1) How do I determine how much water I should drink?
An easy and commonly accepted way to determine how much you should drink is to first figure out what the bare minimum your body needs to function if you just sit around at a desk job, hang around the house or are just doing sedentary activities like reading. The simple equation to determine this is by taking what you weigh and dividing that in half. Therefore, if you weigh 150 pounds, divide that by two and you get 75 ounces. So if you were to do nothing strenuous at all, the bare minimum you would need to drink would be a little less than eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day.
2) How much water should the average person drink?
According to the Institute of Medicine, the average female adult should drink about 9 cups per day whereas the average male should drink about 13 cups per day.
3) Should I drink more when it's hot?
Heat and humidity can make you sweat more and therefore require additional fluids. So, if you're spending time outside in the summer and you are feeling warm, drink a glass of water. However, heated indoor air in a typical office building during the wintertime for example can also cause a person to require more fluid.
4) What if I workout?
If you are exercising on a daily basis for at least half-an-hour and you're sweating, you should drink an extra 1.5-2.5 cups. So to be on the safe side, that means if you're a woman, you should be drinking around an average of 11 cups or 15 cups if you're a man. If you're participating in intense exercise, such as training for a marathon, or working out hard for an hour or more you will want to increase this number.
5) What if I'm breast feeding?
If you are breastfeeding a child it's especially important to stay hydrated since you're drinking to keep you hydrated as well as being the primary source of hydration for another person. The Institute of Medicine recommends that a nursing mother should consume an average of 13 cups per day, which you will probably need to increase if you are breast-feeding along with working out.
6) Can I get water from the foods that I eat?
It's important to note that what you drink is not the only way to meet daily fluid needs. In fact, on average, a person's diet accounts for 20% of their water intake. For example, most fruits and vegetables are comprised by as much as 90% water. Also, things like soup or broth are pretty much all water and therefore can be counted towards your daily total.
Beverages like milk and juice can count towards your daily fluid intake. However, be careful, because certain drinks like coffee, for example, are diuretics and should not be counted as part of your daily intake since they do more to dehydrate you than help keep you hydrated. Also, milk and juice have additional calories and sugars so they should be consumed in moderation, especially if trying to lose weight.
If you are drinking enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and your urine is colorless or very light yellow you're probably well hydrated. However, if you're concerned about your fluid intake because you have health issues or are taking any medications that may make your water needs unusual please check with your doctor. They can help determine the amount of water that's right for you.
Some helpful tips to try and follow on a daily basis to make sure that you're getting enough water are:
- Drink a glass of water with each meal
- Carry a water bottle around everywhere you go and try to make sure that you are constantly sipping
- If you're a person that carries a planner, put when you're going to drink water in there, schedule it like you'd schedule a meeting
- Drink a glass of water before you exercise, one during and one after
- Drink a cup of tea when watching television at night
