8 glasses of water a day minimum

[bigbadboss101]

When they say one should consume 8 glasses of water a day would it be strictly water? Tea, coffee would surely not be considered the same. What about lemon water? Or if I have some BCAA/Glutamine mixed in with water? Would they count? I like to drink green tea and also Xtend (glutamine with BCAA etc) and wondering if I need to drink my pure water on TOP of them. I also try to drink some water with lemon first thing in the morning.

[B20EF]

I've read many reports going both ways. One guy said you hardly need to drink any water because you do get enough with pop, tea, juice etc.
Some have said there is absolutely no proof to show eight glasses of water has any benefit at all.
Some say it's absolutely necessary to rehydrate the body.
I like water but probably don't consume eight glasses of pure h2o each day.

[Aleks]

There is lots of water in the food you eat every day as well.

[Barking_Spidre]

I'm sure it doesn't matter if it's pure water or not, they're just talking about getting it into your body somehow. So I'm assuming one glass of tea is equal to one glass of water, because nothing is added to take up space in that glass of tea right? Same with coffee.
Maybe I'm way out to lunch on that, but that's just how I kinda see it.

[sputnik]

tXS5GBuk-GQ

[Vagabond142]

I average between 4-6 liters of water a day, measure by a 2L pop bottle full taht I keep in the fridge. Keep in mind I'm jogging/biking everyday, so that boosts my water intake a little

[legendboy]

i am also wondering about this.

i find it really hard to drink that much water in a day

beer on the other hand....


chronic dehydration ftl

[A790]

I find it easy. Generally, I'll have one glass of water every 1.5hrs or so. Easy peasy, and I'm never dehydrated :)

[corrode]

If the point of 8 glasses of water is the hydration of the body, then anything with caffeine in it (ie, pop, coffee, some teas) would do the opposite. Caffeine is an diuretic increasing urine production and dehydrating the body. Also, pop is full of sugar and so the health benefits from the water contained in pop is most definitely canceled out by the negative effects of sugar.

[Kloubek]

^^^

This. You DO get enough liquid without downing 8 full glasses of water a day. A lot of moisture comes from the foods we eat too. But if you're thinking a cup of coffee constitutes a cup of water, it doesn't... as corrode said, it will make you piss quicker.

In the end, many experts agree that you should simply drink when you're thirsty. The thirst mechanism in the body is there for a reason...

[Canmorite]

If you have 8 glasses of water on top of all the food you are eating, have fun flushing out all your vitamins and minerals.

[msommers]

Originally posted by Kloubek
In the end, many experts agree that you should simply drink when you're thirsty. The thirst mechanism in the body is there for a reason...

On the flip side, I've heard that when you feel thirsty, you're already down ~1 litre of where you should be...

[core_upt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water#Requirement

I typically drink 4-8L of water a day, depending on if i work out or not. I have a 28oz. glass (~800mL) on my desk and I drink about 4-5 of those a day, have a few glasses in the am as soon as I wake up, 2-3 water bottles (1200-1800mL) at the gym, and the a few glasses at night.

Yes - its a lot of fucking water. I piss every 45 minutes or so. That's annoying, but it keeps me full and awake.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by msommers


On the flip side, I've heard that when you feel thirsty, you're already down ~1 litre of where you should be...

Do you fill up the tank in your car as soon as the fuel guage needle is no longer touching the F?

[msommers]

hahaha that's a pretty poor analogy.

[Kloubek]

Actually, I think it's a pretty good analogy. I don't know about 1 liter... that would be like... 20% of your entire blood volume. But it makes sense you will be at least a little depleted by the time your thirst mechanism kicks in.

But again, it's a natural mechanism and would not work the way it does if being slightly down in fluids was a major detriment to your body. That would be like your sense of pain kicking in half an hour after you touch a hot burner. Or feeling hungry only after you haven't eaten for five days.

[msommers]

Your system works optimally when your body's "water fuel guage" is at F, where as with a car, it actually performs better when it's closer to E.

The whole liter thing is just a myth and I cannot confirm or deny it's authenticity. But since it's already been mentioned:


Originally posted by Kloubek
it's a natural mechanism and would not work the way it does if being slightly down in fluids was a major detriment to your body.

How much water you drink depends on your body type, weight, activities, salt consumed, environment, how much you eat...

[imjames407]

i think 8 glasses are ok but more than 8 glasses should be taken in summers.

[rage2]

Originally posted by imjames407
i think 8 glasses are ok but more than 8 glasses should be taken in summers.
Ya, it totally depends on the climate. I drank maybe 1L a day in Calgary, land in India, I'm at 4L a day and still feel dehydrated lol.

[torob]

Its best to at least drink some water...
Most people including myself before, never bothered with a glass of water... then i started drinking at least 2 cups, and after a day or two if you look at yourself, how you behave / react, etc. its a big improvement

If you do it and expect to see very noticeable results, you won't be satisfied, its not quick enough to make things noticeable...

But at least try to get some water in apart from the food / pop / coffee

iirc if your piss is really yellow, then you should drink water for sure... if its really clear, then try holding back a little... should be midway

[livinlarge89]

The most important thing is to drink enough water that you don't consistantly feel thirsty, its there to remind you that you already need liquid. Some people sweat more, some people might have kidneys that pull out excess water faster than others. Some people that are exercising a lot, like they said, drink 6L a day, because they might need it, but for someone else 8 glasses might be fine.

As for flushing out nutrients, kidneys are pretty good at avoiding that from what I've been taught, at least significant amount unless they have something wrong with them.

Just from personal experience the people I know that make a point of drinking a lot more water than average seem to be doing great, and nobody I know is dying because they don't drink 4 litres per day, I'm sure the best option is to strike some sort of a balance