Nutrition Tip - How Much Water Should You Drink?

Do you ever wonder how much water you should be drinking?  A lot of people do. Here is a tip from John Berardi to help answer that question:

How Much Water?
by Dr. John Berardi

You always hear experts recommending that you drink more water but how many of you actually do it? And how much is enough? Well, check out this chart below for some interesting data on water loss.

Water Loss/ Normal Weather No exercise/ Warm Weather No exercise /Exercise in Warm Weather (85° F)

Skin 350 mL/ 350 mL/ 350 mL
Respiratory Tract 250 mL/ 350 mL/ 650 mL
Urine 1400 mL/ 1200 mL/ 500 mL
Feces 100 mL/ 100 mL/ 100 mL
Sweat 100 mL/ 1400 mL/ 5000 mL
Total 2,300 mL (2.3L)/ 3,300 mL (3.3L)/ 6,600 mL (6.6L)

It should be clear that quite a bit of water is lost per day, especially if you’re an athlete. Since most people can get about 1.5L of water from their food and from metabolic water production, for a margin of safety, I suggest:

  • Sedentary individuals drink at least 2L or about 8 cups of water per day
  • Athletes in normal climates drink at least 3L or about 12 cups of water per day.
  • Athletes in hot weather climates drink at least 4L or about 16 cups of water per day.

This tip is provided by Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition.

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rss 34 comments
  1. January 24th, 2008 | 9:39 pm

    I try to drink 8 glasses a day, but it’s really hard in the winter when it’s so cold.

  2. January 26th, 2008 | 9:16 pm

    Yes, this article is right. I think some people drink less than 2 liters per day even though they realized it is unhealthy. Even if you take a diet pill (to help our weight issue), you stil need to drink a cup of water everytime you consume it.

  3. January 26th, 2008 | 10:05 pm

    Thanks for posting. I think many people are dehydrated and don’t even realize it. Drinking about 1 liter of water for every 1000 calories you consume is a fairly accurate way to estimate your daily water consumption.

  4. January 28th, 2008 | 7:15 pm

    I always hear about drinking this amount of water. To be honest, I never drink water. I wonder if it matters what you drink, as long as you drink enough of it? Diet Cokes make me feel warm and fuzzy. lol

  5. January 29th, 2008 | 2:44 pm

    Thanks for this information, I always wanted to know the correct amount of water to drink each day.
    Someone told me that 8 cups was 8 MEASURING cups of water, NOT 8 drinking glasses of water.
    So can you please tell me, What does “8 cups a day” mean, exactly?

  6. January 30th, 2008 | 11:05 pm

    Water taste like #@%$ unless you exercise. When I exercise water taste so good for the body. Drinking water instead of juices will reduce risk of diabetes.

  7. January 31st, 2008 | 7:49 pm

    Holy smokes that is a lot of water! I am lucky if I get down 2 cups a day. I really need to drink more water I guess.

  8. February 1st, 2008 | 1:21 pm

    I was seriously just thinking about this today, and whether I have been drinking too much or not enough water. I was at 100+ ounces of water a day, but have cut it back to 80 recently.

    Thanks for the info.

  9. February 5th, 2008 | 3:03 am

    This is one of my new years resolutions, to drink 8 glasses of water per day. yet I have already broken it. Funny and sad how DOCTORS (medical professionals) give this advice out, yet people don’t listen. Same with fruit and vegetable recommendations. And we wonder why we’re unhealthy. Cheers and thanks for posting this.

  10. February 5th, 2008 | 8:21 am

    Thanks for the info. When asking this question, I would always get a different response from everyone. It is good to finally get a honest, scientific approach.

  11. February 5th, 2008 | 8:44 am

    8 glasses of water is certainly an easy task to complete. believe it or not, it can be as energizing as 8 cups of coffee… which most of us already drink… substitute.

  12. February 7th, 2008 | 12:29 pm

    Ni info there. Its been a while from my last work out and im started to feel it. My body aren’t the same way it used to.

