How Much Water Should I Drink Every Day?

Sadhguru: Everybody is carrying a bottle and sipping continuously because the marketing machines have done this to them. Excessive consumption of water, especially if it’s done in small sips, will lead to swelling of the brain. At the same time, when you need water, if you don’t drink, it’ll cause damage to the system. It is not just about drinking liquid water; you must eat high water content foods. If you don’t feel thirsty, if you don’t drink water, nothing is going to happen; you’re going to be fine. It’s only in America, in cold climate, everybody is carrying a bottle and sipping continuously because the marketing machines have done this to them that they must drink lots of water. Excessive consumption of water, especially, if it’s done in small sips, the body absorbs. When it absorbs, the sodium levels, which are very delicately balanced, will drop. The rest of the body also is affected, but may not be sun… so noticeable. But in the brain, sodium levels dropping will lead to swelling of the brain. This does not mean your brain is growing. (Few laugh) It means… Swelling means it’s a kind of sickness, okay? Not expansion of the brain, it’s swelling up because of lack of sodium content. So, because there’s not enough sodium, more water goes into the brain trying to supply the required sodium to keep the balance. So, more water in your brain means you will slosh, (Laughs) psychological imbalances will come when… when you manage to absorb… See, if you drink lots of water at one go, body will decide how much to absorb, how much to throw out. But if you keep sipping through the day, body kind of gets deceived, and tends to absorb more water than it should. But let’s say right now, you drink two liters of water, all of it is not going to go into the system. What is needed it’ll take, the rest of it will be shunted out. So, not consuming water and being out there is very much a possibility. Nobody need to drink water simply because you think it’s a good thing to do. When you feel thirsty, you must drink water. Just to ensure you’re drinking enough, drink ten percent more than what you actually need. Couple of cups more just to ensure that you don’t drink less. If you’re not the kind, who is a… carrying a… water bottle with you every minute of the day then it’s good to drink little extra water so that when the need comes, you have a certain amount of time before you can drink, that it’s not an emergency. At the same time, when you need water, when you’re thirsty if you don’t drink, it’ll cause damage to the system. I would say… This may be very controversial, the medical fraternity will for sure protest on this, but they will come to it after maybe twenty years or thirty years. (Laughs) I would say, if everybody consumes good water, in sufficient quantity, fifty percent of the heart attacks in the world would come down. Damage to the heart is immense when the water that is needed is not there in the system. But when I say water, it is not just about drinking liquid water; you must eat high water content foods. If you eat a fruit, it’s nearly ninety percent water. Vegetables and other things are over seventy percent water. Minimum seventy percent water content must be there in the food that you eat. So, very low water content food you eat, and it goes and gets stuck in your… like concrete it sits in your stomach; now you drink water, water, water, it… that’s not going to help. You must eat high water content foods. When you consume food, at least it must be level with the percentage of water content in your own body. So, any food that you eat should be at least seventy percent water content. So, this is why vegetables, fruits must be part of your diet so that it is there. Not consuming water in certain situations is okay, but if there is an indication of thirst you must drink water. It’s very necessary that you must drink water when there is an indication of thirst because body has its own way. When it indicates you need water, you must give it water within twenty minutes or at le… at the most half an hour; you must drink substantial quantity of water. If you drink enough water, then body will choose how much to take, how much to reject.