How much water should a person drink per day?

[DanMart25]

I was just wondering how much should a person drink per day? Is 8 glasses of water enough to avoid dehydration.

 

[Mikey]

I'm not sure, but I drink at least a gallon of water a day, and I'm 175lbs, 6ft, and an athletic build. You're not dehydrated unless you start getting lightheaded or your piss starts to get really dark yellow.

 

[KoolDrew]

It's hard to give a generalized figure as everybody is different, depending on their bodies, activities, environment, etc. A rule of thumb I've heard is 5 clear urinations a day. If your pee isn't clear, you're not drinking enough water. Thirst is not a good indicator of fluid intake because by that point you're already a bit dehydrated.

 

[dullard]

If you drink too little you will be clearly sick and can die. If you drink too much you will die. Either option can happen, but it is more frequent that people drink too little and die than drink too much and die.

Avoid either case, and you are fine. This ok region is quite broad and easy to hit. That is, if you are alive right now and you aren't showing any severe signs of dehydration, you probably are drinking a correct amount. Our bodies have this wonderful mechanism to tell us how much to drink: thirst. Trust your body.

Pretty much anything else that someone says is unsubstantiated (and usually scientifically disproven) myths. There is no scientifically proven "8 glasses of water a day" or any other water rule. Link.

 

[spamsk8r]

8 glasses a day should be fine, unless you're sweating heavily for hours every day.

 

[oddyager]

Everything in moderation. I drink at least 2-3 bottles per day.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I drink two glasses of water with breakfast lunch and dinner, and maybe 2 or 3 glasses throughout the day in between. But you also get a lot of water with food as well.

You can tell you aren't drinking enough water if you get hangnails or chapped lips. Also if you always carry circles under your eyes, those are all signs you need to be drinking more water.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Usually your body weight in ounces divided by two is a pretty good estimate. That's usually for someone who is fairly active. Also, they say 8 cups of water, not 8 glasses. 8 x 8 oz = 64 oz. 8 x 12 oz (which is about how much a normal glass entailed) = 96 oz. That is unrealistic for most people.

 

[Kaido]

Most workout people I've talked to or read about say a gallon a day, but I can't drink anywhere NEAR that. I carry around a water bottle all day and have replaced nearly everything with water, except for milk on my breakfast cereal, and I still haven't hit a gallon, even when I have a heavy physical day. I think it just depends on your body, really. Everybody's different!

Also, I've heard that having clear urine isn't necessarily a good thing, it's supposed to be light yellow because of Vitamin B or something - apparently I've been drinking too much and flushing all the good stuff out of my body, haha.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Yeah too much water is bad too. But drinking enough water also takes training.

 

[Megatomic]

Being a runner/biker and working in a power plant in Texas I have to drink a lot of water. Typically I drink at least 3 quarts of water, sometimes a gallon. And that's in addition to the Silk I have with breakfast, coffee, and diet sodas throughout the day. With all that fluid my urine is always slightly yellow, never clear. So I guess I'm drinking the right amount for my needs.

 

[rezinn]

You have to remember that the food you eat has water in it too, so you don't need to be drinking the same amount every day. Especially things like fruits, pastas. And you can't really drink too much water unless you've got bad kidneys and are trying to. If your urine is clear you're not washing anything good out of your body.

You should know if you're not drinking enough because you'll be thirsty. We lose this ability as we get older, though.