  13. February 15th, 2008 | 5:55 am

    I think that you have to drink 3 L per day. I buy me every month the Fitness magazin . There are quite goods comments about Health and Fintess. Try it.

  14. March 5th, 2008 | 3:11 am

    Water is the most important thing for everyday. It is nice to get the advice about water but what about the amount of normal ppl have to have during a day when they don’t have exercise and working in ac environment.????

  15. March 6th, 2008 | 2:09 pm

    thanks for this article, water is so important especially if you are losing weight, cause when you burn fat it leaves your body in the form of ash and it will not pass correctly with out plenty of water to flush it out of your system. so drink drink drink

  16. June 12th, 2008 | 6:38 am

    Günstig in den Urlaub.

  17. June 22nd, 2008 | 4:29 am

    Yes, this article is right. I think some people drink less than 2 liters per day even though they realized it is unhealthy

  18. August 13th, 2008 | 3:14 am

    good nutrition tip, keep it up

  19. September 15th, 2008 | 1:12 am

    Yeah the easiest way to lose weight is to drink lot of water, that’s what I do, it also helps me with my digestion. Try warm water or cold water with lemon. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables.Don’t eat if you are not hungry. Avoid eating out instead cook for yourself.This has helped me a lot,I use to wear a size 32 but now I wear a size 28.

  20. December 8th, 2008 | 4:00 pm

    this is great information.
    i never knew we lost this much water.
    will definitely motivate me to drink more water.
    i thought what we lost was minimal compared to the charts,
    thank you very much.

  21. May 10th, 2009 | 12:28 pm

    that is really a lot of water, somehow you easily forget that you actually need that much everyday.

    my solution to have to little water was to buy a fridge with an icemachine for the office, that really helped out.

  22. October 19th, 2009 | 3:45 am

    i drink a lot of water aday, its really help

  23. February 1st, 2010 | 8:43 am

    I usually drink a glass of water with every meal, that way I am at least getting some water. I know it can be hard for some people, especial kids.

  24. November 18th, 2010 | 1:32 pm

    Your body, under normal circumstances, will let you know if you need to drink more water or not. To me, the query about proper hydration is utterly asinine……

  25. December 2nd, 2010 | 3:06 am

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  26. December 6th, 2010 | 1:15 pm

    This is one of those things that is always a challenge to me. I drink water while at the gym, but not enough throughout the rest of my day. I really should do better at that. I know drinking water is great for hydration and for the skin, etc.

  27. March 30th, 2011 | 2:03 pm

    I used to really struggle with getting my intake. I just don’t like drinking it plain. Now with all the new flavor powder and drop additives, I find it much easier. You just have to be careful that the additive doesn’t add unnecessary sugars.

  28. April 17th, 2011 | 9:42 pm

    When it comes to water and weight loss, I truly believe many people either don’t truly understand, or just don’t think that it is important enough to include it in their weight loss plan. Check out what I think about this at
    How Much Water To Drink A Day.

  29. hgh
    May 10th, 2011 | 4:24 am

    awesome article shared by you and thanks for posting such a great article

  30. May 20th, 2011 | 12:20 pm

    And the good news is that once you get used to drinking water, you don’t miss all of that other garbage.

  31. July 16th, 2011 | 8:07 pm

    I’ve also read that the best time to drink water is not with a meal - this is because the water will dilute the strength of the acid in the stomach and this doesn’t help digestion. I’m also a fan of drinking herbal tea and get a lot of water that way.

  32. July 19th, 2011 | 11:57 pm

    I beloved as much as you’ll obtain performed proper here. I’ve had a tough time clearing my mind in getting my thoughts out. I do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Kudos!

  33. October 15th, 2011 | 5:11 am

    I like this article. Drinking water is very important during exercises. I usually drink 2 bottles of pure water.miss dior cherie review

  34. November 8th, 2011 | 7:14 pm

    I think it’s also important to drink ‘high quality water’… whatever that is though, no-one seems to be able to agree. A few years ago, everyone thought bottled was better than tap. I know one thing though, I think tap water tastes gross and I don’t want to touch it. Mineral water in a glass not plastic bottle, is the way to go I think.

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