You cannot keep fluids down for a day or more.
You are losing weight quickly without meaning to.
You have signs of dehydration: very dark urine, passing much less than usual, dizziness when you stand, a dry mouth that sipping does not fix, or new confusion.
Pain, vomiting, or trouble swallowing is stopping you eating or drinking at all.
Abdominal pain is severe, or it is not letting up.

If you are the one doing the cooking and you are the one noticing this, you are the right person to make the call. Say what you have seen and when it started — that is the useful part.

What this result is not

Not a daily fluid target. There is no total here, on purpose, and no total is calculated behind the scenes either.
Not a diagnosis of dehydration, and not a way to rule it out.
Not a substitute for a fluid restriction your care team has set. Theirs is the number that counts.

Where each figure comes from

Every number this tool uses is one of these. Nothing is averaged between them, and nothing is estimated where a source does not exist.

National Academies — Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride and Sulfate (2005)
The panel declined to give a daily figure: "We don’t offer any rule of thumb based on how many glasses of water people should drink each day because our hydration needs can be met through a variety of sources in addition to drinking water." About 80% of total water comes from drinks, including caffeinated ones, and about 20% comes from food.
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/report-sets-dietary-intake-levels-for-water-salt-and-potassium-to-maintain-health-and-reduce-chronic-disease-risk
Killer, Blannin & Jeukendrup, PLOS ONE, 2014
At about 4 mg caffeine per kg body weight per day, taken as four cups of coffee, there was no evidence of dehydration against a water control across total body water, urine volume and blood markers.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3886980/
Hobson & Maughan, Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2010
One litre of 4% beer produced more urine than alcohol-free beer when people started well hydrated (1279 ml against 1121 ml). The diuretic effect was blunted when they started dehydrated, so alcohol is a reason to drink alongside rather than a fixed volume to subtract.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20497950/
MedlinePlus — Dehydration
Signs in adults: feeling very thirsty, dry mouth, urinating and sweating less than usual, dark-coloured urine, dry skin, tiredness, dizziness. Get medical help right away for confusion, fainting, lack of urination, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing or shock.
https://medlineplus.gov/dehydration.html

What it asks you

Your usual day and its fixed points, what you can currently drink and at what temperature, whether fluid with meals is filling you up, and any fluid restriction your care team has set.

What it gives back

A sequence of small, specific drinking moments through the day, what to reach for at each, and the signs that mean it is time to contact your care team.

How it works

Every figure a tool produces comes from a structured food record or a published reference, and the working is shown. If a number cannot be traced, the tool does not print it.

How we rate and calculate

What this page is not

A tool output is a starting point for a conversation, not a prescription. It does not know your medical history, your medications, or your labs.

Appetune is nutrition support: educational information and general wellness tools. It does not sell or supply medication, and it does not provide medical diagnosis, medication instructions, or individualized treatment. Contact a qualified healthcare professional about persistent symptoms, dehydration, severe gastrointestinal symptoms, medication concerns, or major changes in food intake.

When this needs a clinician, not a recipe

Some of this is not a food problem. Contact your care team the same day — or use urgent care if you cannot reach them — if any of this is true:

You cannot keep fluids down for a day or more.
You are losing weight quickly without meaning to.
You have signs of dehydration: very dark urine, passing much less than usual, dizziness when you stand, a dry mouth that sipping does not fix, or new confusion.
Pain, vomiting, or trouble swallowing is stopping you eating or drinking at all.
Abdominal pain is severe, or it is not letting up.

If you are the one doing the cooking and you are the one noticing this, you are the right person to make the call. Say what you have seen and when it started — that is the useful part.

Sources

What this draws on

These are the reference works this page is being written against. Specific citations are added, line by line, before it leaves draft.

MedlinePlus — Dehydrationmedlineplus.gov

Bring the output to your next appointment.

A page of specifics is a better use of ten minutes than trying to remember how the month went.

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