A rough guideline is eight 8 fl. oz. glasses of water as a rough guideline for a typical daily required intake. This amount can vary, however, based on factors such as your daily activity level. Many people struggle more with an excessively low total water weight percentage; few people deal with the reverse issue -- an excessively high total water weight percentage. Both conditions, however, can be harmful to your health.
Content
In most people, water accounts for roughly 60 percent of a healthy total body weight, which is the largest single component in the human body. This percentage can vary somewhat based on a person's age, gender and physical fitness. Further, this distribution is not even throughout the body; for example, while the blood is made up of about 92 percent water, the bones are only about 25 percent water; the brain and muscles are about 75 percent water.
Function
Water contributes indirectly to the proper functioning of virtually every function required by your body for good health, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. For example, it is a major component of saliva, which begins the predigestion process and helps with chewing and swallowing food; water also helps process your food after you swallow it, keeping it moving through your digestive tract. It also helps with other purposes, such as maintaining your body temperature at healthy levels, assisting in eliminating waste materials from your system and helping your joints move freely.
Dehydration
If the percentage of water in your system is too low, a condition known as dehydration, you may notice that your mouth frequently feels dry or that your urine's color is dark yellow. Dehydration can be caused by sickness that leads to diarrhea or vomiting, which eliminates water from your system, as well as by sweating from intense exercise. Very severe cases of dehydration can be life threatening.
Excess
It is unusual, but possible, to experience the opposite problem from dehydration, which is excessively high water consumption, also known as overhydration or water poisoning, which leads to sodium-related blood pressure disorders. It can be caused by health conditions that prevent your body from eliminating excess water from your system. It also can be caused by drinking extremely high amounts of water; however, according to James. L. Lewis, M.D., a typical healthy adult would have to regularly drink at least 6 gals. of water daily to experience overhydration.
