How much water should you drink daily?

In the early nineteenth century, people had to be near death before they would drink water. According to Vincent Priessnitz, the originator of hydropathy (also known as “the water cure”), only those “reduced to the last stage of poverty satisfy their thirst with water”.

The way times have evolved. Although bottled water sales just overtook soda sales in the US, adults in the UK are currently consuming more water than they have in recent years. We are inundated with advertising informing us that drinking liters of water daily can help us avoid cancer, reduce weight and have beautiful skin and energy.

The “8×8 rule”—an informal recommendation to drink eight 240ml glasses of water a day or little less than two litres, on top of any other drinks—fuels this thirst for water.

However, neither the UK’s nor the EU’s official recommendations nor scientific studies support this rule or indicate that we should be drinking this amount.

The US Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council recommended in 1945 that adults drink one milliliter of fluids for every calorie of food that is recommended. This means that an individual consuming 2,000 calories should drink two liters for women and two and a half for males. Not only did it cover water but also the majority of drinks and fruits, as water can make up as much as 98% of them.

According to the most recent studies, drinking eight glasses of water per day – or approximately two litres – is more than our bodies require to be hydrated. Instead, drink 1.5 to 1.8 litres of water each day.

Drinking eight glasses of water every day we should personalize our water intake to our temperature and activity level. Those who live in hot and humid environments and at high altitudes, as well as athletes, pregnant and breastfeeding women need to drink more water than others.

Meanwhile, nutritionists Margaret McWilliams and Frederick Stare suggested that the average adult drink six to eight glasses of water per day in their book Nutrition for Good Health which was published in 1974. However, the authors pointed out that this can also apply to fruits and vegetables, beer and caffeinated and soft drinks.

Water is very important our life. Water which makes up approximately two-thirds of our body weight is essential for most internal chemical reactions as well as for regulating body temperature, transporting nutrients and waste products throughout the body and lubricating and cushioning joints.

We lose water all the time via sweat, urination and breathing. Maintaining adequate hydration is an intricate equilibrium and essential for preventing dehydration. When we lose one to two percent of our body’s water content, we start to show signs of dehydration and keep getting worse until we replenish our fluids. Such dehydration can be lethal in certain circumstances.

Experts generally concur that we shouldn’t worry about consuming an excessive amount of water each day because like with hunger and fatigue. Our systems will alert us when we’re thirsty. It appears that the only health benefit of overindulging in alcohol is the additional calories you burn via many trips to the bathroom.