How much does drinking 8 glasses of water help?

greaseswabber

Woman’s Coca-Cola ‘habit’ cited in death

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/woman-coca-cola-habit-cited-death-161323721.html?vm=r&s=1

Jeepers!!! Did anyone notice in the article it said she drank between 2-3 GALLONS of coke a day. I love soda and can't even fathom cutting it out of my diet completely but I don't drink more then 1 or 2 GLASSES a day. Yikes!!!

That brings to light everything in moderation nothing in excess.

Moderation indeed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ns/us_news-life/t/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/#.T68GkVETtaU

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1770067/

tigersword

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread !
Water is water. According to some people, herbal non caffeinated tea can also count as water. Anything else has something added to it which changes the properties of water.
Juice and soda has added sugar, diet soda has controversial problematic chemicals (check out some of the other threads), gatorade can rehydrate you but you dont always need the extra electrolytes and calories, caffeine dehydrates you and if you have ever had a hangover I dont have to tell you that alcohol is problematic. Im not saying you cant drink these things, Im just saying they are not water.

Actually, this is full of misinformation right here. Water is water, and everything you listed is 90-99% water. Caffeine also does not dehydrate you unless you reach extremely high doses, and even then, you consume way more water getting to that high dose than you would ever eliminate from it. As for alcohol, depends on the type, and what you mix with it.

They all hydrate equally well as water. Water has no actual benefit over any of them, except for calories.

tsh0ck

the tiger is wise.

tigersword

Most Dr.'s would state that a majority of Americans walk around dehydrated.

I see that "majority of Americans walk around dehydrated" phrase mentioned a lot, but never with any evidence to back it up.

I know I've heard this one say it plenty of times

http://www.georgiabariatrics.com/aboutus

I don't any actual evidence given on that site, such as peer reviewed studies.

I've just heard her say it on the radio; I only referenced the site to reference her. Even "modern-day Taoist Wizards" agree -

http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j33/dehydrated.asp

lol

It would seem w/a little web searching effort a study or two should pop up. Here's one article that states "On the Internet the consensus is that 75 percent of Americans are dehydrated but medical science does not weigh in on this statistic." , so I guess that would suggest there's no study on it.

http://blog.imva.info/medicine/dehydration

The only study that gave out that statistic was a "study" done by Gatorade. They went to a gym and tested people that were working out for hydration levels, and then basically said most of them were dehydrated (duh, who isn't in the middle of a workout?) They used this "study" to announce that most people are chronically dehydrated so they could push Gatorade on the masses. Of course, you will never find this study, as there is no way in hell it will ever pass peer review.

Since then it's been tossed into the rotation of dogma, along with "8 glasses of water per day" which was also something that was never scientifically tested or recommended.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/13/myth-eight-glasses-water-day
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/monica-reinagel-ms-ldn-cns/dehydration-myth_b_1080956.html
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/

And I personally like this one, that pretty much debunks all of the things said in this thread about why you "need" to drink all that water.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-3991145.html

Interestingly enough, it seems the actual medical consensus is 4 glasses per day, not 8, and that most, if not all of it can actually come from food.

wildboar1

Dying from dehydration and being dehydrated are two different things. Most Dr.'s would state that a majority of Americans walk around dehydrated. I try to get the 8 cups in a day and usually do. Does it help? I don't know. I don't count products like Diet Rite Pure Zero as water though. I do count water w/a squirt of Mio though.

Do you know what happens the instant your body realizes you're dehydrated?

You get thirsty.

Are you thirsty?

That will tell you if you are dehydrated or not.

emmymae22

It's really important for me personally to drink an adequate amount of water every day. I don't count cups, but I am always, always sipping on ice water. If i don't drink enough water, I feel sluggish. Something you could do to help you get more water in every day is to drink a glass before every meal and 2 glasses right when you wake up.

DFWTT

I might be misinformed here but isn't 16, 8oz glasses a US Gallon? I see people stating 8, 8oz. Just wanted to clarify. I drink 12-16 with major improvements in skin tone, appetite and overall functionality.

impyimpyaj

I might be misinformed here but isn't 16, 8oz glasses a US Gallon? I see people stating 8, 8oz. Just wanted to clarify. I drink 12-16 with major improvements in skin tone, appetite and overall functionality.

Yes, you're correct. The general, average recommendation is eight 8-oz glasses, or half a gallon, per day. Many people prefer to drink more, especially those who are very active.