What is the significance of drinking 8 - 8 fluid oz of water

You don't.

It's an oft-repeated myth.

PB67, you beat me to it!
Yes, it's a myth.

same with "to flush out toxins"

Utter rubbish

You will feel fuller if your stomach is full of fluids...

OR it is all a big scam thought of by the toilet paper company to ensure frequent trips to the bathroom thus increasing their profits....

They aren't making much off me.

Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, which prompts us to eat when we should be drinking. By the time we feel thirsty, we are already dehydrated. Being fully hydrated maximizes the amount of energy you have when you work out. (Try it both ways and decide for yourself. You don't have to just take the word of random insomniac MFPers.) :drinker:

To the people who are saying this is a myth, prove it? Where are you getting this from?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=8+glasses+myth

As I understand it, that is about the optimal amount of water you need for functioning. However, most people get almost all of that from food, which of course contains water as well - particularly fruit and veg, which in many cases are very little else. So you don't need to drink all that as well as eating it. The body has sophisticated systems for making the best use of whatever quantity of water you have, and regulating how much is kept in the body, so if you drink whenever you feel like it, you should be fine without forcing gallons of water down.

Also - I would hardly consider snopes.com to be a persuasive source to go by.

Here's information from the Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

"People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day

The advice to drink at least eight glasses of water a day can be found throughout the popular press.w1-w4 One origin may be a 1945 recommendation that stated: A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 litres daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 millilitre for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.w5 If the last, crucial sentence is ignored, the statement could be interpreted as instruction to drink eight glasses of water a day.w6

Another endorsement may have come from a prominent nutritionist, Frederick Stare, who once recommended, without references, the consumption “around 6 to 8 glasses per 24 hours,” which could be “in the form of coffee, tea, milk, soft drinks, beer, etc.”w7 The complete lack of evidence supporting the recommendation to drink six to eight glasses of water a day is exhaustively catalogued in an invited review by Heinz Valtin in the American Journal of Physiology.w8 Furthermore, existing studies suggest that adequate fluid intake is usually met through typical daily consumption of juice, milk, and even caffeinated drinks.w9 In contrast, drinking excess amounts of water can be dangerous, resulting in water intoxication, hyponatraemia, and even death."

http://www.bmj.com/content/335/7633/1288.full


How-to books, beauty journals, the Internet, and the media usually recommend drinking six to eight glasses of water each day for keeping the skin hydrated, helping it look healthier, and making it less prone to wrinkles. We have found no scientific proof for this recommendation; nor is there proof, we must admit, that drinking less water does absolutely no harm. The only certainty about this issue is that, at the end of the day, we still await scientific evidence to validate what we know instinctively to be true—namely, that it is all a myth.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738081X10000465


Despite the seemingly ubiquitous admonition to “drink at least eight 8-oz glasses of water a day” (with an accompanying reminder that beverages containing caffeine and alcohol do not count), rigorous proof for this counsel appears to be lacking. This review sought to find the origin of this advice (called “8 × 8” for short) and to examine the scientific evidence, if any, that might support it. The search included not only electronic modes but also a cursory examination of the older literature that is not covered in electronic databases and, most importantly and fruitfully, extensive consultation with several nutritionists who specialize in the field of thirst and drinking fluids. No scientific studies were found in support of 8 × 8.

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

I was recently at the Porsche Driver experience centre in Silverstone, uk. They have a driver performance centre where we had a talk on fitness and the use of the equipment they have there. Ths is used by Formula 1 drivers such as Mark Webber.

One of the points they made was about the importance of hydration for fitness and staying alert. They said that by the time you feel thirsty you are already 3% dehydrated!

So I think that plenty of water (or other liquid - though water is probably the healthiest) is certainly an important consideration, and I notice that my diet is much easier to control if I drink 8 glasses or more. It's really not that hard over the day. I just have a water bottle I keep topping up (I find nice cold water from a water machine much more palatable though)

A good summary here
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/drinking-eight-glasses-of-water-a-day-is-healthy-right-wrong-803993.html

Of course our body needs water.
It's the arbitrary forcing down of 8 + glasses a day ( in addition to all other liquids consumed ) that is a big old pile of crapola :happy: