stop drinking 8 cups of water (because it's "good"), and get

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ariant23
ariant23 Posts: 161 Member
in Food and Nutrition
In case you can't tell, I have a grievance with the 8 cups of water thing. IT'S WRONG (well, misunderstood mostly). Long ago, someone did a study about water needs in nominal circumstances. the average body (not counting medical conditions, vigorous exercise, extreme heat, etc) does REQUIRE about 64 oz of LIQUID in a day. The same study said that MOST OF THAT COMES FROM FOOD. But some how all of the reports left off that last, but important part. If you drink when you're thirsty and your pee is light yellow every few hours, you're in good shape. Remember, coffee, soda, etc all count as liquid (just be sure to count any calories)


And yes, it CAN HURT if you drink too much water. For easy reference, see the following article. With input from a nephrologist (kidney doctor)
http://calorielab.com/news/2006/05/28/8-glasses-of-water-a-diet-urban-legend/

Just do a quick search for "8 cups water myth" on your favorite search engine and see what you find.

If you drink the 8 cups and you're happy, that's fine. I'm writing this to help ALLEVIATE some of the GUILT I see on the forums from people who don't drink the 8 cups, and DON'T REALLY WANT TO, but seem to be guilted buy this myth (that's propigated by MFP with it's silly little water tally widget).

:-) cheerio
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Replies

  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
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    Just do a quick search for "8 cups water myth" on your favorite search engine and see what you find.

    I did that, and the first result is this post.
  • burg1801
    burg1801 Posts: 124
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    Good to know...
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    No one will ever get me to believe that drinking plenty of plain water is not good for you. And in order to drink too much, you have to drink a LOT or drink quite a bit in a short amount of time.

    If we drank more than the kidneys can handle over a day's time then we wouldn't eat. There is nothing wrong with drinking 10 or 12 cups of water.

    I disagree with coffee, tea, soda, etc being counted as water also as it is not plain water.

    Most people that increase their water intake find they have more energy, better moods, clearer skin and better digestion and elimination.

    Water is important to the human body.
  • albali
    albali Posts: 225 Member
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    NatureMade! I'm with you!
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,495 Member
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    I drink 16-22 cups a day. Not dead and I feel so much better.
  • Brandongood
    Brandongood Posts: 311 Member
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    I agree with NatureMade
  • AmberJslimsAWAY
    AmberJslimsAWAY Posts: 2,468 Member
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    What if you do it because you like to drink water? The other crap people drink now a days is not near as healthy and since this is a fitness site (mostly promoting healthy eating habbits) I'll stick to my water
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    Do you need to drink 8 glasses of water a day? No, not really.

    Will 8 glasses of water a day hurt you? No, not in the least. The amount of water you need to drink to enter hyponatremia is absurdly high if you're not in a situation which would have you sweating nonstop (hence it happening to people using MDMA, or marathoners). If you're not in one of those situations, you'd most likely end up vomiting a few times before you got there which would clue in the average Joe that it was time to stop.

    In fact I'd say any water you drink is a good thing, as it burns calories. A calorie (little c, 1/1000th of the type we count for food), by definition, is the amount of energy required to heat 1cc of water by one degree Celsius. So if you were to drink a gallon of ice water a day, you'd burn around 2-300 calories simply by drinking water because your body has to heat up the water to body temperature.
  • seekingstrengthX2
    seekingstrengthX2 Posts: 771
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    I don't drink much water and have no guilt about it. To each his own....
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    LOL! I'm not laughing at you, BTW, I'm laughing with you.

    It is 100% TRUE that you do NOT need to get 64 ounces of water a day.

    However, drinking MORE water has been very beneficial to MY weight loss, and to others that I've suggested it to (in real life).

    Drinking TOO much water involves drinking gallons and exercising REALLY hard. Like running a marathon and drinking nothing but water during it can do it. Most of us will never run into this issue in every day life. Most, not all.

    There are people who should NOT drink lots of water. But only you and your doctor can tell!

