Recommended amounts of daily fluid intake are so much mince

[Toddy]

Apparantly the 'science' behind the 8 glasses a day, isn't. It's promoted and supported and advertised by the bottled water industry, and humans, who evolved in dry grasslands, are actually very, very good at managing water balances even when water is scarce. Too much water is actually bad for us.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24464774

cheers,
Toddy

 

[demographic]

Just the same as BMI then.

 

[petrochemicals]

I can believe a certain ammount of liquid intake is neceserry, but to have to drink unadulterated water is a bit of a gimmick, its not like the body makes the destinction when its going through your intestine. Cigarettes, John Wayne smoked camel as it helped him clear his lungs. What the food lobby push in the U.S. Congress is frightning.


Take everything with a pinch of salt.

(On behalf of the U.K. salt producers board)

 

[georann]

As with all these things, it needs a liberal interpretation...

Then again I drink 7 litres of water on an average day

 

[Toddy]

How the hang do you process so much liquid ?

Seriously ? does it not screw up your salt/potassium balances ?

cheers,
M

 

[georann]

That's not even on days doing much exercise either- I'm a student so apart from cycling 4 miles to uni, and walking around at uni, its not even as if I'm doing anything strenuous. I just drink lots (and "dispose" of lots too), always have.
I did at one point think it might be diabetes or whatever, but I had a recent blood test (full blood count, blood sugar etc the whole works) for something else and they all came back completely normal so its obviously not causing me any problems.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Hyponatremia.

http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2012/12/13/3653639.htm

 

[Man of Tanith]

Ive had this discussion at work with regards to residents and fluid intake.
Some folk drink more (like me tea based life form) some drink less like my nan who I recall only drank two/three drinks a day.

Another one is the tale coffee/tea dehydrate you.
Whilst they are both diuretics the amount of fluid ingested when drinking the brew outweighs the amount it stimulates you to dispose of it....

 

[georann]

Not a tea or coffee drinker, but people also talk about alcohol doing this same as your body uses water to process it (not that I drink a lot)

The hyponatremia link was an interesting read, my sodium levels are fine though so again no need to worry. Its what is normal for me and that's what matter so I'm not worried.

 

[Goatboy]

I used to drink lots of fluid; was just a naturally thirsty lad. But since the lymes and concurrent heart failure my body cant process as much fluid anymore. It collected all around my body especially the legs due to gravity.

Have to take two lots of diuretic tablets these days and I have to watch my fluid intake. At one point they wanted me to survive on 1 litre a day. That was very very hard; a cup of coffee/tea is around 200/250 ml, a can of juice is 330ml, a bow of soup can be 300/400 ml. very easy to go over that limit. And when you're swallowing up to 20 tablets a day that can eat into your pleasure/social intake of fluid.

The human body uses about 11 litres of water a day in all it's internal functions - much of this is re-used internally and as folk have said too much or little is bad for you. Excessive urination is no fun either. I lost a stone in an hour (that's 6.35 litres) when injected with a diuretic (just over 3 "2 litre" bottles of juice) My electrolyte levels were all over the place and still regularly are due to the pills. (Not helped as I don't like salt or use it in cooking).


I've found at rest I can tick over on about a litre a day but any exertion and it does go up, but I have to try and stay dry to stop myself filling up, also if you get to little water the body seems to then go into a drought mode where it will conserve water and stops you peeing. Which is why I found that I had to drink slightly more than was recommended to stop my body thinking it was a camel and conserving water too much.


So in all find a happy medium and listen to your body and watch urine colour.

 

[Tengu]

I drink when Im thirsty and don't drink that much.

unless its hot, of course, then my fluid intake can be higher.

(and of course you get a lot of water from your food.)

 

[sausage100uk]

the human body is very clever, you might drink 7 litres but it will just dump what it doesn't need throught your kidneys. all well and good while they and your heart are healthy.

 

[xylaria]

I have always thought that drinking the 8 cups a days was daft. I drink occasionally out of thirst but mostly out of habit like a cup of coffee first thing, a soft drink with lunch and a beer in the evening. I did drink myself into an electrolyte problem while cycling in hot weather a few weeks ago. I didnt think I over drank water, but I had a headache that got worse and worse. By the time I got within 5 miles home I was feeling really ill and wobbly. I thought it was a headache until I drank coconut water, where I instantly cured. Coconut water is stupidly high in potassium salts.

 

[Swallow]

Fluid and water are not the same thing.

I also don't see how you can take an experiment which gives water intravenously and use it as a guideline for drinking.

I'm more inclined to run with the NASA guidelines who have in orbit astronauts drink 3 litres a day.

Cody Lundin changed the way I think about water forever when he laid down the statistics for how much water a body contains over it's lifetime. Starting at over 80% in the womb and being down to 40% by old age.

He also makes students drink quarts of water until the point of nauseousness before he will take them out in the desert.

His position on dehydration is that if your pee is not clear you are dehydrated.

 

[Goatboy]

On the electrolyte and general dehydration thing the tendon cramps are murder, get them in my feet and hands first and then the leg muscles... not fun, can totally immobilise you.

 

[Toddy]

He's an idiot then, cos even babies don't have clear piddle

M

 

[Man of Tanith]

I was told on a woodlore course it should be a light straw colour.
Which has also been confirmed by gp's when discussed at work. Although medications can alter the colour of output quite a lot

 

[Swallow]

He's an idiot then, cos even babies don't have clear piddle

M

I think the there's a link missing in the middle of that sentence. Why would babies be a baseline?

 

[Toddy]

On the electrolyte and general dehydration thing the tendon cramps are murder, get them in my feet and hands first and then the leg muscles... not fun, can totally immobilise you.

Crampex tablets are a godsend at 3am when I've been pushing things too far and my feet and legs start that hellish gripe.

M

 

[Toddy]

I think the there's a link missing in the middle of that sentence. Why would babies be a baseline?

Healthy kidneys, entire young, fresh off the production line bodies

M