What't the reommended amount of water (in litres plz) per day?

Question

I drink lots of water, for no particular reason (no hot weather UK)
I would say I drink around 5- 6 litres a day and eat a wholesome diet. Please tell me is it possible to drink too much water?

Best answer chosen as always thanks

thanks for all ur answers so far, forgot to mention - yes I am doing a lot of excersise

Answer 1

2 litres is normal, but if you are excersising then 3- 4 litres is ok. i would advise you take a multi vit to go along with it all.

Answer 2

Water is used by the body to help cool (sweat), clean toxic elements and transmission of vital nutrients. Water is also lost through breathing / talking

The body will use varying levels of water depending on what you are doing and the recommended daily amount of water you should take on board is 2 litres - sligthy more if you doing exercise.

However this doesn't have to be directly drunk water as there is a great deal of water in normal foods such as meat, vegetables etc.

There is great debate at the moment on how to handle things like tea, coffee and coke and such like as these are diuretics (they remove water from your system above and beyond what was in the original drink.) as some recent studies show that our bodies become immune to these effects after a short while.

It is possible to drink too much water as this will start to wash away essential minerals and calcium from the body. If you are drinking 5 - 6 litres a day this is far far too much.

The normal signs of dehydration is a pain behind the eyes or headache (the brain is 70% water and shrinks when dehydrated which causes it to pull on the fibres holding it in place in the skull which causes the pain - alcohol is a really bad diuretic so you should always drink water after drinking alcohol) or if you pinch the skin and it doesn't go flat immediately or if your urine is very dark yellow (it should be faint yellow or nearly clear), cramps or joint pain and sunken eyes.

If you are feeling this thirsty it could be a sign of underlining illness such as urinary tract infection, diabetes or other illness so should check with your doctor.

Answer 3

If you drink too much water (this amount depends on your body and if you live in a hot or cold climate), you dilute the potassium levels in your body. This can lead to problems with your heart as the muscle contractions that make your heart beat are controlled by potassium.
You should drink about 2 litres per day, but increase this if you are excersising or in a hot climate.

Answer 4

You might be drinking a little too much water. Yes, that can happen, but it won't kill you. Actually it killed that one girl yesterday in Cali trying to drink a lot without peeing, and she died because she drank too much and her brain became swollen. It is rare, but if you drink your 5ltrs within 15 min, it could happen. She was trying to win a nintendo WII. Thats not the point, but yeah, you can drink too much. Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as water intoxication and to a related problem resulting from the dilution of sodium in the body, hyponatremia.

Replacement approach. The average urine output for adults is 1.5 liters a day. You lose close to an additional liter of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace the lost fluids.
Dietary recommendations. The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3.0 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

Maybe that all helps!!

-Dave K

Answer 5

2 litres of water is the recommended amount. You can drink too much water, my sister ended up in hospital after drinking too much water in one day as the body has too much fluid to cope with, it made her delirious and really sick. I normally drink 3-4 litres a day. I think different people need different amount of fluids.

Answer 6

Yeah you are drinking enough water because really the limit is at least 6 full glasses a day but I think it depends on your intake of water and what your weight limit is also. But I don't think that really makes a difference. Keep up the work of drinking water.

Answer 7

2 litres is the recommended minimum amount it is possible to drink too much water as can happen to people who take ecstacy and drown themselves with water.
6 litres a day shouldn't do any damage though as long as it i spread out.

Answer 8

2 litres is considered the optimum amount per day. i think 5 or 6 is ok but i wouldn't drink any more. it is possible to die from over hydration or water intoxication as it is known.

Answer 9

yes 2 litres, unless a European type in Africa where 3 litres is recommended.

oh yes it is possible to drink too much water.

Answer 10

I read 3 litres a day.Have never heard of drinking too much water.