Daily Water Loss and Water Intake

The body of a human baby is made up of approximately 75-80% water. As we grow older, this figure decreases and averages to about 60 to 65% for men and 50 to 60%. So you can safely say that the body of an average adult consists of 60% water.

Water is vital for our survival and maintaining optimal health. Without water we would die sooner from dehydration than we would if we were starving of food. People have been known to stay alive for up to three weeks without food. But without water you can only survive 3-5 days. Water is literally, one of the major essences of life.

Which makes adequate water consumption so much more vital than many people realize.

Everyday our bodies loses water content - through bodily processes like urination, feces, sweat, discharge and even breathing. Let's take a look at some figures, based on the average adult...

• Based on a resting state, the average adult loses approximately 1500 ml/day (approx 1.59 qt/day) water through urine everyday. This figure will increase depending on how active you are.

• Water loss through perspiration / sweat and expired air (water lost through vapor when you exhale) is harder to measure but it is estimated to be around 500-800ml (0.5 to 0.8 qt.) a day. Again, this figure will increase depending on how active you are - if you exercise everyday, or you have a lifestyle where you are regularly physically active you will lose more water.

• Water lost through fecal matter is approximately 100ml a day.

• Females lose additional water through vaginal discharge - approximately 50 ml/day

So tallying up those figures, an average adult loses a base 2150- 2450 ml (2.27 - 2.59 quarts) of water every single day. That's a lot of water. Here's some pictures to illustrate roughly how much water that is:

Given so much water is lost from your body every day, it is so vital that water is constantly replenished. If you don't consume as much water as you lose daily, your body will inevitable fail performing optimally. And if you add external stresses such as warm weather, sicknesses that occur, or stresses such as insufficient slumber, your body needs to work so much harder to compensate for these things - without the proper intake of water these stresses could create other health problems.