How Much Water Should You Drink Daily? Use Our Hydration Calculator
- Find Out How Much Water You Need to Drink per Day
- Factors That Affect Fluid Needs
- The Importance of Staying Hydrated
- One Last Thing: Don’t Flood Your System All at Once
Find Out How Much Water You Need to Drink per Day
Calculating the amount of water you need to drink daily is more complicated than you may think. That’s because hydration needs are far from one-size-fits-all.
In general, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine suggest that each day women get a total of about 2.7 liters (L), or 11 cups, of fluid and men get about 3.7 L (16 cups). Not all of that fluid has to be water intake. Whole, nutrient-rich foods and beverages, including the following, also count toward your fluid intake:
- Tea
- Coffee
- Sparkling water
- Kombucha
- Coconut water
On the other hand, alcohol is dehydrating and does not count as fluid . Soda counts but is not a healthy choice.
Whatever your water intake goal, a water bottle will help you get there. We tested a wide variety of options — and picked our 12 favorites .
Factors That Affect Fluid Needs
Various factors can increase or decrease the amount of fluid your body needs to function at its best.
Birth Sex
Compared with people born female, those born male generally need more fluid to support their increased body mass, lower average body fat, and increased calorie burn each day.
Body Weight
Hydration needs are influenced by the surface area of the body, metabolic rate, and body weight, per a paper published in the July 2016 Annals of Family Medicine . As a result, as body weight increases, fluid needs increase as well, notes the University of Missouri System .
Life Stage
Similarly, when someone is pregnant, they require additional fluids to maintain amniotic fluid levels and keep the baby growing steadily, as PennState discusses. If you're nursing a growing baby, you’ll need to drink more fluids so that your body can make enough milk, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics .
Diet Quality
As the Mayo Clinic points out, the foods you eat will also affect your hydration and the amount of fluid you’ll need to drink. For example, if you get ample fruits and veggies each day (both of which are packed with hydrating fluid) , you won’t need to gulp down as much water.
Soup is another food that is fluid-rich and can help you meet your target water intake.
If you eat a lot of these foods each day, you won’t need to drink quite as much. But if your fruit and vegetable intake is low on any given day, a few extra glasses of water will compensate for the fluid you’ll miss.
Activity Level
When you sweat during exercise or on a hot summer day, you’ll need to replace the fluids you’ve lost by drinking more H 2 O. As the American College of Sports Medicine points out, the intensity and duration of exercise affects how much you sweat and your subsequent fluid needs. According to a study published in Sports Medicine in March 2017 , genetics and how accustomed you are to a given climate can also influence sweat volume.
Unfortunately, calculating exact hydration losses from physical activity is complicated, because people sweat at drastically different rates, according to the American College of Sports Medicine . In other words, even in the exact same conditions, two people of the same gender, weight, and with similar diets will sweat differently — and thus need different amounts of fluid.
RELATED: 6 Unusual Signs of Dehydration
11 Myths and Facts Everyone Should Know About Drinking Water
The Importance of Staying Hydrated
While water intake needs vary, one thing is for sure: Meeting your personal hydration needs each day will have a tremendous benefit to your health.
Indeed, as the Harvard School of Public Health points out, good hydration keeps the body functioning properly, lubricates joints, and regulates body temperature. The university also notes that good hydration helps you sleep better, think more clearly, and even puts you in a better mood!
One Last Thing: Don’t Flood Your System All at Once
Drinking water gradually throughout the day is important. Too much water at one time may increase the risk of a condition called hyponatremia , which occurs when the electrolytes in the body become depleted. As the Mayo Clinic states, hyponatremia may be life-threatening.
Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDCES
Medical Reviewer
Lynn Grieger is a registered dietitian-nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist, certified personal trainer, and certified health and wellness coach. She completed requirements to become a registered dietitian at Valparaiso University in 1987 and completed a dietetic internship at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois, in 1988.
Lynn brings her expertise in nutrition, exercise, and behavior change to her work in helping people reach their individual health and fitness goals. In addition to writing for Everyday Health, she has also written for websites and publications like Food and Health Communications, Today's Dietitian , iVillage.com, and Rodale Press. She has a passion for healthy, nutrient-dense, great-tasting food and for being outdoors as much as possible — she can often be found running or hiking, and has completed a marathon in every state.
Kelly Kennedy, RDN, LDN
Author
Kelly Kennedy is a licensed dietitian-nutritionist with over 14 years of experience in digital media. She previously managed and oversaw nutrition content, recipe development, meal planning, and diet and nutrition coaching at Everyday Health. She developed and reviewed various meal plans, books, slideshows, and online tools, and oversaw the creation of more than 500 unique recipes. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master's degree from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.
Kennedy enjoys anything that takes her outside, from gardening and playing in the yard with her kids to hiking and even feeding her pet chickens.
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