How much water do you drink every day?

I saw a consultant last week due to a health condition and he told me to drink 2 litres of water a day, but he also said tea and coffee do not count. I am finding it very hard.

So much for experts ( doctors) mine said to me: liquid is liquid. Other than alcohol it doesn't matter what form it comes in.

The eight cups/2L of water a day is a bit of a fallacy. www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24464774

The fluid in foods also counts towards the total. As long as you drink to thirst, you'll take in enough liquid for your body.

I have two cups of coffee each morning and a drink, very often water as our tap water is lovely, with each meal, plus I often just have some water when I'm in the kitchen.

I do get thirstier when I'm away from home because I find the tap water isn't to my taste.

I don't like drinking glasses of water, but happily sip away at an Evian sports bottle (75cl) when at work, plus some Perrier in the evening. I think I read somewhere that the queen drinks only Evian when away on foreign trips.
In the summer I switch to Tarks Springs water because their plastic bottles don't release toxins in the heat and sunshine into the water, (possibly linked with breast cancer).
It's far more common these days to see workers sitting at their desks with bottled water, and children in schools are allowed to sip water in lessons as and when they want to. Hopefully this common practice will stand them in good stead in the future.

As long as you drink to thirst, you'll take in enough liquid for your body.
That's not quite true suedonim. Older people often lose the sense of thirst and can become dehydrated without realising it.

jainea, sorry I don't buy that about the colour of urine in the toilet bowl.

Different loos contain different levels of water, and sometimes you do a bigger wee than others - I can't believe that you can determine the colour of your urine by just looking into the bowl after you've been...it would be way too diluted.

(and what if you've got an avacado-coloured toilet? )

Well anyone with an avocado toilet definitely has a problem Ana

The straw-coloured thing is just a rough guide, but dark-coloured urine is a symptom of dehydration www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dehydration/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

Yes, jane, I know that dark-coloured urine is a symptom of dehydration.

I still think it would be necessary to wee into a sample bottle or similar to determine what colour it actually is.

DD says that tea and coffee do not count as they dehydrate and that we should drink 2 litres of water a day.

So, if we discount the tea I've drunk today, I've had one small glass of water.
[eek]

And if you drink any alcohol tonight your total will probably be minus-something!

I drink a big glass of water when I wake up, then several glasses a day. Never have a meal without water and always have a small glass with my coffee( so up to 2L per day) or wi e, if i' drinking that. Had to make a real effort when I worked full time. Water affects not just your urine but bowels, as well, not to mention your skin!

Breastfeeding gets you into the habit of always drinking a big glass before every feed
( and I fed 4 children) so the water habit kicked in long ago. I always put a small bottle of (tap)water in my bag and, when exercising, drink even more.

With practiice, you can train your bladder!!

...wine, if i'm

I am going to have a glass of water and a cup of tea
prior to a at 6.30

When i lived in Southern England i hated the water, it was full of limescale, glad to say the water here in S.W.Scotland is like wonderful

I found it very difficult to drink the water when we lived in Essex, it was so hard. Supposed to be better for your heart though. The children didn't seem to mind it.

I`ve been encouraging my 93 year old Dad to drink more water for ages - now he`s got heart failure and been told he must not exceed 1.5 litres a day!

I try to drink lots of water, but it means that when I need to go, I need to go!!!

I have 1 glass of juice and about 4 tea/coffees

unless I have eaten something salty !!!

About 3 glasses at least.

How much is in the glass though? Means not a lot unless amounts are given.

Not so much now. When I was working it was a glass an hour, talked a lot so needed it. Also about 4 mugs of tea as well. Now it's mainly tea, probably 8 large mugs a day in the winter. In the summer it's tea and some glasses of cold water. I know some people drink hot water, it makes me nauseous so that isn't for me. Many family members drink far less.

Having suffered from mild incontinence, I have been advised by the urogynaecologists that women should only drink 1.5 litres per day. All liquid counts, including that in food, such as soup or sauce. As we get older our bladder gets weaker and cannot process too much liquid. I was drinking around 2.5 litres per day as I love lots of tea as well as some water.

Yy, Janeainsworth elderly people have particular needs. My mil wouldn't drink because it meant she needed to visit the loo more, which was difficult for her. That leads to infections and it's all a vicious circle.

Well I assume we're all doing our pelvic floor exercises....aren't we?

So drinking plenty of fluids shouldn't cause problems.