Does your 8 glasses of water have to be water??!

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Replies

  • ShyFeather
    ShyFeather Posts: 138 Member
    I'm sure this conversation would look silly to people in countries where clean water is a luxury.
  • led6777
    led6777 Posts: 268
    I'm sure this conversation would look silly to people in countries where clean water is a luxury.

    THIS!!
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
    The UK National Health Service says:
    ************************************************
    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/water-drinks.aspx
    The Department of Health recommends that we should drink about 1.2 litres of fluid every day to stop us getting dehydrated. This works out to be about six 200ml or eight 150ml glasses, cups or mugs. In hotter climates, the body needs more water than this.

    The total amount of water we lose each day and need to replace is in fact greater than this – about 2.5 litres – but we get 1 litre of the fluid we need from food and the body recovers 0.3 litres from chemical reactions in our cells. The rest needs to be taken from drinks.

    All drinks count, but water, milk and fruit juices are the healthiest. It is best to avoid alcoholic drinks.
    ************************************************
  • shannairl
    shannairl Posts: 65
    Okay it's none of my business what other people do, but for me, I just drink the g*ddamn water. How hard is it to get a litre bottle and fill it twice throughout the day?! It helps with snack pangs, it hydrates you, and it's good for you.

    I have a friend who refuses to drink water because "it's horrible" but will happily glug down a 2-litre bottle of Diet Coke but "that's okay because there are no calories in it". I want to hit her.

    FFS... Sorry, this is just a huge annoyance for me, it's ONLY WATER! You'll get used to it! How many of us instantly loved the taste of wine or beer?! You got used to it, same with water. I can't understand why people WOULDN'T drink it.
  • harebearva
    harebearva Posts: 216 Member
    OMG everytime this comes up I just want to scream.

    NO it does not have to be plain water. ANY fluid counts toward your daily.
    If it has calories, you need to track it in your food journal too -- thats the only difference.

    I haven't drank a plain glass of water in years... I don't like it and I'm not going to force it down.

    I haven't dropped dead yet, go figure.

    How much water a day? (By the Mayo Clinic) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

    http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what

    http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/drinking-enough-water-topic-overview

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/466085-can-you-substiture-green-tea-for-the-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/

    "Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Another approach to water intake is the "8 x 8 rule" — drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day (about 1.9 liters). The rule could also be stated, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid a day," as all fluids count toward the daily total. Although the approach really isn't supported by scientific evidence, many people use this easy-to-remember rule as a guideline for how much water and other fluids to drink."
    ^ This. It's predominantly water, small amount of sugar intake isn't a bad thing unless you're diabetic, Juice has beneficial vitamins, tea has anti-oxidants, milk is chock full of BCAA's and even caffeine in moderation can have health benefits. In the end, they are all mostly water and hydration is the key. Personally, I don't like the sugar, LOL but I'm not against it entirely.
    I believe it's best not to overthink the water thing. Just count the calories into your macros, and be happy. Whatever it takes to get that water into your body is OK in my eyes and my wheels haven't fallen off cause I'm a coffe fanatic! LOL. Just my 2cents.
  • kiki1335
    kiki1335 Posts: 3
    This debate goes back and forth and has been for years. Personally, a combination of water, and flavored water, including iced tea can count as your water intake. Drowning yourself in water is not the point. Hydration is the point and water is the healthiest way.
  • ardrigh
    ardrigh Posts: 5
    This whole thread makes me /facepalm.

    The general health guideline is that ANY FLUID that is NON-ALCOHOLIC is considered towards your "8 glasses of water per day".

    It is FLUID INTAKE your body needs to remain HYDRATED. Your body DOES NOT CARE if it is juice or tea or flavoured water or piss in a glass AS LONG AS YOU HAVE FLUID INTAKE.

