There's always been a huge debate on how much water you should intake and there's a lot of health influencers who will all tell you something different.
I can tell you one thing is probably the best gauge and that's your out put. The purpose of your kidney is to filter your blood and dispose of debris and waste via urine. If your urine is dark and smells strongly, this means you are lacking water in ratio to the waste you need to eliminate. If your urine is constantly clear this is usually an indicator that your kidney is putting out water with little to no waste, and you probably have a lot of excess water to eliminate. We now know having consistently clear urine can be pulling out necessary electrolytes, salts, and even hormones, making it harder for your body to adjust internally. Now, if you chronically don't drink water and still have a high level of output then this could be a sign your kidneys or hormones need some checking out. Sometimes we can have a higher output from wet foods. And sometimes we are just eliminating that coffee, tea or soda we just drank.
These beverages have historically had a bad rep but more recent research has proven coffee, tea, soda and other caffeinated drinks are not quite the diuretic we once thought them to be. More often, people may see an increase in elimination because they've just downed a 16 ounce latte in the last 30 minutes. Studies have not shown an increase in output in ratio to intake after these beverages. Am I saying coffee, tea and soda are healthier than water? Definitely not, but I don't think they are as harmful for hydration purposes as we once claimed (they can be harmful in other ways, a possible future topic of discussion).
Often if you have not been hydrating well and started to increase your water intake, many people complain "now I just have to pee all the time". So let's talk a bit about that. When focusing on hydrating, the goal should be little bits frequently. Your body can only absorb and use so much water at once. Because your body is constantly striving to maintain a harmonious balance'; it operates on default: eliminate excess, and fill deficits. If you have been living on 20 ounces of water a day and now you're drinking 60, that's triple what your body is used to processing and it will struggle for a while. You will most likely see a lot of elimination of water that your body cant use yet. What to do? Focus on slowly increasing your water intake by drinking small amounts every hour. Smaller amounts more frequently helps your body use the water you're giving it. At first, 2 or 3 ounces every hour is way better than a 16 ounce bottle glugged down 4 times a day. So lets talk about that little too.
Taking too much water at once stimulates diuresis and your body will flush it out. The mechanism of swallowing a lot of water at once ( think of 4, 5, or 6 gulps) sends a signal to your body to start the elimination process and you're just going to start pulling water out of your blood stream to get rid of it in efforts to keep that wonderful stress free balance. That seems pretty counterproductive when you're trying to hydrate. Its better to sip 4-6 ounces, wait 10-20 minutes, then sip some more. Your body will have time to use the water you just drank before introducing more. This will help to prevent unnecessary urine production, and allow your body to hydrate, instead of just cycle the water out.
The goal of drinking water is to help your body live easier. The mode of transportation for everything in your body is based on water. We really want to support that by intaking enough water to allow everything to be sufficiently delivered, and eliminated. The current recommendations for the average healthy adult on a 2000 calorie diet should consume about 64 ounces a day. This, of course, will vary as each persons lifestyle is different, as well as different body phases. Pay attention to how your body feels, and your urine output: light yellow and odorless is the goal. Here's is a great article, "The Science of Hydration", from physiology.org that offers more information on properly hydrating.
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