Water % in Body Weight - Good, Bad or Neither?

FlannelMothman
FlannelMothman Posts: 193 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I have a scale that tells me my body percentages in water, fat, etc. and just out of curiosity, I decided to Google if my water levels were good or not.. my average water % is 48.1 - 48.8. The general consensus is that my percentages should be above 50 and it seems to be on days that I have a lot of water my percentage is low, and on days that I don't get to drink much it's higher, but it's never been over 50%.

How terrible is this? Should I be focusing on my body water percentage, or am I truly fine where I am? If I should be bumping my water intake, how can I get my body to.... Retain it? Is that what I want? I thought retaining water was bad?

Replies

  • FlannelMothman
    FlannelMothman Posts: 193 Member
    Wow I have **** luck in trying to get answers on the forums. Every topic I post dies immediately
  • pangelicus
    pangelicus Posts: 43 Member
    I have never looked into water percentage... maybe nobody knows the answer ;-)
  • rockangel8907
    rockangel8907 Posts: 429 Member
    If you are only 2% off I'd say you are fine.
  • paygep
    paygep Posts: 401 Member
    you know, I'd be interested to see if anyone knows... I have a similar scale, and mine is also always around 48% and I have NEVER seen it go up to 50% or above, either...
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
    Those scales a general indicators only. In order to get a really accurate calculation you would have to go to a dietician.

    Do not worry just make sure you keep drinking 8 cups water a day.
  • phildawson75
    phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
    It's not about how much water you are drinking each day. This would only be a slight temporary raise.

    It's linked to how much body fat you have, adipose tissue contains the least water of all tissue in the body. If you lower your body fat % then you'll see a rise in your body water %.

    Women should have around 50% and men around 60% at a healthy body fat range.

    The leaner you are the higher this %. My stats for ref:

    5.7
    138.4 lbs
    21.7 BMI
    14.9 % Body fat
    64 % Body water


    When I had 25% body fat and was very overweight at ~170 lbs I had a body water percentage of 57%.



    How terrible is this?
    - Not at all bad, very close the avg. Don't worry about it.

    Should I be focusing on my body water percentage, or am I truly fine where I am?
    - Look at you body fat percentage instead.

    If I should be bumping my water intake, how can I get my body to.... Retain it?
    - Nope. You don't need to do anything special for your body to retain it.

    Is that what I want? I thought retaining water was bad?
    - No it's ideal, and your body and muscles work better when it's hydrated.
  • jgrode1984
    jgrode1984 Posts: 112
    My nutritionist has told me to drink 64 oz of water each day PLUS an additional 8 oz for every ten lbs you're overweight. I weigh 197, bmi chart says I should be around 130 ideally... So I should be drinking roughly 120 oz of water each day. You can use the bmi chart and calculate your ideal water intake. On days I drink close to that much water ( and trust me...it's hard to!) I notice on my scale that my water % is over 50%. Hope this helps you!
  • phildawson75
    phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
    I'd get a new nutritionist if they are suggesting drinking 120 oz each day.

    You only need around 50 oz, and that's just fluid doesn't have to be just water.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    I wouldn't worry about what that scale says - the BIA (Body Impedance Analysis) scales are notoriously inaccurate (at least as far as the BF/water measurements they spit out). Drink enough water so that your urine is light yellow in color throughout the day and don't sweat the number of ounces or what the scale says.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I wouldn't worry about what that scale says - the BIA (Body Impedance Analysis) scales are notoriously inaccurate (at least as far as the BF/water measurements they spit out). Drink enough water so that your urine is light yellow in color throughout the day and don't sweat the number of ounces or what the scale says.

    ^^this
  • NormalizeJac
    NormalizeJac Posts: 12
    The scale uses the amount of 'water' makeup to estimate body fat - less water = more fat. Of course, a lot can affect that estimation and I only find it 'accurate' first thing in the morning when I'm emptied out. The scale gets all out of wack when I have food in my stomach or am really dehydrated. I am about 17.6% body fat (according to my scale as well as various other methods - my scale is actually very accurate for me) and consistently around 58--59% water. When my body fat was slightly lower (~16%), my scale would read 59-60% water, so it seems to make sense!
  • FlannelMothman
    FlannelMothman Posts: 193 Member
    Holy crow! Look at all these responses! I feel better knowjng I"m not "near dehydration"! I'll just keep doing my thing then. Thanks, everyone! :3
  • jgrode1984
    jgrode1984 Posts: 112
    I'd get a new nutritionist if they are suggesting drinking 120 oz each day.

    You only need around 50 oz, and that's just fluid doesn't have to be just water.

    I'm sorry, I miss informed. It is an additional 8 oz for every 25 lbs over weight. So roughly half your body weight should be consumed in water each day. My nutritionist isn't the only one who recommends this. 50 oz seems very little to me, especially if one is exercising hard and sweating....
  • phildawson75
    phildawson75 Posts: 205 Member
    The dept of health recommends 1.2 litres a day. If your glass is 150ml that's 8 of them.

    1.2 Litres = 40.6 US oz (or 42.2 imperial oz)

    Our body actually loses around 2.5 Litres (~85 US oz) a day, however the other 1.3 is gained from the food we eat (and a small amount from chemical reactions in our body).

    Obviously if your doing a physical activity which is causing you to lose water you need additional fluid to your normal daily amount to replenish it otherwise you'll start feeling dehydrated.

    In an avg body there's roughly 40 Litres of water. As far as drinking then its 3% being replaced not 50%.

    If you are drinking half your body weight in water the only thing you'll be doing is peeing a lot. It's not harmful just a bit pointless.

    Half my weight for eg 31 kg. if we say a Litre of water is 1kg, I'd need 21 glasses of water!

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