I hate water

ProjFit

I absolutely HATE water. However, I usually add some drops of lemon juice to it and it basically tastes like lemonade. Thats my biggest suggestion. Otherwise I drink it straight, and I feel like gagging.

katysmelly

You're right, I don't usually catch sarcasm and/or irony. I understand them if I notice them and can sometimes even use them, but I often don't notice them. Even in person, as we (Aspies) seem to lack the ability to read body language as well. This appears to be biological, so there's a limit as to how well we can be taught to do this.

I also don't know where they'd GET pure water. I'm not sure there's any on earth. Our chemist says water dissolves one thing or another from any material you try to contain it in or deliver it with. Water is as close to a universal solvent as we know of, so it dissolves almost everything. You sure as he11 don't get "pure" water from the tap, or in a bottle at the store.

I don't drink "plain" water because our water here is awful. I drink coffee (black w/ no sweet) in the morning and iced tea the rest of the day. I drink Mio or diet sodas when I'm out and about, because I can easily get them at the gas station or convenience store. I don't track water or any of the aforementioned beverages because they are essentially nothing. None of those has significant amounts of anything. Not even sodium, which is the oft-cited problem with diet sodas. Diet Coke has 20mg sodium, the others have zero.

I suppose I "get" that I'll never convince some of these people, no matter how good my sources. It's a little like I'm...compelled. I love Randall Munroe (XKCD) because he's so spot on with so many (admittedly geeky) things. This comic completely hit home:


(alt-text = What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!)

I know your pain!

katysmelly

Fizzy drinks and beer are water with stuff added. If you said "fizzy drinks and beer don't hydrate you," you have said "adding something to water negates the positive effects of water." How do you think they make "fizzy drinks?" I'll tell you. They take water, and they add stuff to it. Are you now claiming that who adds the stuff matters? If I add it at home it's not harmful, but if say, Pepsico adds it, it is?

Ok so your saying a whole load of stuff that i havnt even said. You seem pretty determined to carry on this pointless argument, well im not retaliating so please just give up trying to say that i said this, that and the other when i quite clearly havnt.

do you even know what you're saying?

"Thats quite dumb really, water has tons of benefits that all these other drinks don't."

How do 'these other drinks' not have the same benefits as water if they're just water with stuff added to them? You are saying that by adding something to water, it takes away the benefits.

I don't know why you keep quoting the same line i said, pretty sad actualy. And at what point did i say that adding things to water takes away the benefits?!? I said that water has tons of benefits that other drinks don't, duhhh! So if i was to drink a big glass of water and then a big glass of full fat coke, im sure it doesnt take a rocket scientist to tell me which is going to be a lot better for me.

What benefit does water have that Coke does not? That's what we'd like you to answer.

The OP was asking for suggestions on substitutions for plain water. It's assumed that she was talking about hydration. . It has been pointed out that there's no need to drink pure water. Pretty much any beverage will hydrate you. There are people here who think that they have to drink 64 oz of plain water every day, and that is nonsense.

It is perfectly obvious that drinking a can of Coke will add a lot of calories to the day's diet. Most people don't want that. But, if you were stranded on a desert island and had a choice between finding a case of Evian or a case of Coke washed up on shore, the Coke would be better because you'd want any calories you could get. Water is not *necessarily* superior to pop.

tigersword

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

What exactly is this supposed to show? I don't see any scientific evidence related to caffeine and hydration in any of the cited sources, nor really in the article itself.

FitLink

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

Thank you. Sorry it took so long to reply, but it took some time to round up and read the sources. I note that, while the article discusses cramps and caffeine, only one of the cited sources mention them. The first one, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, doesn't mention caffeine at all. Nada. They do mention electrolyte imbalance, which is what I suggested. The second and fourth don't mention cramps. Medline (which is not a scientific journal BTW but a plain language "interpreter" of medical data) mentions tremors, which are most certainly not "cramps," and the Mayo (the fourth) mentions "twitches," which are also not cramps. Both tremors and twitches are annoying but not painful. Neither source suggests 1) that moderate caffeine intake causes these twitches and tremors or 2) that caffeine isn't hydrating. The Mayo Clinic demonstrabley believes it is hydrating. The third is just a magazine article from a not-particularly-scientifically-oriented magazine for body builders. It references an article from the American Journal of Medicine (Molema et al, 2007 vol 120), which is interesting, because it's a study with a sample size of one. He was his own control. It's a good reason to do more research, but a sample size of one can't produce statistically significant results. It's interesting as well that Molena et al admitted that caffeine also mitigates muscle pain.

This is how I arrive at my "opinions." You have to back check sources, especially the ones from magazines like "Iron Man" because it matters whether sample sizes were large enough to produce statistically significant results or not, and HOW the sample was chosen. Who did the study is important. How prominent in the field are they?

I'm willing to entertain the notion that large amounts of caffeine might contribute to muscle cramps--and I'll be watching the literature for a more scientifically sound study--and also that there are negative health effects of excessive caffeine consumption, if you'll admit that there is no reason caffeinated beverages can't substitute for plain water for hydration, and none of a person's hydration need come from "plain" water. That's what your sources say. Mine do too, BTW.

katysmelly

Drink whatever you want. Don't like plain water? Diet soda, non-diet soda, Crystal Lite, coffee, tea, juice, milk, sports drinks, beer... All hydrate you just about as effectively as water, the only downside is that some of them have calories you would have to account for. Hydration is all about FLUID, not about water.

WTF??

Thats quite dumb really, water has tons of benefits that all these other drinks don't.

Name one. If there's "tons," it should be easy to name just one of them, right?

It supresses appetite.

