water and only water but I will tell you your body needs water, wants water and functions very poorly when it doesn't get the water it needs! Your choice! And we always have a choice!
You may have heard many different ideas in how much water your body needs-you need to drink a gallon a day; 80 ounces a day; so many ounces to so many pounds of body weight a day. My suggestion is to listen and pay attention to what YOUR body is telling you because it will tell you what you need.
Before I tell you how much you might need let me give you a few basic and general statistics-this info is not intended to be specific to any 1 individual but a ball park to understand what generally is going on with the human body. Don't forget we are all "morphs" so your numbers/statistics will be different.
The average male's body( and who the hell knows what average is?) is about 60% water. An average female's is about 55%. Lean muscle tissue contains more water than fatty tissue and liquid water (H2O) is the most abundant molecule in the human body. As little as 1% dehydration in the human body can and does effect mental performance and physical coordination. That's not much folks!!! Another stat-the human body "feels" thirsty when it has lost about 2-3% of it's water. So think about those last 2 stats-if you "feel" thirsty at about 2-3% dehydration and dilapidation of mental and physical properties can occur at less than 1% dehydration by the time you "feel" thirsty your body is already suffering more than it should. In other words don't wait to drink when you "feel" thirsty, drink before that feeling arrives!
My suggestion to people I work with is to get what ever water holding utensil that holds 8 or more ounces of water ( glass, cup, jar, water-bottle, mug-what ever) fill it with water and then as you drink it through out the day don't ever let that utensil get empty. This allows for a constant reminder to drink throughout the day and to not be without water.
Now here come the stat that everyone is going to "freak" about-our bodies need about 3 quarts of fluid a day- that is 96 ounces of fluid. Notice I said FLUID.Yes that is A LOT but remember your body gets water out of food and other liquids. Drinking plain water is highly important and needed but your body does get fluid and "water" from other sources.
Now if you are not a huge "water" drinker I do not suggest to go out and start drinking copious amounts of water, unless you want to feel like a walking water cooler( not attractive and not comfortable). I mentioned before, drinking a little bit, continuously, throughout the day. As your body adjusts to the volume of water you are drinking gradually increase to an amount that allows your body to feel "balanced" and efficient.
Now for those out there who think they are going to drink too much you should worry more about drinking too little. It is possible to drink too much but but not common-infants 6 months and younger or extreme athletes(marathoners, etc) have a "higher" risk of drinking too much-many times because too "thirsty" and drink too quickly. The human body can process up to 15 liters of liquid a day...THAT'S A LOT!
So after all of this just please keep in mind-water is important, your body works more effectively with proper amounts of water and your individual needs are going to be different than the person standing next to you.
Remember...
YOU ARE THE DIFFERENCE!