I was laying in bed the other night with a nice cup of tea with valerian root and preparing to drift off to dreamland during a viewing of Dune which, even if you are a fan such as I am, one admits that it does have the tendency to be a bit drawn out and cause one to doze off (as can the book). While watching the film there was some talk about the importance of water conservation as well as human water consumption. It got me thinking about the whole “Eight 8oz glasses of water per day” thing I hear so much about.
The idea is that a person needs eight 8oz glasses of water each day in order to stay properly hydrated and avoid imminent dehydration. Sounds like a lot, but it makes some sense. Many of us suck down sodas (both regular and diet) and coffee, both of which have caffeine which can act as a diuretic, and could probably use some water to help keep things even. But does one really need those 64 ounces each day? Is 64 ounces enough for everyone, what about too much for others? Surely someone smaller and lighter needs less than one who is big and tall.
There is also the diet to take into consideration. I have read of raw vegans that are primarily fruitarians and rarely drink water at all since the foods they consume have such high water content. What about people who are on the go and eating lots of canned soups and frozen meals that are high in sodium? I have even read that one should take their weight in pounds (173 for me) cut it in half (86.5) and use that for how many ounces to take in: 86.5 ounces. Ugh, even more water?
Of course if we do get Stillsuit technology all the rules of water consumption are pretty much thrown out the door. But I think it will be a while before the water regeneration system NASA has deployed for the ISS, as mentioned in the link, will make it’s way to any of us for home use in the form of a suit.
I did a little research and found an article on the ever entertaining and educational Snopes.com which had some interesting things to say according to their own research from several sources. Also, I was able to find an interesting article on Scientific American about these water consumption “rules”. Basically they both came up with one simple verdict about the 8/8 rule and even the lbs divided by 2 to ozs rule: False.
We need enough water to replace what we lose each day. Plain and simple.
Drink when you are thirsty, don’t drink if you don’t feel the need. If you are working out, be sure to increase your water intake. Just as with calorie consumption, needs may vary greatly depending on several factors.
Like anything health related listen to your body and take advice into consideration. But don’t jump into anything without doing a little research of your own first.
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One thing to consider is that it is easy to mistake thirst for hunger. If you find yourself hungry in the middle of the day, you could try drinking a glass of water instead of reaching for a snack, even a healthy one, and waiting a few minutes to see if that helped.
I tend to drink a lot of water, and I’ve had skin care professionals tell me they could see that I do by the condition of my skin, so there are lots of benefits to it. But it shouldn’t feel like a chore.
Bingo. Replacing an instant snack with some water and then seeing if the craving subsides is an excellent tactic for avoiding extra calories, as well as staying hydrated.
Until I stumbled across the SA item Scott linked to yesterday and the research behind it, I was very much in the “gallon a day” proponents’ camp. Then again, I’m in the gym almost every day, and have a perspiration profile far better suited for a drier climate (read: I sweat a lot), and my other half works a very demanding physical job – it’s just a matter of course that we both drink a ton of fluids in the course of a day to keep up.
(aside to Scott: you fink, I was gonna write about that! *shakes fist ineffectually at the far-superior “Dune”-themed article*)
It has also worked well for me to follow every meal with a good 12 ounces of water. Fills me up more and seems to help with digestion. But then again since I have tons of fiber coming in I kind of need to keep things hydrated.
(Bah, I was working on this article two days ago and saw a newer hydration article come up than the previous source I pulled from so I jumped on it.)
I do admit to being of the view that drinking water is a good thing, luckily my kids are avid water drinkers, or fruit juice when the water isnt chilled yet and dont really have to force the issue with them which is great. And I like to drink an average of about 3 500ml bottles through an average day, but I dont obsess about it. And in all I think its healthy and I notice the difference if I dont drink much water in a day.
But that being said, the 8 glasses a day theory is a relatively recent thing, it came about in the same time as bottled water began to become a big selling item, which the cynic in me thinks might be a tad too much of a coincidence.
I asked some of my older relatives in their 70-80s about it and they said when they were younger, you drank when you were thirsty, be it coke, water, tea or coffee. But they never kept track of it and no one they knew ever died of dehydration. German bombs falling on their houses yes, but not dehydration. But then perhaps they had more on their minds at the time to keep track of it