Water is Perplexing

There are conflicting reports about how much water we should drink a day. Some say 8 glasses a day…others say 4…some even say 2, so who the heck is right? You are always told to drink more water but when you drink more water all it makes you do is urinate more.  If your body really needed that much water, wouldn’t we retain it? But then again, I am a woman and our bodies are designed to retain water. Yet when you try to lose weight you are also told to drink more water. If I drink more water, won’t I retain that water which means an increase not decrease in weight? And my biggest pet peeve about water is that is has no nutritional value yet it is essential for the body. But if it is so essential why can’t we live off of water alone? You still have to eat food to get the nutrients the body needs. I just want to know what is the happy balance. Someone, please, school me on the truth about water!