How much water should you drink a day?

Pedro_P

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Whether you’ve had fatigue or even dry skin, you’ve probably been told to drink more water as a cure. But this advice comes from decades-old guidance… and may have no scientific basis.


▼ In the early 19th Century, people had to be close to death before deigning to drink water. Only those “reduced to the last stage of poverty satisfy their thirst with water”, according to Vincent Priessnitz, the founder of hydropathy, otherwise known as “the water cure”.
Many people, he added, had never drunk more than half a pint of  plain waterin one sitting.
How times have changed. Adults in the UK today are consuming  more waternow than in recent years, while in the US, sales of  bottled water recently surpassed  sales of soda.We’ve been bombarded with messages telling us that drinking litres of water every day is the secret to good health, more energy and great skin, and that it will make us lose weight and avoid cancer.
Commuters are encouraged to take bottles of water onto the London Underground, pupils are advised to bring water into their lessons and few office meetings can commence without a giant jug of water sitting in the middle of the desk.
Fuelling this appetite for water is the “8x8 rule”: the unofficial advice recommending we drink eight 240ml glasses of water per day, totalling just under two litres, on top of any other drinks.
That “rule”, however, isn’t backed by scientific findings – nor do UK or EU official guidelinessay we should be drinking this much.
Where did it come from? Most likely, it seems, from misinterpretations of two pieces of guidance – both from decades ago.
In 1945 the US Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council advised adults to consume one millilitre of liquid for every recommended calorie of food, which equates to two litres for women on a 2,000-calorie diet and two-and-a-half for men eating 2,500 calories. Not just water, that included most types of drinks – as well as fruits and vegetables, which can contain up to 98% water.
In 1974, meanwhile, the book Nutrition for Good Health, co-authored by nutritionists Margaret McWilliams and Frederick Stare, recommended that the average adult consumes between six to eight glasses of water a day. But, the authors wrote, this can include fruit and veg, caffeinated and soft drinks, even beer.
In thirst we trust
Water is, of course, important. Making up around two-thirds of our body weight, water carries nutrients and waste products around our bodies, regulates our temperature, acts as a lubricant and shock absorber in our joints and plays a role in most chemical reactions happening inside us.
We’re constantly losing water through sweat, urination and breathing. Ensuring we have enough water is a fine balance, and crucial to avoiding dehydration. The symptoms of dehydration can become detectable when we lose between 1-2% of our body’s water and we continue to deteriorate until we top our fluids back up. In rare cases, such dehydration can be fatal.
Experts largely agree that we don’t need any more fluid than the amount our bodies signal for, when it signals for it
Years of unsubstantiated claims around the 8x8 rule have led us to believe that feeling thirsty means we’re already dangerously dehydrated. But experts largely agree that we don’t need any more fluid than the amount our bodies signal for, when it signals for it.
“The control of hydration is some of most sophisticated things we’ve developed in evolution, ever since ancestors crawled out of sea onto land. We have a huge number of sophisticated techniques we use to maintain adequate hydration,” says Irwin Rosenburg, senior scientist at the Neuroscience and Ageing Laboratory at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
In a healthy body, the brain detects when the body is becoming dehydrated and initiates thirst to stimulate drinking. (▪ ▪ ▪)

► Please, continue reading this article here: Source

soothsayer

"Experts largely agree that we don’t need any more fluid than the amount our bodies signal for, when it signals for it"
I think this is the best as drinking water to comply with the 2 litre rule can lead to excess fluid retention in the body

Viney Mittal

very informative and also interesing. Read the complete article from the source as well...

nlrnmk66

Water intake definitely needs to be monitored not only during summer but also in winter. During summers., we feel thirsty and drink water. However, during winters thirst comes and subsequently we also forget to take fluids properly.

ssangra

This would vary with locations of the world. In the tropics people would need to drink more water than in Britain or in the artic. The guidelines must mention this.

KH_Hirsch

I don't think the 2 litres recommendation is too far off. Also, when you become older you may not feel thirsty "enough" to make sure that you drink enough. And yes, obviously location makes a difference.

shamitabh

I was once told "Eat when hungry" and "drink water when thirsty"
This is mentioned in our ayurveda

Rhett_Bassard

I favor the measurement allowing beer and caffeinated drinks.