Q: How much water does the average person need to drink? Is there such a thing as too much?
If you’re not sipping on a 64-ounce Stanley cup all day, are you even alive? Once again, hydration is having a moment — TikTok videos with the hashtag #watertok have now racked up over a billion views.
Whether you drink from a trendy cup or a regular old mug, there is no “one size fits all” answer to how much water you should drink in a day. The closest the United States has to a recommendation on water consumption comes from the National Academy of Medicine, which reported in 2004 that healthy men usually stay adequately hydrated when they drink at least three liters (about 13 cups) of water daily. Women usually stay hydrated when they drink at least 2.2 liters (just over nine cups) per day, not including the water they consume through food.
But experts say these guidelines should not be taken as gospel.
“Most people, even if they stay below that recommendation, will be fine,” said Dr. Siddharth P. Shah, a nephrologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in hydration and electrolyte balance.
When should I drink water, and how much?
Water, of course, is crucial to our survival. It helps us eliminate waste, maintain blood pressure, regulate body temperature, and more.
Some people need more water than others. Particularly active people, those with physically demanding jobs or who exercise a lot lose more water through sweat and will need to compensate by drinking more water, said Dr. George Chiampas, Northwestern Medicine’s emergency medicine specialist and chief medical officer. . For the American Football Association.
People may also need to drink more if they live in hot climates, have larger bodies or a lot of muscle mass, have loose stools, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have kidney stones or frequent urinary tract infections, experts said.
Over the course of life, human water needs also change. Typically, as people age, people lose muscle and gain fat, Dr. Shah said. Because fat contains less water than muscle, people generally need to consume less water as they age to maintain healthy tissue.
However, some older adults still aren’t consuming as much water as they need, Dr. Shah says, because older people’s bodies — especially, research suggests, those over 60 — aren’t good at detecting thirst. He explained that the level of dehydration “that makes you thirsty at age 40 may not make you thirsty at age 80.”
If you feel thirsty, you’re probably dehydrated and should drink water, said Dr. Alicia Robichau, a family and sports medicine physician at Houston Methodist.
There can be more subtle signs of dehydration as well, such as constantly feeling cold or dry skin, Dr. Robichau said. She added that people with acute or chronic dehydration may also suffer from headaches or dry eyes.
Because people don’t get hydrated while they sleep, “most people wake up already dehydrated,” Dr. Chiambas said. He said it’s generally a good idea to start your day with a glass.
Dr. Robichaux said it’s perfectly fine to add flavors to water or drink soda, but she cautioned that coffee and other caffeinated drinks may not be as hydrating as decaf. Drinking caffeinated beverages, especially if you don’t drink them regularly, can reduce the kidneys’ ability to absorb water, causing more water to be lost through urine. Alcoholic beverages also cause dehydration.
Keep in mind that you can also get water from food. Some fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon and celery, are mostly water, Dr. Shah said. The National Academy of Medicine has estimated that people get, on average, 20 percent of their water needs through food.
Dr. Chiambas said most people are unlikely to drink a lot of water, but it is possible, especially among athletes who drink a lot of water quickly. Doing so may disrupt the body’s sodium and potassium balance and lead to fatal water intoxication.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises drinking no more than 48 ounces of water per hour. Also keep in mind that there is probably no health benefit to consuming large amounts of water.
“There are a lot of very large water bottles that people carry these days,” Dr. Shah said. “But the vast majority of people don’t need to drink an excessive amount of water.”
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