How much water do you need to sustain yourself?
Q: How much water does the average person really need to drink? And is there such a thing as too much?
A: If you're not sipping from a 64-ounce Stanley cup all day, are you even alive? Hydration is once again having a moment — TikTok videos with the #watertok hashtag now have more than 1 billion views.
Whether you're drinking from a trendy tumbler or a plain old glass, there is no «one-size-fits-all» answer to how much water you should drink in a day. The closest thing the United States has to a water consumption recommendation comes from the National Academy of Medicine, which, in 2004, reported that healthy men usually stay adequately hydrated when they drink at least three liters (nearly 13 cups) of water per day, and that women are typically hydrated when they drink at least 2.2 liters (just over nine cups) per day, not including the water they consume via food.
But these guidelines should not be taken as gospel, experts said.
«Most people, even if they stay below that recommendation, will be just 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 is, of course, crucial for our survival. It helps us eliminate waste, maintain blood pressure, regulate body temperature and more.
Some people need more water than others. People who are especially active — who have physically demanding jobs or who exercise a lot — lose more water through sweat and will need to
