Why so much water?

I just want to say too... the flavor packets are chemicals... and so you have to weigh your disdain of water vs. putting un-needed chemicals in your body. I just wanted to put that out there...

I do it once-in-a-while... but daily or every bottle of water... for me, not worth it.

VERY well put!

caffinated beverages do NOT count towards water... in fact, you should drink an extra glass of water to make up for the amt of caffine.

If you don't like the taste, try either filtered or distilled. For me distilled tastes sweet and it's all I would drink if I could afford it.

Among other effects listed previously, skipping water and loading up on caffine can result in kidney stones... trust me, you don't want to go that route. if you go for herbal teas, be aware if the herbs are diuretic in effect. Most aren't. good luck

It's a well-known medical fact that our bodies require about 2 liters (8 cups) of water per day. Yes, you can do it with tea, but not necessarily with juice for the counter (although that's debatable, too, I hear). The trick is to avoid sugary drinks and/or fatty ones.

It was really hard for me at first to drink the full amount because I felt like I'd float away, as some have mentioned. But I've now often found myself drinking 10 glasses a day, no problem. I've also found that the weeks I am good about my water consumption I lose more weight than during the ones I don't get enough water.

Well, and read what kimmerroze said so I don't get redundant.

The reading that I've done on this topic confirms your first sentence - our bodies do need about 8 cups of water per day to function. When I first looked into this, some years ago, I believe that the basis for this was a study done by/for the US military in WW II - there's some logic to that since we were sending millions of people to different places in the world and we had to resupply them continuously.

The key point is that it's 8 cups of water per day from all sources.

This article is the only document that I've read that comes from a medical source:

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/283/5/R993.full

A few things stand out:
1 - it's footnoted to cite medical sources
2 - the author has written a book on how the kidneys function so I get a pretty good feeling that he knows what he's talking about
3 - the author says that, despite his significant research, he can find no medical reason for "8 cups a day" for an average sized person in a temperate climate who is not doing strenuous activity (that's from memory so please read the article).


In contrast, most "diet sites" will recommend that you drink a lot of water. One of the reasons for that, and I've seen it mentioned in some article by laymen, is that, as another poster has stated, if you drink a lot of water, you feel full and that helps curb your appetite. Heh, whatever works!

A tidbit that I'll pass along, and I'm sorry that I don't have the link, is something that I chuckled at 'cause it just makes so much sense. If you're drinking water, if drink cool or cold water it will actually burn more calories. Hows that? The body regulates temperature to about 98.6. If you're drinking water that's below that temperature, it will tend to drop the body temperature.

A healthy body will react to the drop in temperature and will burn calories to bring the body temp back to 98.6 (+/-). Therefore, you will burn more calories by drinking cool/cold water than by drinking warmer water. QED

OK, that's one of those "measurable but insignificant" things right (like "caffeine is a diuretic")? Well, IIRC, if you do drink 8 cups and it's "cold" you will burn something like an extra 25 calories per day (hence my putting it in the "measurable but insignificant" category).

Personally, the only time I've consumed that much water is when playing sports in my youth; when I'm riding my motorcycle in the deserts of the Southwest; and when I was in the Army and we deployed to the desert and other places. In the 166 days that it's taken me to lose 82 pounds, I don't think I've consumed 8 additional glasses of liquid on any given day.

There's no indication that drinking 8 glasses of water will hurt a healthy individual but I haven't been able to find a medical study that describes any value to the body.

Remember - the plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

I appreciate reading your "tag" thing after because I was looking for a post that talked about that issue...going over on protein without going over on calories (or anything else). It seems like I am constantly trying to figure out ways to get in healthy options but always am on the boarder of the protein, or over. Yesterday, it sent me a message when I ended the day saying I didn't have enough calories...and I had worked out. I even had a snack in the evening...I am having a hard time balancing it all...but thanks for your info!