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Question
06 Aug 2007
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Water intake:Body mass ratio
I have heard that the recommended amount of water one consumes per day is affected by one's body weight. I have a female friend who weighs 120kg and wanted to know what her daily water intake should be. Could you provide lucidation on whether or not this ratio is a myth and if not how one would go about calculating the recommended daily water intake using this ratio.
Thank you!
Thank you!
DietDoc
Dear Hydra Ted
According to general principles adults should ingest 2,5 litres of liquid a day - this includes all hot and cold beverages, fruit juice, water, etc. We usually only work out the water requirement based on body weight for children (50-60 ml/kg/day). For adults one can use 35 ml/kg body weight per day, which in the case of your friend would result in 4,2 litres per day which in my opinion is too much and can lead to so-called electrolyte imbalances. If your friend lives in a very hot part of the country or sweats profusely, then she can consider increasing her liquid intake by 1-2 cups a day, for a total of 3 litres/day.
Best regards
DietDoc
According to general principles adults should ingest 2,5 litres of liquid a day - this includes all hot and cold beverages, fruit juice, water, etc. We usually only work out the water requirement based on body weight for children (50-60 ml/kg/day). For adults one can use 35 ml/kg body weight per day, which in the case of your friend would result in 4,2 litres per day which in my opinion is too much and can lead to so-called electrolyte imbalances. If your friend lives in a very hot part of the country or sweats profusely, then she can consider increasing her liquid intake by 1-2 cups a day, for a total of 3 litres/day.
Best regards
DietDoc
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