Posted on 09/26/2015 10:50:05 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Most of us have spent our lives feeling pressured by the notion that we need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to avoid dehydration and stay healthy. But according to American paediatrician Aaron E. Caroll from Indiana University, there's absolutely no science to back this up, and there never was.
Caroll has already co-written a widely cited research paper and book debunking common health myths - primarily the idea that all humans need to drink eight 8-ounce (237 mL) glasses of water a day - but the rumour just won't go away, with an onslaught of media this year alleging that dehydration is on the rise due to children not drinking enough water. So Caroll took to The New York Times this week to clear things up once and (hopefully) for all.
"Contrary to many stories you may hear, there’s no real scientific proof that, for otherwise healthy people, drinking extra water has any health benefits," he writes. "For instance, reviews have failed to find that there’s any evidence that drinking more water keeps skin hydrated and makes it look healthier or wrinkle free."
So where did the great water myth come from? It's generally believed that the source is a 1945 Food and Nutrition Board Recommendation that declared, "a suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 litres daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 millilitre for each calorie of food". As you might have guessed, 2.5 litres more or less works out to be around eight glasses. But what's usually ignored from that report is the crucial next sentence: "Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods."
In fact, depending on your diet, there may be no reason to drink excess water at all. "Water is present in fruits and vegetables. It’s in juice, it’s in beer, it’s even in tea and coffee," writes Caroll. "Although I recommended water as the best beverage to consume, it’s certainly not your only source of hydration. You don’t have to consume all the water you need through drinks."
Before you object and tell us that coffee, tea, and alcohol dehydrate us, and therefore can't count towards our daily water intake, science has debunked that myth too.
A 2002 review by physician Heinz Valtin from Dartmouth University in the US found that not only was there no peer-reviewed evidence to support the eight glasses a day rule, there was also no research to suggest that other drinks couldn't be used to adequately hydrate us.
"This conclusion is supported by published studies showing that caffeinated drinks (and, to a lesser extent, mild alcoholic beverages like beer in moderation) may indeed be counted toward the daily total, as well as by the large body of published experiments that attest to the precision and effectiveness of the osmoregulatory system for maintaining water balance," Valtin concludes.
In the same study, he also broke down the myth that by the time we feel thirsty it's 'too late'. In reality, we feel thirsty exactly when we're supposed to: "when the concentration of blood (an accurate indicator of our state of hydration) has risen by less than 2 percent," he says, "whereas most experts would define dehydration as beginning when that concentration has risen by at least 5 percent.".........
Good to know, I’ll stick with my beer then.
Call Rubio.
Even if we do need the eight glasses....who has enough time to spend so much of it in the bathroom ?
You receive moisture from all sorts/forms.
No, stick to the eight glasses a day regimen!
Especially if you enjoy running to the bathroom every 20 minutes. That’s good exercise.
;^)
I normally drink at least 64 oz of water a day. Not that big of a deal.
One person just refused to believe me. She had heard that it must be "pure" water and absolutely eight glasses...no more, no less. About one month after our discussion she came back and admitted I was right. She had checked with an actual nutritionist who told her the truth.
I can’t BELIEVE the EnviroWeenies haven’t jumped on this to try and squash it. How about those people in CA in the middle of a drought? Are they each still drinking 8 glasses of water a day? Egads!
“Water is our Mother! She is a finite quantity! Conserve, conserve, conserve...or we will make you PAY!”
Your body will get used to it, if you give it time. While true that there is little direct scientific evidence, there is much science based evidence of symptoms caused by lack of water.
http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-of-water/
8 glasses of beer/day would be the absolute minimum!
8 glass of water, no. How about 3 glasses of water and 5 bottles of beer?
Much of the total supply of water the human body NEEDS is supplied by the metabolism of food for energy. Carbon dioxide is NOT the only metabolic product our bodies generate, every exhaled breath also carries 100% relative humidity of water vapor. Oxygen could not be exchanged in your lungs without this highly humid interface.
Small horses have lived for YEARS on the tops of mesas with no liquid water available, as the digestive processes of horses (and many other herbivores) can extract the water even from dead-grass forage, by metabolizing the energy contained in those collections of normally indigestible carbohydrates.
Little secret: you do not lose weight by sweating it off, you lose body mass and fat layers by metabolizing the tissues of your body, and these pass off through your breath. Breathing in oxygen accelerates the weight loss equation.
Eight cups of coffee, yes. Eight glasses of water, no.
Interesting.
Most people probably need more.
I do drink a lot of water.. always have. However, it is for low blood pressure. If I drink a good amount of water during the day, I don’t get light headed or see stars. Two of my kids have the same low BP and drink a lot as well. I will say it is a better solution to us than going on some sort of pharmaceuticals.
Yes, I do know that waiting until thirst is felt means dehydration has already begun.
FWIW I quit drinking all sodas even diet soda, and drink only seltzer for thirst quenching. Seems to work.
What about drinking a glass of water before meals to limit food consumption? Real question.
I drink diet green tea instead of water. It makes it easier to stay hydrated and eliminates the sugar I was getting through soft drinks. Been doing it for years and love it.
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