How Much Water Should You Drink a Day?

Drinking water is an essential part of our everyday lives, including our health. But exactly how much water should you drink a day? The answer isn’t so simple as the standard eight cups that we’re always told.

If you’ve ever wondered about your daily fluid intake and healthy hydration, you’ll find some answers here. We’ll explain why drinking enough water is important and give helpful tips to ensure you get the health benefits of good hydration.

Straight to the Point: How Much Water Should You Drink a Day?

You may have heard the golden rule of drinking eight cups of water a day. Although it is a good rule to follow, the truth is that it doesn’t fulfill everyone’s hydration needs. It’s a rule that was made up because it’s easy to remember and easy to follow. However, the answer to “how many ounces of water should I drink a day” is different for everyone.

To start, here’s what Mayo Clinic reports as the recommended total water intake for men and women, based on the findings of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine:

About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men
About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women

This may be surprisingly high based on the 8 cups of water daily recommendation, but it truly is how much water many people need. However, this amount is a recommended average and isn’t universal. Some people may need more water for healthy hydration, and some people may even be okay with less.

Several factors affect your water needs, including:

Your size and/or body weight: The more mass you have, the more water you may need.
Exercise level: The more active you are, the more water loss you experience throughout the day, so you may need to replenish more often.
Your climate: If you live in a hot climate or spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun, you need more water to avoid dehydration, especially if you have a high activity level.

Essentially, you have to listen to your body, which will tell you when you’re thirsty. If you have a dry mouth, are producing less urine, or are engaging in increased physical activity, it’s probably time to drink a little more for adequate hydration.

You may be thirsty more often or less often than the average person, and that’s okay – as long as your body is staying hydrated.

One thing to note about water intake is that a cup of water isn’t your only source of water. There’s water in the foods you eat, and, of course, in all of the fluids you drink.

Certain foods are abundant in water and greatly help you reach your daily water intake goals. For example, watermelon is almost 100% water, and a certain quantity may greatly supplement your daily water intake.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Water?

In general, it is very difficult to drink too much water. That is a problem you shouldn’t concern yourself with. That being said, there is such a thing as drinking too much water, and it’s called water intoxication.

When you drink an excessive amount of water for your body, your kidneys may struggle to get rid of this extra water. This causes your body’s salt levels to decrease, and as a consequence, your cells begin to swell. This is referred to as hyponatremia and can be a life-threatening condition.

Overhydration is common in athletes, but people rarely die from drinking too much water. Nonetheless, it is possible.

Tips on Increasing Your Water Intake

Here are a few additional tips on how to make sure that you’re consuming enough water, and learning how much water your body needs.

Set a Goal

If you’re just starting your journey towards proper hydration, you may not even know how much water your body needs. Until you figure that out, set a target for how much water to drink a day.

An easy start is to follow the 8×8 rule (8 cups of 8 ounces of water). But if you’re already drinking that much water and think you need more, aim for a higher amount. Once you have a better grasp of your thirst, adjust your daily target amount as needed.

Keep a Reusable Water Bottle Handy

Using a reusable water bottle makes it easy to track your water consumption. What’s more is that it allows you to take a sip of water in any setting, whether you’re sitting at your desk or driving to work in the morning. Lastly, reusable water bottles are an eco-friendly way of ensuring that you get enough water, as they reduce your plastic use.

Set Water Reminders

With our busy schedule, sometimes we simply forget to drink water. Setting a reminder on your phone to drink water every hour or so ensures that you are consistently drinking throughout the day, and helps you build better water-drinking habits.

Replace Your Other Beverages with Plain Water

Chances are that even if you aren’t drinking a sufficient amount of water right now, you’re probably drinking something – whether that is fruit juice, soda, or caffeinated drinks like coffee. Try replacing these drinks with water instead.

This not only increases your water intake but may also minimize the amount of added sugars you consume in a day, contributing to your overall health. Sports drinks are okay when you’re trying to replace fluid loss from exercise, but try to stick to only one sports drink a day.

Eat Foods High in Water

Drinking water isn’t your only source of hydration. If you prefer to get more water through food, then do that!

There are a lot of delicious foods that have high water content and that can contribute to your overall water intake. These food include:

Lettuce
Celery
Cucumber
Watermelon
Honeydew

You can get a ton of water when you enjoy a nice, crisp salad for lunch, plus this healthy eating can help with weight loss.

Wrap Up: Figuring Out How Much Water You Should Drink a Day

Hopefully, you now have an idea of how many litres of water to drink a day and how you can make sure you can provide your body with the hydration it needs.

Knowing everything you know now about water consumption, it’s clear that having access to water is a priority if you’re hosting an event or planning a gathering.

A Quench Buggy helps your guests meet their personal hydration needs, no matter how thirsty they are. You can rent a Quench Buggy to cover a specific event, or you can purchase one so that you’re always prepared to offer your guests fresh, cool water fast.