    The ONLY difference is that you don't need to track a glass of water in you calories intake, but you SHOULD track anything that has calories eg a glass of juice or a can of Coca Cola
  • staceym90
    staceym90 Posts: 7 Member
    No it does not have to be plain water, here is a link from the nhs which will give you information on what you can drink aswel as water, it does state that all drinks do count, they just recommend you stick to water, milk and fruit juices as they are healthier:

    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/water-drinks.aspx
  • hsk71
    hsk71 Posts: 19
    Found this article very interesting and helpful!

    http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_water.php
  • WhittRak
    WhittRak Posts: 567 Member
    Just drink water for Gods sake. And don't add any artificial crap to it. Win.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    Within reason being natural flavoring like a squeeze of lemon, lime, or orange. Or hell they have some contraption that lets you make ice cubes from fruit juice to flavor your water.

    do you mean an ice cube tray?
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
    From a medical perspective, water is best plain, or with a little lemon/lime if desired, but any water-based drink will count (albeit they add other potentially-undesirables to your diet). Ergo, diluted squash, herbal teas etc can be counted towards your daily water intake. Soda, undiluted fruit juices, milk and caffeinated beverages including coffee and non-herbal teas, are not counted. I have an elderly relative who doesn't drink nearly enough, and had this conversation with her nurse at the weekend, so...
  • coleen_d_b
    coleen_d_b Posts: 22 Member
    Ummmm - while I agree that some people may be sensitive to aspartame - the myth that is is bad for you has been pretty much debunked.

    I'd love to see some links to read through confirming this. The movie "Sweet Misery" convinced me to stop allowing aspartame in my house.
  • WhittRak
    WhittRak Posts: 567 Member
    Ummmm - while I agree that some people may be sensitive to aspartame - the myth that is is bad for you has been pretty much debunked.

    I'd love to see some links to read through confirming this. The movie "Sweet Misery" convinced me to stop allowing aspartame in my house.

    Aspartame is bad for you. Was is chemically created? Well then there ya go.
  • DeadEyedSuburbanite
    DeadEyedSuburbanite Posts: 34 Member
    lol. Lot of snark on this forum. :laugh:

    Thanks to those people who linked to actual, credible sources. I wasn't aware that there was recent research on this issue that debunked the '8 glasses of pure water' thing.

    Personally I do drink 8+ glasses of plain, filtered water a day because I like the taste, it helps control my appetite, and it makes me feel better. Also I like the idea of toxins being flushed out while I am losing the weight. This is probably purely psychological though.
  • lesita75
    lesita75 Posts: 379 Member
    I'm sure this conversation would look silly to people in countries where clean water is a luxury.

    ^^^ Thank you. All of this bantering back and forth is quite ridiculous. Just do what works for you. There are more pressing issues than what you put in your water. :mad:
  • anku08
    anku08 Posts: 82 Member
    its water we drink and water we consume from fruits and vegetables :)
    i guess bit of flavored water should do but not all
  • melclare10
    melclare10 Posts: 49 Member
    you body inst meant to take in anything but water. Putting other stuff in it like crystal light or whatever alters who we are genetically and what we have done for thousands of years. Enjoying something occasionally is so much different than drinking it everyday.
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
    Within reason being natural flavoring like a squeeze of lemon, lime, or orange. Or hell they have some contraption that lets you make ice cubes from fruit juice to flavor your water.

    do you mean an ice cube tray?
    OMG! That cracked me up!:laugh:
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
    you body inst meant to take in anything but water. Putting other stuff in it like crystal light or whatever alters who we are genetically and what we have done for thousands of years. Enjoying something occasionally is so much different than drinking it everyday.
    Not to sound rude, but if you think Crystal Light is altering the genetics of the human race, you need to take a Biology class. This is simply not true.:noway:
  • Grandysl
    Grandysl Posts: 189
    [

    Beyond reason is anything with sweeteners like Crystal Light and Mio. That stuff is not water. You can pretend it is all you want but that's like arguing soda's water because there happens to be water in it.

    I disagree on this. If I have a glass of water that I add Mio or crstal light packets to it is now probably 98% water and 2% flavor. I am counting that as water. Soda, no. When I have a powerade-zero after my workout to rehydrate, I count that. I know I would have trouble consuming as much water as I do without crystal light, Mio and stevia.

