How much water were you told to drink a day when you were growing up? When I was growing up in the 1900s, as my kids call it, I was told by my public school health teachers that 8 cups of water a day was the target. At the time I didn’t question it. But as I got older, I began to develop a logical skepticism that the one-size-fits-all standard of 8 cups of water a day was not as precise as it should be.
Obviously, a five-foot-tall person weighing 120 pounds does not need as much daily water intake as someone the size of Shaquille O’Neal. It doesn’t take a medical doctor or scientist to recognize that fact. Before I dive into a better way to calculate how much water you should consume in a day, let’s first discuss the benefits of increased daily water intake.
A recent study was conducted by researchers affiliated with the University of California and Cornell University involving a “systematic review of 18 randomized clinical trials” with all but one of them focused on “interventions of increased water intake.” The remaining clinical trial focused on “decreased intake.”
According to the findings of the study, “consuming additional water was associated with greater weight loss (range, 44%-100% more than control conditions) and fewer nephrolithiasis events (15 fewer events per 100 participants over 5 years).”
“Single studies suggested benefits related to migraine prevention, urinary tract infection, diabetes control, and hypotension.” the researchers for that particular study also stated.
An article authored by Howard E. LeWine, MD, the Chief Medical Editor of Harvard Health Publishing, recommends “For healthy individuals, the average daily water for men is about 15.5 cups and for women about 11.5 cups. That might mean you need only four to six cups of plain water, depending on other fluid sources such as coffee, tea, juice, fruits, and vegetables.”
In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (page 715) he states, “For anyone involved in intense exercise, the need for water is at least eight 12-ounce glasses per day.”
“Some bodybuilders drink even more than this. And water in solution doesn’t count. You need pure water, not juice, soft drinks, coffee, tea, or some other substitute.” Arnold also states.
Both Doctor LeWine’s and Arnold’s recommendations, while different than ‘8 cups a day,’ are still one-size-fits-all recommendations. A better approach, in my humble opinion, is calculating daily water intake needs based on things like height, weight, age, and activity level. I feel that is based on sound logic and helps calculate for individual variables such as a person being five feet tall, 120 pounds, and living a sedentary lifestyle versus being a seven-foot tall, 350-pound professional athlete with a very active lifestyle.
The University of Florida has created an online calculator where someone can punch in those variables, and more, to see how much water they should consume on a daily basis. You can access the ‘daily water intake calculator’ at this link here. Just for fun, I punched in the following criteria and it yielded the following related recommendations:
- Age: 25
- Gender: Female
- Height: 5’0″
- Weight: 120 lbs
- Activity Level: Sedentary (little or no exercise)
- Climate: Cold
- Additional Sources of Water Consumed Regularly: Tea, Coffee, Fruit, Vegetables, Juice, Soda
- Daily Water Intake Recommendation: 60 oz
And
- Age: 35
- Gender: Male
- Height: 7’0″
- Weight: 350 lbs
- Activity Level: Extreme (very heavy exercise or job)
- Climate: Tropical
- Additional Sources of Water Consumed Regularly: Fruit, Vegetables, Milk
- Daily Water Intake Recommendation: 278.5 oz
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