It’s pretty much universally accepted that staying well hydrated and drinking a lot of water is a good thing. The body is about 60% water and you are constantly losing water primarily via urine and sweat. To prevent dehydration, you need to hydrate, but health experts are not all in agreement with how much water you should be drinking every day. We researched what some of the top health professionals had to say. We also added the insights of some ageless Hollywood celebrities and professional athletes.
What The Medical Professionals Have to Say
Dr. Joseph Mercola – Best selling author and one of the world’s most popular natural health activists
There is no exact recommended amount of water to drink per day, as this may depend on factors such as age, body mass, pregnancy, breastfeeding status, daily activities, diet, electrolyte intake, and climate. Drinking lots of water is beneficial to your health, but remember to determine how much water you need by listening to your body to avoid overhydration.
Bryce Wylde – Known as one of Canada’s leading alternative health experts
General rule of thumb – you want to divide your body weight in half. That is the ounces your body requires on the average day if you’re active. For example, a 185lb male requires about 92.5 ounces, or approximately 11.5 cups, of water.
Leslie Beck – One of canada’s leading nutritionists
Men should drink 3 litres (13 cups) of water each day and women need 2.2 litres (9 cups). Children aged 1 to 3 years need 1 litre (4 cups) daily and 4 to 8 years olds require 1.3 litres (5.5 cups). Teenagers need to drink more – about 1.8 litres (7 cups) for girls and 2.6 litres (10.5 cups) for boys.
These guidelines don’t apply to people who engage in moderate or vigorous exercise and they don’t account for hot weather, two factors that drive up the body’s need for water. Women who are pregnant need an additional 1 cup (250 ml) of water each day; breastfeeding women require an extra 4 cups (1 litre).
Stacy Sims, Ph.D. – Environmental exercise physiologist, nutrition scientist and expert in hydration
Stacy’s seven steps for proper hydration:
- Weigh yourself daily for a week to check hydration. Your body weight shouldn’t fluctuate too much.
- Notice how much you pee — and its colour– in the morning. It should be a copious amount and pale or clear. Your pee is an excellent predictor of your health.
- Aim to wake feeling hydrated. If you’re thirsty when you get out of bed in the morning, you may not be consuming enough fluids.
- When choosing sports drinks, search for labels with low sugar. I recommend about five grams per eight-ounce serving. Even natural drinks like coconut water have too much sugar and potassium to hydrate.
- Coffee, tea, and watery fruits and vegetables count toward fluid intake.
- Start slowly. Sleep is a six-to eight-hour fast, so if you drink three cups of juice or water right away, you’ll trigger the volume response. Sip instead.
- Drink one thing a day that’s not water. A low-carb electrolyte drink in the afternoon can pop you up, as can hot tea with a pinch of salt and lemon. It will increase your core temperature, and the tiny amount of salt can help you absorb fluid.
Dr. Pamela Peeke – A professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and author of Body for Life for Women
A good baseline is 2.2 liters, or about 9 cups of fluid a day. You may need even more if you’re overweight, live at a high altitude, or are working in extremely hot weather, all of which are dehydrating factors.
Kim Larson, RDN – Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The colour of your urine is a good measure of how you are doing on water consumption. You want it to be the colour of lemonade. If it’s medium to dark yellow, down a glass, stat! Sorry, but you don’t get any bonus points for clear urine, a sign that you’re actually drinking more than you need.
Athletes and Hollywood Celebrities’ Take On Water
Jennifer Aniston – One of Hollywood’s most popular and most fit actresses
I always try to sleep for at least eight hours a night and, of course, water, water, water! I drink 100 ounces of Smartwater every day.
Tom Brady – Arguably the greatest football player of all time and an ageless wonder
In a book in 2017, the six-time Superbowl champion stated that he drank half his body weight in ounces [of water] each day, and double that amount when exercising. Brady states that he drinks up to 300 ounces of water each day when he exercises. That’s about 2.3 gallons.
Sylvester Stallone – Hollywood icon and still in incredible shape at 73
He drinks at least a gallon each day. Stallone says drinking plenty of water is important not only because staying hydrated is important, but also because it helps curb hunger.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – He’s “The Rock.” Enough said
He drinks an amazing four gallons of water per day. This amount is probably way too much for the average person. But then again, “The Rock” is no average person!
Jennifer Lopez – Hollywood hardbody
- Lo drinks a minimum of seven glasses of water a day, including lemon water in the morning.
FitAfter45 Take – Personally, I drink about 10 cups of water a day and have about three cups early in the day. Need some extra incentive to get drinking? A New York Post article stated that 10+ glasses-a-day water drinkers are statistically happier.
