How much water you should drink everyday

The human body is approximately two-thirds water.  This makes up three-quarters of our lean body mass and 10% of our fat mass.  Water is the most essential of all nutrients as our body could not last long without it. 

As everybody is different there is no definitive answer as to how much water we should drink each day.  The most common guide to go by is to drink when you are thirsty.  8 glasses (8 x 250ml) is recommended as optimum water consumption levels, however there is no definitive answer for the amount of water one person or another should drink each day.

Typically, adequate intakes can be defined as:

• 7 Litres for men.
• 7 Litres for women.

This does not necessarily mean we need to consume 3.7-2.7 litres of water from a bottle (or tap daily) as water can be provided from food also.  Dietary sources of water can include juice, fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat etc.  The general rule is that the less processed a product is the more water it will contain.  This is why foods such as chips, lollies, cookies and cereals all contain low to no water, and why they have such a high shelf life.

Water levels also need to be adjusted depending on how much and how intense your exercise regime may be.  If you exercise to the point where you are sweating, your body is losing water and this needs to be replaced through proper hydration.