LOLOLOLOL
& other liquids don't do the same thing? Remember - your original statement was that water has benefits that OTHER DRINKS DON'T

Right, lets see. 8 glasses of water a day or 8 glasses of random crap i.e some full fat coke and some lucozade (very calorific). I think the 8 glasses of water is gunna be a lot more beneficial. It flushes out toxins ect, i can really see fizzy pop ect doing that, more like the cals would just add to me hips so please, get over yourself.

Your body will filter out most toxins quite efficiently, regardless of what you drink. Water doesn't do this any more efficiently than Coke. The only difference is that Coke has sugar and caffeine added to the water, which may be undesirable, depending on your diet and lifestyle.

ssforcey

Mio

trud72

try lemon juice in it x

nollie04

Cucumber in water - 0 calories or sugar, but makes it taste fresh

katysmelly

If you drink water and then add caffeine it does negate the value of the water because it is a diuretic and will make you pee it out thus making you less hydrated...It's really not rocket science. I can't believe anyone would argue that soda/tea/coffee/etc. is just as good for you to drink as water.

You don't pee that much. You will have a net gain of water. There are people who only ever drink diet coke or tea or whatever. They are not dehydrated.

LordBezoar

A simple fix for me was to drink Ice water, it sounds stupid, but having cold water makes all the difference for me. I don't "need" ice in my water all the time any more, but it was very necessary when I started to increase my water intake.

redcollins78

Mio's...drink 'em all the time and my weightloss hasn't stopped...and I'm hydrated.

FitLink

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

What exactly is this supposed to show? I don't see any scientific evidence related to caffeine and hydration in any of the cited sources, nor really in the article itself.

I asked for sources that caffeine was linked to muscle cramps, which he asserted. I back checked the sources the article references, and they really don't fully support the conclusion. One cited article cites a an article in the American Journal of Medicine in which a study with a sample size of one--he was his own control-- which seemed to imply caffeine was linked to muscle spasms. Of the other three sources, one doesn't mention caffeine, the other two don't mention cramps. But I believe he was addressing me with "Here's the citation you called for" comment. I find the evidence interesting but not compelling.

jpuderbaugh

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

What exactly is this supposed to show? I don't see any scientific evidence related to caffeine and hydration in any of the cited sources, nor really in the article itself.

It wasn't in reply to hydration. It was in reply to my input earlier, saying that too much caffeine can cause muscle cramps. I'm not getting into this war you guys have going on when it comes to water and other sources of hydration. I merely suggested a way for her to try to learn to like water. I myself have suffered from muscle cramps in my legs when I had absolutely nothing to drink all day except caffeinated drinks. That is when I looked up any possible causes for it and found the link between my day and possible causes was caffeine intake. And I believe I found it on webmd.com, not this article.

Like I said though, I'm not getting in on this war you guys have going on. I didn't say anything about hydration.

FitLink

The best thing I have ever done for my health is a 7 day detox - 2 servings of fruit a day, 1 serving of meat, all the veggies I wanted. No fats (butter, oils, etc) but herbs and spices were OK. It was really hard, but when it was over I found that I loved water and completely eliminated my sweet tea addiction. I used to drink nearly a gallon every day (with about 1 cup of sugar in it!)

I used to literally gag when trying to force myself to drink water. A year later and I'm still amazed by this change. I drink 2-3 qts of water a day.

That's great, but the OP asked for things she could drink besides water to hydrate her. Replying, essentially, "water" isn't really an answer.

jpuderbaugh

and btw, I'm the woman in the pic, not the guy.

tigersword

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

What exactly is this supposed to show? I don't see any scientific evidence related to caffeine and hydration in any of the cited sources, nor really in the article itself.

I asked for sources that caffeine was linked to muscle cramps, which he asserted. I back checked the sources the article references, and they really don't fully support the conclusion. One cited article cites a an article in the American Journal of Medicine in which a study with a sample size of one--he was his own control-- which seemed to imply caffeine was linked to muscle spasms. Of the other three sources, one doesn't mention caffeine, the other two don't mention cramps. But I believe he was addressing me with "Here's the citation you called for" comment. I find the evidence interesting but not compelling.

Gotcha, I must've missed the muscle cramps part of the discussion.

mrmanmeat

Does anyone have any water substitutions that would work almost as good as water, but taste better?
Thank you!

Nope. Just drink it.

Your body hates you when it doesn't get enough water.

wendy3330

Add Propel Zero to your water - it makes it taste great and it comes in many different flavors. My favorite is grape.

FitLink

Here. There's your citation you called for.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/541881-caffeine-and-muscle-cramps/

Including their sources at the bottom of the article.

What exactly is this supposed to show? I don't see any scientific evidence related to caffeine and hydration in any of the cited sources, nor really in the article itself.

It wasn't in reply to hydration. It was in reply to my input earlier, saying that too much caffeine can cause muscle cramps. I'm not getting into this war you guys have going on when it comes to water and other sources of hydration. I merely suggested a way for her to try to learn to like water. I myself have suffered from muscle cramps in my legs when I had absolutely nothing to drink all day except caffeinated drinks. That is when I looked up any possible causes for it and found the link between my day and possible causes was caffeine intake. And I believe I found it on webmd.com, not this article.

Like I said though, I'm not getting in on this war you guys have going on. I didn't say anything about hydration.

The thing is, she didn't ask for ways to like plain water. She asked for things to make hydration taste "not like water." As I pointed out, there has not been proved a causative connection, nor even really a correlative one, between caffeine and cramps. One guy doesn't a study make. It's interesting. It is. I'll be watching it. But your personal anecdotal evidence adds nothing to the already skimpy scientific data.