    In case you couldn't tell, I'm a supporter of the "drink 1/2 your weight in pounds as ounces of water" crowd! :bigsmile:
  • seonf
    seonf Posts: 24 Member
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    Finally, someone else who knows the truth. There is no evidence drinking 8 cups of water does anything to loose weight.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
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    Just do a quick search for "8 cups water myth" on your favorite search engine and see what you find.

    I did that, and the first result is this post.

    +1
  • manasunshine
    manasunshine Posts: 130
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    No one will ever get me to believe that drinking plenty of plain water is not good for you. And in order to drink too much, you have to drink a LOT or drink quite a bit in a short amount of time.

    If we drank more than the kidneys can handle over a day's time then we wouldn't eat. There is nothing wrong with drinking 10 or 12 cups of water.

    I disagree with coffee, tea, soda, etc being counted as water also as it is not plain water.

    Most people that increase their water intake find they have more energy, better moods, clearer skin and better digestion and elimination.

    Water is important to the human body.

    Agree!!
  • manasunshine
    manasunshine Posts: 130
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    What if you do it because you like to drink water? The other crap people drink now a days is not near as healthy and since this is a fitness site (mostly promoting healthy eating habbits) I'll stick to my water

    true. i drink that much water coz i love it! its pure and zero cals :tongue:
  • MommyLyssa
    MommyLyssa Posts: 134
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    I drink over a gallon a day and LOVE water. Honestly, I can't get enough of the stuff :) I grew up on it (instead of soda, juice, etc.) and I absolutely love the stuff. Never had a problem. And I know that not everyone is the same, but I find it hard to believe 8 cups of water a day could hurt someone. Oh well ;)
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    I think it's just meant to be a general idea for average people to know how much to drink. Everyone is different. I used to be able to drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning and that's it, for the entire day!
    Now I work out, sweat more, my blood pressure has dropped and I need to drink more than I used to. If I don't, I still rarely get thirsty but I do pass out!
    I also drink more if I've had too much sodium as it helps get rid of the excess water retained.
    I agree with the urine color, if it's dark, drink more! That applies to everyone.

    Work with your own bodies people and you'll figure out what works for you. :)
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    Finally, someone else who knows the truth. There is no evidence drinking 8 cups of water does anything to loose weight.

    There is also no evidence that it does NOT help with weight loss. The jury is still out on this one!
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    No one will ever get me to believe that drinking plenty of plain water is not good for you. And in order to drink too much, you have to drink a LOT or drink quite a bit in a short amount of time.

    If we drank more than the kidneys can handle over a day's time then we wouldn't eat. There is nothing wrong with drinking 10 or 12 cups of water.

    I disagree with coffee, tea, soda, etc being counted as water also as it is not plain water.

    Most people that increase their water intake find they have more energy, better moods, clearer skin and better digestion and elimination.

    Water is important to the human body.

    this.

    I drink 10-20 cups of water a day and it does help with weight loss, helps keep my skin hydrated, makes me feel better, etc. why would anyone not want these benefits, from simply drinking water? You also will not convince me that drinking whatever you want, or relying on food for hydration is sufficient. Also, how can anything with caffeine count as 'water' when caffeine is a diuretic and can dehydrate you??
  • runningfromzombies
    runningfromzombies Posts: 386 Member
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    I don't know about the rest of you, but my pee is never light yellow unless I get a good eight cups of water per day (and most of the time it's more on the side of sixteen cups), especially not after coffee or soda, which DEHYDRATE you. :tongue: So...that really can't count as water, huh, since the whole purpose is to hydrate.
  • Rosiered2
    Rosiered2 Posts: 87 Member
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    I will say that many times when I felt hungry and it really wasn't time to eat, didn't have the calories left, I found that if I drank a glass of water, the feeling went completely away and if it DIDN'T, THEN I ate something......sometimes we really are thirsty and we've lost the ability to recognize it and start eating instead......I drink about 8 glasses of liquid whether I am eating healthy or not....I'm just thirsty

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