How Much Water Should We Consume?

Author: Mark Velov Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

In this article, learn more about How Much Water Should We Consume?. Water is the most essential of all the nutrients the body needs..

Nearly two-thirds of our body is made up of water , it is the most essential of the nutrients the body needs. How much water do we need every day?

Given the body's ability to regulate water content, as well as individual differences in optimal intake, there is no definite answer to exactly how much water one or another person should drink each day. The best guide in this case is the body's natural need.

However, the question remains and there is also misinformation regarding the daily amount we consume.

The amount of water needed for each individual body is determined by various factors, including age, gender, and aerobic fitness. This affects the ratio between:

Lean muscle mass , which is about 73% water.
Body mass of fat , which is about 10% water.

Water is a major building block of life - not just human life. When we are in good health, we can survive without water for several days. Dehydration of the body due to illness, combined with lack of water consumption, can be dangerous among the more vulnerable groups - children and adults.

We have developed extremely effective physiological mechanisms for maintaining water balance in the body. The main ones are the thirst that "tells" us when we need more fluids, and the excretion of urine, in which the kidneys regulate the excess or deficiency of the water we consume. It either enters the bladder or is retained in the blood plasma .

The kidneys also regulate the balance of electrolytes such as potassium and sodium in body fluids. They receive hormonal signals to store or release water in the urine, following signals from the brain that monitors changes in the concentration of substances in the blood.

The brain's response to changes in plasma is also partly responsible for the feeling of thirst that "makes" us reach for water .

How Much Water Should We Consume?

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