I disagree, you can get by on 2 litres of water per day. You're obviously not going to be having showers and brushing your teeth with it, but that's not the end of the world.
Hell, I go through only about 6 litres of water a day while climbing mountains in the summer.
Remember that food also contains water when looking at minimum intakes.
I think drinking 2-3 liters of water per day (~100 ounces?) is seen as beneficial for the health. People usually don't drink that much because they don't feel thirsty, but they would like to.
I don't live in the US so I don't know what I'm talking about.
To be clear, 2 litres per day is the amount of water you are supposed to consume, including all the water in your food. Obviously anyone working out is going to need more to compensate for sweating.
Anyone drinking 2 or more litres of soft drink per day is going to need a lot of dentistry, for starters.
If you drink ~19 litres (5 US gallons?) of water every day you will not survive long. That’s about an order of magnitude more than is recommended under normal non-strenuous conditions.
In 1945 there was a recommendation that a healthy adult should have about 2.5 liters of water intake a day, including water that is part of the food you eat.
Somehow the media managed to drop the last part, and recommended you drink at least 2l water a day. Or even more.
The idea that you need to drink liters of water a day is a modern invention due to misreading of research. It completely depends on the weather, exertion, and how much water is in the food you eat.
On an average day working my office desk job, my hydration goal is 2L and it's plenty. I often have to force myself over the finish line. (And I was a trained healthcare professional in a former life; I know how to judge hydration and I'm plenty well hydrated.) I cannot even remotely imagine drinking 4L of water in a day unless I was doing manual labor in warm weather for most of the day.
"Adequate Intakes (AI) have been defined derived from a combination of observed intakes in population groups with desirable osmolarity values of urine and desirable water volumes per energy unit consumed. The reference values for total water intake include water from drinking water, beverages of all kind, and from food moisture and only apply to conditions of moderate environmental temperature and moderate physical activity levels (PAL 1.6). [...] Available data for adults permit the definition of AIs as 2.0 L/day (P 95 3.1 L) for females and 2.5 L/day (P95 4.0 L) for males."
"The minimum water requirement for fluid replacement for a 70kg human in a temperate zone equates to 3L per day, or 42.9mL/kg [according to the Tropical Agriculture Association]. Minimum requirements for an individual the same size but in a tropical zone equates to 4.1 to 6L/day"
"Age and gender specific Adequate Intakes (AI) for water were established in 2004 by the [United States] Food and Nutrition Board (5). The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for water are [for ages 19 and older] Men 3.7 L/day Women 2.7 L/day"
This is a myth. You're supposed to have around 2 l of water, from all sources: meaning that you'd have to eat only freeze-dried food to actually need that much water.
Yes agreed, it's not helpful to search for a constant consumption requirement. A healthy and sedentary person, with a reasonable diet, on a cold, gray, damp day, does not need to consume much water.
I would be very interested in seeing a breakdown of the amounts. You only drink maybe 1-2 liters per day. Showers and toilet flushes add to a fair amount but the majority has to be water for the plants and animals you eat.
20 litres for a sedate software developer in an air conditioned office, yes. If that dev goes to the gym after work they'd need more! Let alone crossing a desert in the heat.
I'm probably doing 3 litres a day of pure water (plus water from coffees / food etc.) in 30 degree temps, but spending most of that time inside with air-con. It's probably not enough as I am pissing orange still.
Edit: someone like me wouldn't hike in deserts though, so by survivorship bias people that do it often probably need less water to stay cool. But 2l/day even if walking only dusk/dawn seems tight still.
I'm definitely not headed to the bathroom every half hour, like I would be if I drank 4 liters of water ever day. What exactly needs that much replenishing working at a computer in the air conditioning most of my day?
Military suggests roughly 4 liters for an active person, for an entire day. Even adding another liter for strenuous and in dry climates, that's far less than 8 liters.
> The average person does not get NEARLY enough water per day.
this is false. The old "8 glasses of water a day" advice has no scientific backing. And, while there is evidence that mild dehydration can have bad health effects, this can be completely avoided by simply drinking when you feel thirsty. There is absolutely no need to make yourself consume enough water, your body will tell you when you need to drink.
> Drinking around 1 liter of water for each 30kg of body weight per day
I don't think there is any scientific basis for drinking water when you're not thirsty. I suspect this idea originated from marketing for bottled water.
Either way, we are entering the Trough of Disillusionment with respect to Hydration with a capital H. Drinking liters of water a day is not the solution to all of your health woes.
Hell, I go through only about 6 litres of water a day while climbing mountains in the summer.
Remember that food also contains water when looking at minimum intakes.
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