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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How much water should someone drink each day?

    Related Topic
    Nutrition
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    Samantha Ling

    Dietitian, Nutritionist

    Samantha is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD), consultant and food and nutrition enthusiast. Samantha works in a private practice on the Central Coast, NSW, Rostant … View Profile

    Everyone's fluid requirements differ due to our individual metabolic needs, age, gender, level of physical activity and climate.

    As a general guideline, men should consume more fluid than women as they have a higher percentage of lean body mass (that is, muscle) and therefore a higher percentage of body water.  Men need around 10 cups of water everyday (2.6L) which can be made up from plain water, milk and other drinks. Women need around 8 cups (2.1L).

    The best type of fluid to rehydrate the human body is water. Remember that caffeine and alcohol act as a diuretic to the body, essentially flushing water out of the body.

    When we do not get enough fluid, this is known as dehydration. A state of constant dehydration can increase your risk of developing kidney stones, urinary tract and colon cancers, and diminished mental and physical function.

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    Claire Ward

    Dietitian, Nutritionist

    Hello I'm Claire Ward, Accredited Practising Dietitian and owner of Allied Nutrition. We offer in-home nutrition consults on a wide range of nutrition-related issues, and … View Profile

    Thought I would just add that we achieve most of our fluid requirement from the food we consume as part of our normal diet, so the additional requirement in terms of drinking water is not as much as people think. To to quote the great popular scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki from his latest book Game of Knowns “About 1200ml as a drink of some kind of fluid is all you need to maintain your water balance if you're a normal adult leading a mostly sedentary lifestyle”.

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