8 glasses of water a day?

Proper hydration is necessary to your overall health. It helps in regulating body temperature; carrying oxygen, hormones, and nutrients to the cells; cushioning the joints; protecting inner organs; elimination of waste; and electrolyte balance. The body loses water through perspiration, exhaled water vapor from the lungs, and urination, it's important to replace about four percent of your body weight in water every day. Drinking six to eight glasses of water a day is recommended in order to replace the lost fluid.

There are several thousand thirst sensors in the body, sensitive enough to recognize a 0.1% drop in hydration levels. It's a very accurate, 100% physically based sensor system that is designed to let you know when you need to drink. Constantly drinking when you aren't thirsty serves no healthy purpose at all, just forces your kidneys to over work filtering and eliminating extra fluid you don't need. It's a completely different system than hunger, which is driven by hormones, and can have significant delays between onset and sated. Thirst is essentially instantaneous, and unless you ignore it, you will not be anywhere near dangerous dehydration levels.

So basically your saying to drink only when your thirsty. I think the quote i got here contradicts that. Maybe i'm wrong who knows.

"While each person's water needs are different, if you are urinating clear to yellow-tinged urine and rarely feel thirsty, you are drinking enough water, according to MayoClinic.com."

P.s.-the 64 fl oz is for a sedentary person. If you exercise, do lots of cardio, live in hotter temps etc you will need more.

I think that's okay if you are not exercising but if your exercising you need more. I do Bikram yoga everyday and drink 6 liter of water. At a very minimum 4...but I push the water as bedtime approaches if I am only at 4.

Do we really need to drink that much? Really...really?

i drink at least 12 glasses of water a day.

There are several thousand thirst sensors in the body, sensitive enough to recognize a 0.1% drop in hydration levels. It's a very accurate, 100% physically based sensor system that is designed to let you know when you need to drink. Constantly drinking when you aren't thirsty serves no healthy purpose at all, just forces your kidneys to over work filtering and eliminating extra fluid you don't need. It's a completely different system than hunger, which is driven by hormones, and can have significant delays between onset and sated. Thirst is essentially instantaneous, and unless you ignore it, you will not be anywhere near dangerous dehydration levels.

So basically your saying to drink only when your thirsty. I think the quote i got here contradicts that. Maybe i'm wrong who knows.

"While each person's water needs are different, if you are urinating clear to yellow-tinged urine and rarely feel thirsty, you are drinking enough water, according to MayoClinic.com."

Where is the contradiction?

P.s.-the 64 fl oz is for a sedentary person. If you exercise, do lots of cardio, live in hotter temps etc you will need more.

Even during the hot summers of Arizona, I never drink 8 cups of water. The 8 glasses a day is a recommendation with no real basis in fact. Many do just fine with less than that, myself included.


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

On days when I actually drink the full 64 oz., I have to take a piss every ten minutes or so. It's annoying. I drink when I'm thirsty and don't worry about the specifics...I usually get at least four or five glasses in, and that's plenty for me.

Do we really need to drink that much? Really...really?

Only if you're thirsty. Drink when you are thirsty, stop when you aren't. It's simple.

Drinking more water than you need doesn't do anything positive for you, the body just eliminates, so it's just a waste.

Everything you drink hydrates you, and the food you eat hydrates, also. People just like to over complicate things.

This.

You should try it and see how it makes you feel. I get a surge of energy when I hit the 9th or 10th glass of water so I think my body likes it.

Statement from Kidney Health Australia - a non for profit organisation promoting healthy kidneys. This may be of interest.

QUOTE: Kidney Health Australia Position Statement on Drinking Water

The desirable amount of water to drink each day has been promoted to the public in recent years to be 8 glasses each of 8oz (= 240 ml) each 24-hour period. This view had in the past been publicised by water authorities and bottled water manufacturers, with endorsement of this view by Kidney Health Australia.

However, after our Kidney Health Australia medical team conducted a critical review of the published literature on this topic, we found there is a distinct lack of evidence supporting this position.

As a result of this review in 2003, our Board of Directors adopted the following position in regard to water intake:

There is a lack of evidence that drinking water in excess of thirst is beneficial for the health of Australians living in temperate regions and not exercising strenuously.
To satisfy thirst, water is the recommended fluid. Drinks containing sugar or caffeine or alcohol all may cause or worsen health related problems and should be avoided except in modest quantities.

The daily fluid intake needs are increased in:

All residents in tropical or hot climates
Individuals practising strenuous exercise
Certain medical conditions characterised by excess obligatory fluid loss
Certain medical conditions requiring an increased urine flow

The daily fluid intake needs are decreased in most patients with:

End stage kidney failure
Certain cardiac and respiratory conditions

From the kidney viewpoint, all fluids including those containing caffeine and alcohol, should count towards the daily fluid total.

Dr Timothy Mathew, Medical Director - Kidney Health Australia (Last reviewed June 2008)
END OF QUOTE
http://www.kidney.org.au/KidneyDisease/Drinkwaterinstead/tabid/703/Default.aspx

8 glasses is really not that bad. I use a pint glass to get two glasses when I sit down in front of my computer, watch TV or eat dinner. When I surf I keep sipping and then next thing you know I'm grabbing for another glass. Or do what I do sometimes I will drink a glass before bed, which makes me wake up in the middle of the night, relieve and drink another glass... or drink when you think you are hungry, when u are thirsty, or before bed that might be fine too.