We all know we are supposed to drink water. Usually we are advised to drink more than we currently do. But how much is good and can you drink too much?

To get the ball rolling, here is a really simple formula which will help the majority of people. Fill a jug with the suggested amount and pour it into glasses. That’s how many glasses an average person should be drinking.

Weigh yourself in lbs, halve it – and that’s the number of ounces of water you should be drinking each day. And we DON’T mean coffee or tea! Just water; ideally spring water from a glass bottle or filtered tap water due to new information about microplastics in water from plastic bottles.

But why should we be drinking more water? The reasons are many. Whether you want to look after your skin and reduce your chance of wrinkles, or perform at your best as an athlete. Take a look at the infographic below.

If you are an athlete however, you need to factor in additional fluids to compensate for fluid lost from sweat. With sweat, you also lose electrolytes (sodium, potassium and magnesium are key.)

If you just replace with water and don’t replace the elctrolytes, you can ‘dilute’ your blood. Apart from putting youtrself at risk of cramps and the like, there are also more serious problems that can occur if this is taken to excess.

If exercising for more than an hour, consider dropping an electrolyte tablet into your water and add a third fruit juice to two thirds water to make your own sports drink. How much to drink during exercise depends on how hard you are exercising and how much you sweat. The experts are a company called Precision hydration. Check out their website for more info. PRECICION HYDRATION