As a general rule, adults should drink around two to three liters of water per day. However, you don’t have to drink all of it – the water intake from food must also be taken into account here. If you take this into account, the water content in drinks amounts to around 1.5 liters. However, the water requirement can also be determined even more precisely.
How much water does the body need?
How much water you need depends on several factors, such as age and weight. Your personal fluid needs can be determined in different ways.
As a rule of thumb, adults should consume between 30 and 40 milliliters of fluid per kilogram of body weight. For example, if you weigh 70 kilograms, you should consume around 2.1 to 2.8 liters of fluid per day through drinks and food.
The water requirement can also be calculated based on the calorie intake: adults should then consume around one milliliter of water per kilocalorie per day. For example, if your calorie intake is 2,400 kcal, you would need around 2.4 liters of fluid.
The German Nutrition Society (DGE) also gives guidelines for water intake through drinks and solid foods, which take a person’s age and weight into account (see table). With these guideline values, the water requirement can be calculated in stages and depending on age and body weight.
According to the DGE, children and young people have the highest water needs. In adults, however, the need for fluids decreases slightly. When women become pregnant, their water needs essentially change little. However, the situation is different for women who are breastfeeding: they need a higher water intake.
Depending on the situation, the need for water can also increase, for example:
- warm weather or high ambient temperature
- Sports
- physically demanding work
- Illnesses accompanied by fever , diarrhea or vomiting
- certain composition of the food (such as salty, high or low water content)
Then you should drink a little more than usual to avoid dehydration.
Water is found in drinks and food
Anyone who wants to cover their daily water needs should know that this is not only covered through drinks such as tap water, mineral water, juice spritzers, tea or coffee, but also through solid foods: On average, people consume around 70 percent of their daily water intake in liquid form . However, a good 30 percent of the water intake comes from food eaten throughout the day.
Many types of fruit and vegetables contain a particularly high amount of water , such as cucumbers and tomatoes, apples, oranges and berries. But all other foods such as whole grain bread, chicken breast fillet or fried potatoes also contribute to your water intake.
Why does the body need water?
Water is essential for the human organism because half of the body is made up of water. While the water content of women is around 50 percent, men consist of around 60 percent water. The reason for this is the different proportion of fatty tissue. Since women have, on average, more fatty tissue than men, their water content is slightly lower because fatty tissue only has a low water content.Whether through the skin, bowel movements , urine or when breathing: the body continually loses water throughout the day. In order to compensate for these losses, we have to supply the body with enough water again. If the body lacks water, this quickly becomes noticeable in performance losses and concentration declines. Headaches or dizziness can also occur.