How Much Water Should You Be Drinking?

Along with food, water is essential for living a healthy life, and without it, we could not survive. Making up about 60 percent of our body weight, water does a number of things to keep our bodies strong and healthy. In addition to quenching thirst, water helps control body temperature, flush toxins, and retain moisture. It also keeps our skin looking young and healthy, helps maintain a healthy body weight, and much more. Because we need water to survive, it's so important that we drink enough every day.

How Much Water Should You Be Drinking? (Slideshow)

But how much is enough? We don't all require the same amount of water. As each of our bodies is different, each of us requires a different amount of water depending on four factors: body weight, dehydration, how much is lost, and activity level.

Your daily water requirement can be calculated with a simple equation based on your body weight. The amount of water you need also has to do with your level of dehydration and how much water your body loses daily.

Making sure you're drinking enough water every day can be as simple as eating water-heavy fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers, carrying around a water bottle, or drinking a glass first thing in the morning and with every meal.

Take a look at our slideshow to see how much water you should be drinking every day.

This post was originally published on November 12, 2013.