Needing 8 glasses of water a day a "myth"

Not to challenge you or anything, but I read somewhere that if you don't drink enough water, your body thinks you're dehydrated and retains water so when you're trying to lose weight and the scale isn't moving, that might be a factor. I don't know if it's true. Just something I read.

well, I mean, lets not go overboard here. I mean, while 8 cups a day is a very generic middle ground, the science behind drinking water is anything but a myth.

I mean, what is goal of this post deedee ? Is it to find out how much water you should be drinking?

I can tell you that depending on your weight, activity level, and exercise amounts most adults of average size lose between 50 and 90 oz of water per day through urination, respiration, sweating and various other activities.

I have to disagree! to a certain point - there is nothing that says that everybody needs 8 glasses of water a day, but what is proven, is that an adequate fluid balance in your body is absolutely essential for a heathly loss of weight.

If you don't get enough pure water, your body will not be able to rid itself of various toxins that is bloking your system, and your body will need a lot of energy to fight these toxins. This energy should instead be used to fight the extra pounds, and to stay healthy. You must drink enough water to keep your body hydrated at all times. Some people my need only four glasses, others eight, and some may need ten glasses a day.

But don't think that cola, tea, coffee, juice or other fluids will do the trick ! It has to be pure mineral water.

I believe that water isn't important so much for weight loss, but for normal bodily function. If your body doesn't have enough water, obviously you become dehydrated, which affects many organs - most importantly, the brain. If you suffer even mild dehydration, the body becomes more lethargic, and brain function slows, affecting alertness and concentration... among MANY other things. If you find you don't concentrate well at work, or are always tired, it could very well be that you're not drinking enough water. I always encourage my students to bring their drink bottles to class with them to stay better hydrated.

Really though, it's your body... drink as much or as little as you feel you need to!

I think we're getting too fussy about the specific 8 glasses, if every guy and every girl ate 2000 and 1500 calories respectively then there would be many people consuming an innapropriate amount of calories yet this is the figure printed on the nutrition information of moat foods. I think the intention is just to impress the importance of keeping hydrated and they probably just picked an amount that would likely nourish most people without being excessive and flushing out all the important electrolytes

I love water. I drink about a gallon a day. Myth or not.......it seems to help my diet and could careless what a random article says.

I love water. I drink about a gallon a day. Myth or not.......it seems to help my diet and could careless what a random article says.

Water is my liquid gold :drinker: I know this is off topic but WOW a 223 pound loss is inspiring congradulations!

"Negoianu and Goldfarb say they found no clear evidence of benefit to increasing water intake. On the other hand, no clear evidence exists of a lack of benefit. "There is simply a lack of evidence in general," they conclude."

This doesn't prove anything one way or the other. I have to agree though that dehydration is a much bigger health risk than drinking too much water, except in some specific medical conditions. Kidneys are wonderful organs - if you take in more water than your body needs, they get rid of it very efficiently. If you take in too little, they can deal with that too, but on the long run they'll pay the price. :drinker:

I think honestly that everyone has a different water requirement, especially if we are all different sizes, do different things etc. I don't drink 8 glasses of water. That would just require me to force it, and end up going to the bathroom more. I drink what my body needs, and as someone else mentioned, I think seeing your urine is a better indicator ( unless you eat beats, they can throw it off ).

When we were cave dwellers there weren't any choices of what to drink other than water.
But modern man has replaced his water consumption with chemical Horses#$^ and sugar laden liquids.
One of the reasons behind suggesting to people that they drink 8 glasses of water is that they'll replace the sugary and chemical baloney with something much healthier,........ water. I mean a lot of people coming to a site like this have a giant problem pounding soda. When they're thirsty, they pick up a coke or pepsi.

No carbs, No sugar, No salt. That's why water is good for you. It doesn't do the damage of the stuff we've replaced it with.

Drinking ice water burns calories. That should be enough of a reason to do it.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm

I've never read anywhere that says "You need 8 glasses of water a day". But, 8 glasses of water is a BASIC GUIDELINE for people who can't seem to figure out how much water is good for them based on their specific factors: your health, how active you are and where you live. For me personally...as I have been active and healthy I have experimented with my water intake to find out what was best for me. 8 glasses of water is not enough for me, that is about half of what I need to be intaking everyday. And, regardless of what you say...I know that is best for me.

Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. In order for your body to properly function, you need to replenish your body's water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water. THAT, my friend, is scientific evidence. Of course no scientist can calculate how much water exactly each person needs because each person is different based on their health, activity level and where they live, etc.

What exactly are you looking for? I mean, I understand you don't think people should be filling their water with other contaminations & artificial sweetners and things...but that has nothing to do with the amount of water you should be putting into your body. Whether they choose to sweeten their drinks is up to them and their health. At least they are getting the liquids they need to adequately replenish their body's water supply.

And...just FYI...I got the following from the Mayo Clinic on Water....

***The average urine output for adults is about 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) a day. You lose close to an additional liter of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace the lost fluids.

I think that drinking 4 glasses of pure water is going to be better than trying to force 8 cups artificial-something down.

We get hydration from foods, too. Veggies contain a lot of water, and that contributes to our fluid intake.

And, don't forget about the benefits of drinking tea or coffee (yes, coffee). Besides providing hydration, both of these beverages provide wonderful antioxidants for our body. Just be careful of what is added to it. So, if you are a coffee or tea drinker, these beverages would count. Many people enjoy a cup of coffee or tea every day, and that should decrease the need for water consumption.

I don't know if this has been debated here before, but there is another myth out there that caffeine is a diuetic, and that if one drinks a caffeinated beverage that he/she should drink an additional glass of water. I googled this, and it turned out that there really is no definite diuretic action at all.

Isn't it a little hypocritical to say that we shouldn't consume 8 cups of "artificial-something", but yet you're saying that drinking coffee will decrease the need for water consumption? I have never seen any good side effects of coffee. Granted there are some bogus (in my opinion) studies that "show" coffee is good for you...but I have never seen the results. From what I've seen when one doesn't get their coffee fixation..they get headaches, get irritable and they can't function without it. (not to mention it increases blood pressure) Does that even sound healthy? Granted I know a lot of people drink coffee, but still, its not good for you. Water is the best way to replenish your body

Anyways, I don't mean to sound grumpy...but I am a big advocate on drinking water. Especially since I've seen so many horrible side effects of drinking coffee as a "water substitute" in my own family. Most people could use a little more water (and pure water, might I add) to their daily diets.