Ok, How Much Water is the Right Amount?
Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily, right?
WRONG.
The rule that the body needs eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day is not based in science. In fact, that may be way under the proper recommendation. No one seems to know where that “rule of 8” came from… other than it’s easy to remember.
Now, although hydration needs vary from person to person based on activity level, ambient temperature and humidity, altitude level, and numerous other factors... a more person-specific and widely accepted recommendation would be to drink one-half to one ounce of fluid per pound of body weight per day.13
According to CDC data, the average American adult male weighs 197.8 pounds while the typical American adult female weighs 170.6 pounds. Along those lines, the average man would need to consume about 98.9 - 197.8 ounces of fluid, while the average woman would need to consume about 85.3 - 170.6 ounces of fluid.
These guidelines also closely align with the recommendations set forth by the relatively conservative Institute of Medicine, which advises men to consume about 3.7 liters (about 15 ½ cups or about 125 ounces) of water per day and women to consume about 2.7 liters (about 11 ½ cups or about 91 ounces) of water per day.15
That means, in other words, a range of twelve to twenty-four, eight-ounce glasses of water daily, not merely eight.
Or, most simply put, the average person should consume about 1 gallon of fluid per day.
(And if you’re keeping tabs on all the math, 1 gallon is equivalent to 16 cups, or 128 ounces.)