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How many glasses of water should humans drink every day?

In the course of a day, the body uses 1.5 to 3 quarts (1.4 to 3 liters) of water just in breathing, sweating, and releasing waste fluids. The solid foods a person eats provide less than a quart of water per day. To make up the difference, it's necessary to drink about six glasses of water a day. Experts recommend drinking six to eight glasses a day, to be safe. However, active persons may need as many as fifteen glasses of water, while small and inactive persons may need as few as two glasses.

It is best to consume plain water since alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea, and caffeine-containing soft drinks increase urine production. Also, cool drinks (40° to 50° Fahrenheit [4.5° to 10° Celsius]) are absorbed more quickly than lukewarm ones.

Sources: Vegetarian Times, no. 176 (April 1992), pp. 10-12; The Wellness...

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