Water/hydration need...

[BlackVanDyke]

I know there's a HUGE amount of debate about how much liquid a person needs in 24 hours to stay healthy. I'm aware of the most commonly-quoted figures but it seems pretty obvious that we're all so diverse that they can't have much value. I'm also aware of the obvious ways to identify if an individual is well enough hydrated or not, but it's bl**dy hard to extrapolate that into a daily figure most of the time.

So. Anyone got any formulae or links to calculators or anything that make an attempt at actually working out an individual's daily hydration need? Eg I'd imagine that weight, activity level and an approximate ambient temperature would be fairly essential for any remotely sensible estimate.

Massive huge bonus points if anyone can identify the above but also applicable to children under 10.

Cheers.

[Slink]

umm, i dont have a clue.

I know a girl who in the morning, has a glass of water, lunch time a caprisun and another glass of water at night.

she isnt dead, but i be she is going to get some STONKING kidney stones before long. and this has been going on for a few years.

I think you should just carry on drinking till your pee is not dark yellow, or even much yellow at all.

yellow pee means dehydrated does it not.

[E38Ross]

as above, so, so many variable so impossible to give an exact calculation. But as a rule - drink enough so you're never actually thirsty and so your urine is pretty clear and certainly not dark.

[Regiment]

Listen to your body, if you're thirsty, take a drink, if you're not then don't.

[Odie]

The majority of you water intake comes from food, not drinking water.

IIRC you lose about 3.5 litres a day through normal bodily functions.

Edited by Odie on Sunday 15th September 13:36

[grumbledoak]

Odie said:

IIRC you need about 3.5 litres a day,

"If"

An adult will pee, exhale, and sweat about 2L per day, but it varies hugely.

[BlackVanDyke]

Regiment said:

Listen to your body, if you're thirsty, take a drink, if you're not then don't.

Unfortunately this function is very broken in me for some reason - as far as anyone knows it's not related to any of the medical stuff I've going on. I can dehydrate to the point of peeing stuff that looks like black tea before it occurs to me that I need to drink. Fortunately for entirely separate reasons I now have a steady feed of water all day and night.