How much water should we drink a day?

@rosehips You need to get to know your system and go by that and your activities. If you get thirsty it means you’re already slightly dehydrated.

The 8 glasses of 8 oz was an old study that I believe was done on military men. It isn’t a bad basic rule, but it varies how much really is needed according to weight, muscle mass, sweating, etc.

Basically if your pee is very yellow you are not hydrated enough. If you need to urinate all the time and your pee is clear like water, you are probably drinking much more than necessary. If you are thirsty a lot, you probably are very underhydrated. You should be drinking enough through the day that you never are very thirsty.

FYI: it is possible to drink too much water/liquid, it can be deadly. Especially if you drink it at once, like chuggalugging beer. Your kidneys can not handle extreme amounts of water at once and your electrolytes can get out of whack and your tissues can get flooded. It is very dangerous. I know two people indirectly through my parents who did this, one died, the other was hospitalized for it.

Also, if you are excessively thirsty that can be a signal of diabetes.

But, it does not sound like you are drinking excessive amounts of water nor thirsty all the time.

I just drink water all day. It’s best to drink water with lemon in it too. Usually my pee is clear after a couple urinations, usually around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I’m peeing clear for the rest of the day. That’s what I go by. I also live in a dry high altitude climate, and finally 3 years later my body seems to be adjusting. I still have to drink more water than I would at home at sea level but I think I’m acclimating.

I was just trying to measure my water intake and after a glass or two in the morning more evenly space it out.
Also I generally try to overhydrate due to health conditions not kidney related. But I do worry about overhydrating am not sure how rational that is. It would be nice to have some sort of clear guideline. @deni I also like adding lemon to my water. I also reuse my tea bags in cold water just for a gentle infusion of taste sometimes, i tried mint leaves once but the oils didn’t mix with the water well.

@rosehips Overhydrating risks are pretty small unless you drink a huge volume of liquid in a hurry

I saw a program on this, and a few doctors and experts were interviewed. The program surprised me. Yes the 8 oz or 8 glasses still stands, but can be included in all your fluid intake. Meaning, tea, juice and other drinks. If you think about it, in hospital even a cup of tea is counted as fluid intake.

I’m not sure though about coffee, as coffee is a diuretic.

The only time to increase it, they stated was when you ate certain foods. Which require more fluid to aid in digestion.

@rosehips Lemon is extremely good for you also, most people don’t realize this. I have read that it even has cancer curing properties in it’s rind. Pharmaceutical companies don’t want us to know this of course.

@Adirondackwannabe I do have a tendency to carried away in my activities and neglect drinking and then glut myself full of water, which is where the regulation to stop this is in effect. But it is a relief to know that as long as I am sensible about it my worries are null and void..Not by nature a sensible person
@Shippy It does help to know that tea falls under fluid intake, though isn’t also a diuretic?
@deni I wasn’t aware of this I love picking up random facts about the intrinsic properties of food. So thank you