Our body is made up of almost 70 percent of water. It is the principal component of our body. Moreover, our body needs sufficient water to survive. Even the smallest organ, tissue, or cell of our body requires water for proper functioning. Water not only detoxifies the body but also helps in transportation of nutrients to the cells, aids food digestion, and cushions the joints. Not drinking sufficient water can make you dehydrated thus leading to health conditions like confusion, seizures, and dizziness.
However, our body loses water constantly in the form of sweat and urine. In addition, regular body functions, such as breathing, also release water from the body in the form of perspiration. Therefore, it is extremely important to drink sufficient water needed by the body on daily basis. But, it is not necessary that a set quantity fits everyone’s body requirements. It depends largely on factors like your body weight, body size, your level of daily workout, and the weather to decide how much water should you drink daily. You can take guidance from a nutritionist to determine the right quantity of water required by your body.

Factors affecting how much water one should drink daily

Some factors that decide on how much water should we drink daily include:

•    The Season or Weather

Due to perspiration, your body might requires more water in warmer months as contrasted to what is required in winter months.

•    Your Surroundings where you Live

Your dwelling place affects your water intake to a large extent. Your body will ask for more water if you live in dry, hor, or humid areas. Also, you feel the urge to drink more water at high altitudes or in mountains.

•    Diet

If you are a coffee lover or take more of caffeinated beverages, your body might lose more water through extra urination. Or, if you eat more spicy, salty, or sugary foods in your diet, your body might ask for water. Also, your body can go dehydrated if your diet lacks the presence of hydrating foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.

•    Environment

You might have a tendency for drinking more water if you are outdoors or in the sun most of the time.

•    Health Conditions

In case of fever or infection, our body tends to lose fluid through diarrhea or vomiting. This might make your body ask for more water. Also, diabetic patients have a tendency to drink more water than normal.

•    Lifestyle

In our present day, most of us are highly conscious about weight management and staying fit. Most of us do gym or walk and try to keep ourselves engaged in any sort of physical activity to stay fit and active. It such cases, it becomes important to consider how much water should we drink daily to prevent the body from dehydration and stay charged.

•    Breastfeeding or pregnancy

If you are a nursing mother or pregnant, you may require extra water to keep yourself hydrated. After all, your body is working for two.

How Much Water Should We Drink Daily?

It is usually said that a person should drink at least eight glasses of water every day. But, the daily requirement of water varies for every individual.  There are certain basic guidelines to decide how much water drink daily.
As recommended by the Institute of Medicine, a healthy adult male requires thirteen cups or three liters (approximately) of total fluid on daily basis. On the other hand, for a healthy adult female, the daily requirement of total fluid counts to nine cups (a little more than two liters) per day. Now, this requirement is different for pregnant and breastfeeding females. The daily requirement for pregnant women is set to approximately ten cups a day and twelve cups for breastfeeding mothers.
This is just the basic quantity of water set for general individuals. But, this requirement may vary depending on your body weight and size. In fact, if you are out in a hot day, or doing some tedious tasks that make you sweat a lot, this requirement of water goes up. Surprisingly, your body will ask for it. However, you should limit your water intake if you are suffering from any type of kidney disease or heart failure. It is, therefore, better to consult your doctor about how much water should you drink daily depending upon your health conditions.

How does Water Intake Prevent Health Issues?

Sufficient water intake through the day helps to prevent numerous health issues. It also helps proper and healthy functioning if various body organs. There are certain health issues that can respond very well to sufficient water intake. These include:

•    Urinary Tract Infections

As shown by recent research and studies, increased water consumption not only prevents but also aids faster treatment of urinary tract infections and infection in bladder. Although proper medication is necessary to treat the infection, increased water intake aids faster recover. If you have a problem of recurring UTI, make it a routine to drink more water than you normally do.  

•    Regulates Body Temperature

Sufficient water intake through the day enables the body to stay at normal temperature and prevents from feeling overheated.

•    Constipation

Constipation is a very common problem, especially in today’s lifestyle where fiber intake is very less. Drinking sufficient water through the day prevents constipation.

•    Skin Hydration

It has been proved through studies that sufficient water intake makes your skin better through proper hydration.

•    Kidney Stones

As per studies conducted in the past, depending upon how much water drink daily also influences the prevention of kidney stones. This is because of the regular detoxification of the body organs through sufficient intake of water.

•    Weight Management

If you are working on weight reduction, then it is extremely important to keep a check on how much water should you drink daily to support healthy weight loss. In fact, drinking two cups of water about half an hour before meal reduces the number of calories you consume. This is because we mistake our body’s thirst with hunger.

Wrapping up, it is worth noting that plain water is not the only fluid contributing to the body’s fluid balance. There are also certain foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables that contain water and contribute to keeping your body well hydrated.

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