    I think people need to use common sense and realize that water comes in a lot of sources. According to the poster of the quote all the water content of vegtables is not really water, it is vegtable. Hmmmm. Soda, coffee, tea and the like I would not consider "water". I tend to think if I am consuming it for the purpose of hydration it is probably water, if I am doing it for taste or satisfaction of a craving, it is probably not.

    Just my $.02. Each of us has to determine what is right for us. There is no one size fits all solution, or we would all already be where we want to be instead of being in a constant experimentation mode to get us there.
  • grimm1974
    grimm1974 Posts: 337 Member
    you body inst meant to take in anything but water. Putting other stuff in it like crystal light or whatever alters who we are genetically and what we have done for thousands of years. Enjoying something occasionally is so much different than drinking it everyday.

    That is not true at all. Adding a little flavoring is not going to alter your genetics. There is no difference in drinking some flavored water and drinking plain water while snacking on a flavored yogurt. They go to the same place. We are humans. Our stomachs have one chamber where everything mingles together. Unless you eat 100% natural foods, this argument just becomes silly .
  • TGKvr
    TGKvr Posts: 123 Member
    I don't get how some people can NOT like the taste of water. I mean... it's water. There really IS no taste, unless you happen to get funky water that has a lot of chlorine/iron/etc in it. And it boggles my mind that there are people that have gone YEARS without drinking a glass of water!
    No matter which side of the fence you're on in this debate, I'm pretty sure it's extremely healthy for you to drink some plain water at least every so often!
    Nevertheless, this thread was interesting to read.
  • SavageFeast
    SavageFeast Posts: 325 Member
    I don't understand the emphasis on drinking a certain amount of water when drinking it doesn't make you skinny, not drinking it doesn't make you fat, and people aren't falling out from dehydration around me. People didn't obsessively carry around water bottles back in the day, and you'd agree we all survived just fine...
  • TGKvr
    TGKvr Posts: 123 Member
    No, I think they called them canteens back then. ;)
  • EmCarroll1990
    EmCarroll1990 Posts: 2,832 Member
    I count only pure water. But some people's responses are so ridiculous. Just because you added some tea leaves does not negate the fact that it's still water. That's just stupid.
  • Grandysl
    Grandysl Posts: 189
    WATER = WATER = WATER! :drinker:

    Artificial flavoring, colors, tea, unsweetened or not is NOT Water.:sad:
    Tea, coffee, wine, juice = LIQUID
    And some are dehydrating = drink MORE PLAIN WATER

    A doctor told me years ago that we don't wash our clothes in tea, right?!!
    Same applies here..........

    WATER = WATER = WATER! :drinker: :flowerforyou:

    We may not wash our clothes in tea, but we dont use pure water either. We add to it, but still say we wash in water. Hmmmmmmm
  • uk_angeldust
    uk_angeldust Posts: 234 Member
    I try to make it 8 glasses of water... but on off days I try to at least drink lots of herbal tea.... today I had 5 cups of chamomile for example...
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    its really friggin hard to drink 8 glasses of water a day and not be too full for actual food.....maybe i need smaller cups! im drinking out of gnc protein shake glasses!

    It's easy to get your fluids in if you have a larger cup! How many ounces is the shake glass? I would guess that it is 16oz at minimum--which means that each one of those you drink is really TWO glasses. I personally like 24 and 32 oz water bottles. I drink 3-4 of those a day...
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    you body inst meant to take in anything but water. Putting other stuff in it like crystal light or whatever alters who we are genetically and what we have done for thousands of years. Enjoying something occasionally is so much different than drinking it everyday.

    That is not true at all. Adding a little flavoring is not going to alter your genetics. There is no difference in drinking some flavored water and drinking plain water while snacking on a flavored yogurt. They go to the same place. We are humans. Our stomachs have one chamber where everything mingles together. Unless you eat 100% natural foods, this argument just becomes silly .

    ^^this

    And do you really think the water we drank thousands of years ago is the same we drink now - no! It is filtrated, had chemicals added and comes out of a tap!

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