Father George Rutler: How Much Water Should You Consume a Day?

There are many different opinions on the amount of water one should be drinking every day, but one thing on which all experts agree on is that water is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. Even Father George Rutler, a Catholic pastor from New York,  encourages people to drink plenty of water, since it’s vital to one’s health. While some studies suggest that one should be sipping around eight glasses a day, others suggest a minimum of four. The exact amount of water that one should be drinking each day will vary depending on one’s size, sex, and activity level. The general consensus is that if one is exercising for an hour or more, one should be drinking 3 liters of water every day, but this consensus is by no means a strict rule. For example, if one is a marathon runner or is doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for 45 minutes a day, it makes sense that one would drink more. Most scientists believe that, especially if one exercises regularly, one should be drinking up to a gallon of water each day.

Everyone seems to have a different opinion about the daily amount of water, but most people cite the 8-in-8 rule when it comes to drinking the optimal amount of water per day. For the amount of water to drink, the short and simple answer is a recommendation, not a requirement. Even accounting for gender, it is not quite so simple and one may need to drink more water if one exercises a lot or sweats heavily, drink other drinks such as herbal teas, or make sure to decaffeinate them. When it comes to how much water a day one should drink, one should listen to his or her body.

As mentioned above, the amount of water one should drink daily will vary from person to person and will also depend on what else one eats and does. There is probably no definitive answer to how many drinks a day or even the exact amount of water per hour, but as a rule of thumb it should be about 1.5 – 2 drinks per day. Another helpful consideration is that one’s water intake does not necessarily affect the exact amount of water one drinks. Be careful not to confuse how much one drinks with how many drinks one drinks per day or even the actual number of hours one drinks.
Water intake depends on height, but traditionally the answer is rule 8 – 8. According to this rule, one should drink eight glasses of one ounce of water, each consisting of eight ounces of water, which is equivalent to about two liters a day. Health experts typically recommend drinking between eight and eight ounces per glass, which is about two liters a day. In general, doctors tend to drink at least 8 to 8.5 ounces (that is, between 1.5 and 2.2 liters). While eight glasses a day is sensible enough, an even higher goal would be to get a gallon of water a day. Click on Father George Rutler’s article to learn more about him.