13 “Healthy” Habits Your Doctor Wants You to Give Up For Good
Drinking eight glasses of water a day
“The old advice to drink eight glasses of water a day is not necessary for one to maintain adequate hydration status,” says Nesochi Okeke-Igbokwe, MD, MS, attending physician in internal medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. That’s because every person is different, and this is also valid when it comes to water intake.
How much water you need to drink depends on various factors, such as how active you are, what type of diet you follow, your size, the climate you live in and your overall health condition. Rather than focusing on the number of glasses, focus on the signals that your body is sending you. You will know if you need to drink more.
Just as dehydration, forcing yourself to drink more than you need can have its own side effects and risks, among which electrolyte abnormalities such as hyponatremia.
