# How much water do you really need to drink in a day?



## User (Mar 20, 2004)

?


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## ecotec83 (Sep 7, 2009)

The 8 glasses of water a day that is recommended is only a guideline. You really only need to drink when you feel thristy or if your sweating a lot. My intake can fluctuate between 2 cups a day to a 10 depending on what i eat or how active i am.


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## tutliputli (Feb 22, 2009)

I think it's really annoying and vague when we're recommended to drink '8 glasses' - what size glass, morons? (I mean the officials are morons, not you ecotec!)

I remember hearing somewhere that 2 litres a day is a healthy amount. I try to drink 2/3 pints a day because it's good for my skin and otherwise I'd just be drinking tea/coffee all day long.


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## SeekingHappiness (Dec 14, 2009)

Like Ecotec said it all depends on situation but a good indicator is 'do you feel thirsty' I bring a water bottle with me around and sip at it all day, if I'm stressed or doing some physical activity I drink more.


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## RayOfLight123 (Dec 4, 2009)

I drink about 2 litres a day..and lots of tea


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## strawberryjulius (Jun 28, 2009)

The minimum I drink in a day is 800mL.


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## Squirrelevant (Jul 27, 2008)

I just drink when I'm thirsty like you're supposed to.


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## 2Talkative (Nov 1, 2007)

I hardly drink any. We get a lot of water through food intake. I will drink lots after I've consumed something high in sodium other than that I might have a cup or 2 a day.


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## BDY18 (Nov 8, 2008)

You dont "need" to drink 8 glasses a day, but you should if you want to be at your healthiest. Not drinking enough water can lead to a lot of health problems, it can even cause things like bad acne and bad b.o., but way more then that. If you drink 8 glasses of water a day, every day, you can definitely feel the difference. Everything in your body needs water to work properly, eventually it will catch up with you if you don't drink enough water. What you do to your body now will effect your health later. Our body is made up of mostly water for a reason, and we need to retain that.


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## sherrycoke (Dec 13, 2009)

2 Litres of Water a day for adults


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

This is a very good question.
For me, unfortunately, I would likely need to drink far more due to all of the running I do - Paxil makes me sweat even more . There is also the caffeine factor - it dehydrates, too.


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## sherrycoke (Dec 13, 2009)

Yea if you live in a tropical/warm climate and do alot of exercising you would more then the daily recommendation because you're sweating it all out of your body.
But I think generally for a standard you loose 2 litres a day so you need to drink 2 litres to keep it how it was.
If you dont you can get the worst head aches from dehydration etc.
And the best thing is just pure water.


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## Bankai (Dec 20, 2009)

A gallon, straight water.


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## pita (Jan 17, 2004)

LaRibbon said:


> When you are thirsty. As much as you want. I studied physiology at uni, and when we studied the renal system, my professor lectured us on how the 8 glasses a day is a myth. There is no research indicating we need to drink that much water, or that there are health benefits from it. Our body has evolved for hundreds of years and is pretty well equipped to regulate our water intake and output. So just drink when you are thirsty.


This. I think if you drink too much water, you'll flush too many water-soluble vitamins out of your systerm.


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## ecotec83 (Sep 7, 2009)

tutliputli said:


> I think it's really annoying and vague when we're recommended to drink '8 glasses'


I think it was something like 8 8oz glasses per day.

I also read a study about how the 8 glasses a day was a myth, some government body wasting tax dollars. I fully agree with it, we did not have intake guidline thousands of years ago and our bodies have a complex system of checks and balances to ensure everything functions as it should. If you need more water your body will tell you to drink. I'm also convinced that if your low on certain vitamins or minerals your body will cause you to crave certain types food.


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## forever_dreamer (Jul 8, 2008)

I just drink water 1-4 times a day and maybe more if I want to.


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## TheDaffodil (Jun 20, 2009)

It depends on how much you weigh and your lifestyle. You might not need to drink 8 glasses. This isn't the site I originally researched it at but it as the same information:

http://www.wikihow.com/Drink-More-Water-Every-Day


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## STKinTHEmud (Jun 21, 2009)

Here's a general formula:

[your body weight in pounds] / 2 = ounces of water you need every day to be healthy.

If you're working out, you'll need a bit more. You can NOT emphasize the importance of water enough when you workout, especially if you're trying to gain muscle. I drink about 16 cups of water a day (I always keep a big glass of water at my desk and take a water bottle with me everywhere I go and refill at water fountains). A general rule of thumb is that if you're urine clear or pale yellow, then you're getting enough water. If it's any more yellow than that, you aren't.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kbrown3.htm


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## ju_pa (Sep 21, 2008)

I think "8 ounces a day" is myth. Maybe "8 ounces" from all the sources including food. You will piss your calcium and magnesium and all other essential minerals away.

Also, drinking 8 ounces a day was the cause for my constipation. It made me paranoid and scared. I thought dairy was making me constipated. But after reading Gut Sense (I recommend everybody to read it: http://www.gutsense.org/gutsense/constipation.html) my problems dissapeared. I never had constipation anymore.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

Apparently 2 litres, although it's summer here and really hot, and I exercise alot so I would guess that I drink closer to 4 litres of water per day.


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## mark555666 (May 1, 2008)

I only drink when I'm thirsty or when I have a dry mouth.

Extra fluids before exercise.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

If you're thirsty, drink. If you're not thirsty, then don't.

Many have become obsessed with this idea of 64 ounces (half a gallon) of water daily, a guideline based on some decades-old study that included all the water found in food. People seem to forget that many food items are, in fact, largely water -- salads or yogurt for example. Unless all you eat is pretzels & beef jerky, odds are you're getting a fair amount of water from food itself.


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## contranigma (Jun 24, 2009)

The "8 glasses" thing has bothered me, too. That has never seemed right for me, because if I drank that much, I would be peeing every 10 minutes all day long which would lead to a very inefficient day.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

I think their referring to drinking 8 glasses (or roughly 2 litres) of non alcoholic, non caffeinated fluid per day to be properly hydrated. I mean obviously water would be the healthiest option though.


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## semidetached (Oct 27, 2009)

I have eczema along side the excess sweating that for me occurs when my anxiety is high. It really annoys me when people say "just drink when you're thirsty" because for me is this impossible. For some reason I am unable to work out, I am incapable of judging my own thirst levels. I have the same issue with hunger and often only eat when I'm reminded or given food.

It's odd to me, as my anxiety seems to have heightened my sensitivity to a lot of my body's signs and reactions (such as tension and heartbeat), but when it comes to hunger and thirst it's as if I can't hear myself.


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## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

i try to take a gallon a day. too many people dont drink enough water. all these headaches, body aches and moods that people complain about would be eliminated by staying well hydrated.


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