How much water should you drink anyways?

Yesterday at lunch my roommate was teasing me about the amount of water I have been drinking the past couple of weeks. I have been carrying around a 32 oz bottle and going through at least 6 of them a day plus probably another two 16 oz glasses at meals. Of course, this is an absurd amount - 163 oz a day to be exact - so I understand why my roommate was mocking me. But I'm currently very sick and fighting off a virus so I have good reason to be drinking this much.

This mocking sparked a conversation amongst the people we were sitting with revolving around one central question: how much water should you drink daily anyways? Someone said she drank that much on the daily even when she wasn't sick. My roommate says she is lucky if she has a glass with every meal. When my mom asked if I was drinking a lot of water and I told her the volume of what I have been consuming, she said that maybe that was TOO much. Can you even drink too much water? So I sought out the answer...

Apparently, according to Mayo Clinic, a health resource website, there is no single formula that fits everyone. They say it is important to know about your body's need for fluids to help estimate how much water to drink every day. Well that isn't helpful. I kept searching for answers.

The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake for men is about 13 cups of total beverages a day and an adequate intake for women is about 9 cups a day (2.2 liters or about 75 oz).

As I read further I found the answer to my last question: yes, it is possible to drink too much. It is a condition known as hyponatremia when the kidneys can't process the amount of water you intake. It is extremely uncommon and rarely seen in someone eating an average diet; marathon runners are most at risk.

Stay hydrated!