Water consumption is of much debate and knowing your optimal intake can be quite puzzling. Here we see a new study that's all over the news attempting to debunk the old 8 glasses a day myth. Basically, the study shows that extra water consumption does not improve health in non-athletes.

The study is somewhat worthless because every individual is unique and water requirements differ from person-to-person and day-to-day. Eight glasses a day is a good rule-of-thumb that should be "taken with a grain of salt;" follow the general guideline and adjust it to be your personal best.

On the other hand, drinking too much water too fast can lead to hypernatria, or water intoxication. This condition is very serious and can lead to death.

Hyponatremia is a disturbance in the fluid-electrolyte balance, causing an abnormally low plasma sodium concentration (less than 135 millimoles per liter). The normal range of plasma sodium concentration is 136 to 142 millimoles per liter. A continuous decrease in plasma sodium concentration upsets the osmotic balance across the blood-brain barrier and causes a rapid entry of water into the brain. This causes cerebral edema (brain swelling) and a sequence of progressively more serious neurological responses (confusion, seizure, coma) that can end in death from brainstem rupture.1,2 The speed and degree of the serum sodium decline determines the risk for hyponatremia—the more rapidly it falls, and the farther it falls, the higher the risk for life-threatening consequences.

Conditioning Research has a couple of great entries on this topic here.

For a more personalized approach, your water intake should be about 1/2 your body weight (in ounces) each day. Drink if you're thirsty and watch the color of your urine; if it's skanky, deep dark yellow and smelly then you are not drinking enough.

But, if your urine is clear and odorless you are well hydrated and maybe even on the verge of being overhydrated. If you're drinking a lot and your brain is "feeling a little fuzzy," or you're thinking is not clear, then maybe it's too much water.

Listen to you body and use common sense. If you are thirsty or feel dehydrated; drink. If you think you might be overhydrated, act on that hunch, reduce your intake (chew gum instead) and see how you feel with a lower intake; you just might find that you feel great.