Adequate daily water intake may also help in the prevention of some diseases. The most common recommendation is that the average adult should consume eight eight-ounce glasses of water daily. Humans lose approximately ten cups of water daily through normal biological processes and this amount need to replaced. Therefore, it is appropriate for the average adult to consume ten to twelve cups of water per day, given low levels of physical activity and a moderate climate. Another way to estimate daily water needs is to divide your body weight by two and use this amount as the number of fluid ounces of water to drink daily.
Additional water is necessary during exercise, in extreme heat or cold, and at high altitudes.
About Pamela Peeke, MD Pamela M. Peeke MD, MPH, is an internationally recognized expert on nutrition and stress. Dr. Peeke is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a Pew Foundation Scholar in Nutrition and Metabolism. Dr. Peeke has done research on nutrition, stress and longevity at the National Institutes of Health. After Forty, Viking April 2000, all about the link between chronic stress and toxic weight the fat that deposits in your waist and abdomen as you age. Dr. Peeke explains how to break this stress-fat cycle and become fit and stress resilient.