How much water should I drink?

I have been asked numerous times this question: How much water should I drink each day?

Before I answer that question, I need to talk about water in general. Drinking water is the most visible form of water intake. However, most people do not realize, or maybe forget, water is in our food as well. Most commonly you should ingest, through drinking and eating, about two-thirds of your body weight in water. So the question remains, how much water should I drink? You should drink about one-half of your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weighed 200 pounds, you should be drinking roughly 100 ounces of water per day.

So why should you drink so much water? There are multiple reasons to answer that question.

• Your body being thirsty is often misdiagnosed as being hungry. If you have a hunger craving, you should drink a glass of water and wait about 15 minutes. If you still feel the need to eat, then your body is most likely ready for food.
• Another reason for drinking this amount of water is for water retention. Believe it or not, drinking more water makes you less likely to retain water. When your body is in a deficit, it goes into storage mode.
• Don’t forget, most drinks that are not water are considered empty calories. Very few beverages that have calories actually have nutritional value. You are putting yourself in a deficit by not drinking water.
• You should be EATING your calories, rather than drinking them.
• There is also information that suggests that drinking sufficient amount of water will also reduce the likely hood of headaches and also ease any bowel movement issues you may have. By not drinking enough water, your body attempts to remove water from your waste, thus making movements harder and less comfortable and a dehydrated brain is more likely to have headaches.
• Coffee drinker? For every cup of coffee you drink each day, you should be adding an additional glass of water to compensate.