Average water intake

It’s said that the average adult needs 8 glasses of water a day. If you tied me to a chair for 24 hours and put 8 glasses of water in front of me, I’m maybe getting through 2 or 3 glasses before I become bored. Even if the only thing you fed me was saltine crackers, I simply couldn’t imbibe 8 glasses of water. The idea that the average adult needs so much water is the ravings of a fabulist.

Let’s not forget that “average adult” implies that some jackasses are actually going around drinking like 11 or 12 glasses per day. I’d just love to meet somebody who has the time to sit around drinking such an insane quantity of water. Maybe this figure is meant to include the water that’s in our food, but I wouldn’t intake 8 glasses worth of water on an all-watermelon diet. I’m not convinced I go through 8 glasses of water even when you include the water I use for showering. I don’t even think I own 8 different glasses.

When somebody tells me the average adult needs 8 glasses per water a day, I don’t have time to argue. I just respond with my own made up anecdote. I say, “The average adult writes like 20 poems per day.” Anybody can make up stupid facts. “The average adult eats a shitload of kitty litter every weekend.”

15 thoughts on “Average water intake

  1. There are two reasons I can’t drink 8 glasses of water a day.

    1) There is never enough water at the correct temperature.
    2) If I ever try and set out to drink eight glasses of water a day, I usually drink less that I normally do. Don’t ask me why.

    But I know it’s possibly. My mom drinks water like it’s nobodys business. She gets her 8 glasses a day, PLUS a good three to four cuppas/coffees.

    And I know mykls going to come on here and tell you he drinks like 10 glasses of water a day or something crazy.

  2. You’re welcome.

    I’m setting the curve for everyone – drinking between 20 and 45 glasses a day, so that others can get away with a measly 2-3.

    Sometimes I set around full glasses for future use. The activity of doing this tires me, so I reach for my watery companion.

  3. Amanda is right. i am here now. but i don’t drink 10 glasses. I’d say 6-8 depending on the day. the trick is [as amanda has mentioned] to have perfect temperature’d water at all times. next, you need to drink your water from a metal milkshake cup stolen from a diner. this keeps your water cold, and it holds a lot of water. keep this cup near you at all times, and you’ll be sippin’ away like its nobody’s business.

    no, im off to write 20 poems. about water!

  4. I go through most days without ever drinking any straight water. That’s why this kind of recommendation always confused me. If I was deficient in some way by not drinking cups and cups of water, wouldn’t I feel, you know, thirsty?

  5. actually, the best indicator of how much water you need a day is thirst. npr has run a couple of ‘fact or fiction’ pieces looking at the science behind age-old health and beauty advice. Their doctors and scientists found that, while eight glasses of day usually isn’t bad for you, the best indicator of how much water you need in a day is actually thirst.

    works for my dog.

    and e, i think i might have a crush on you.

  6. “I will attempt to redress my tarnished reputation by updating more or less every weekday for an unspecified unit of time.”

    two days.

  7. I think you’ll find that you do need 8 glasses, but only an idiot would sit around drinking them as a requirement. You get about a third through your solid foods. You can get the rest though non caffeine, non alcoholic liquids from water to milk and beyond.

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