8 cups a day?

Actually 8 cups is the minimum! You should really drink half of your body weight (in oz of water). It really makes a difference!! Good luck in your journey!

God I can hardly mange my 8 cups half my body weight now thats going to be a real challange!!

A cup is 250ml so 8 cups is 2 litres.

I found that article very interesting! I'm going to count my cups of coffee and green tea from now on. I like water but always have trouble with the increased number of "bathroom breaks" required when I drink that much!

Why drink 8 cups of water a day? Isn't food already mostly water?

I hope that everyone will please check for legitimate CURRENT scientific research before perpetuating the myth that every adult needs to drink the 8 glasses of water a day. This information has not been borne out by recent studies, and in fact, if you are not thirsty, are eating and drinking normally and your urine is clear, your hydration is adequate. The bottled water industry has been busily at work convincing Americans to run around clutching water bottles, when in fact, there is no reason to be "forcing" water intake. Elderly people are a different story, but not healthy adults.

My point in posting one of the NUMEROUS scientific studies about the myths of water drinking is NOT to say that drinking water is bad. Drinking water is GOOD. It's just that many of these so-called "truths" get repeated so often that people start to believe that they are fact, just because they have been repeated so often. The internet has compounded the problem as one blogger copies information from another blogger and passes it on as gospel.

It is true that our bodies need water, it is true that humans would die of thirst from lack of water far sooner than from lack of food. What is not true, however, is that there is some specific requirement that we all drink 8 8 ounce glasses of water per day.
Each of us is an individual. If drinking water makes you feel less hungry, by all means, drink it. If you feel thirsty after your workout or you live in a particularly dry climate, chug-a-lug with abandon..........but..........those of you who are choking down water just because you think there's some magical number of ounces or liters that you have to reach might want to look at the findings from legitimate scientific sources, such as the NIH.

There are anecdotes, there are experiences, there are personal beliefs, and there is science.

I'm no scientist or nutrition expert, but once I upped my water intake to 8-12 cups of water a day, I found that exercising was easier, digestion was smoother (ahem), and my skin immediately improved. I've also been losing weight easily and steadily. So, regardless of whether I "need" that much water, I'm going to continue because the effects have been nothing but positive! The average person has such a small risk of ingesting "too much" water that there's really no reason to try to limit one's intake unless expressly directed to by a physician.

Yes, a lot of foods are mostly water. But nothing flushes toxins quite like good ole plain water. You could go a long time without food. You can't go very long at all without water. And 8 cups is indeed the minimum. You'll get even better results if you add a few more glasses on top of that. Some good tips are either half your body weight in ounces of water or an extra 8 ounces for every 25 lbs you want to lose. Keep drinking that water. And other beverages, including flavored water, don't count.

Good question. There really is no scientific evidence to support the 8 cups a day rule.

"If you drink enough fluid so that you rarely feel thirsty and produce 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) or more of colorless or slightly yellow urine a day, your fluid intake is probably adequate." (copied from a Mayo Clinic artice: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283)