Either I've missed all those people who've explicity said that you *need* to drink 8 glasses of water a day, or this man argues against something that virtually no professional claims is a necessity for good health. It's definately good to drink alot of water, especially when you're physically active, and that's exactly what all the doctors, nurses, physicians, pediatricians etc. I've met with in this part of the world have been saying. To not drink enough water every day leads to problems, but it won't kill you on tuesday if you didn't drink a drop of liquid on monday.

Now, if so many people have been telling this guy that he absolutely has to drink atleast 8 glasses a day, that he felt the need to make a video to rebuke it, then of course it's his prerogative. But the moment someone uses the phrase "think about it" when trying to convince me of something, anything, there's a huge red flag of scepticism popping up in my mind.

If I drink too much water, then I have to pee a lot.

"You doctors have been telling us to drink 8 glasses of gravy a day for years!" - Homer Simpson

You make a good point Kreegath, but I don't think he was talking about "need" so much as "recommended". Why is a certain amount of water recommended? There seems to be no literature to back it up. For a healthy person, your thirst is a perfectly valid indicator of how much you need.

On the other hand, mild dehydration can lead to minor problems like fatigue, irritability, and insomnia. For some people, they don't notice their thirst until they are already experiencing these symptoms, and they never thought to relate it to dehydration. So it's a good idea to simply plan certain times throughout the day to drink a glass or two.

But beyond what he said about active people, conventional wisdom among fitness professionals is that you should drink water frequently when you are trying to improve your fitness level. They claim (and I have no idea if this is backed up by any studies) that by the time you get thirsty, your body has already shut down the "recovery" mode that is needed for athletic improvement. So it's important for people losing weight or building muscle to stay ahead of your thirst.

So even though it isn't proven scientifically, there is no reason you shouldn't be drinking plenty of water. You might even see real improvements from paying attention to you hydration level. And that is going to be a different amount for every person.

>> ^Kreegath:

Either I've missed all those people who've explicity said that you need to drink 8 glasses of water a day, or this man argues against something that virtually no professional claims is a necessity for good health.


You've just missed them. Google "eight glasses of water" and you'll see what I mean.

The recommended daily requirement of fluid for a person is 40 mL/kg/day(as recommended by medical professionals today), which ranges from 2.5-3.5 liters per day on average. The "8 glasses" rule was more than likely compensation for people who would not drink much water one day, and then make up for it during another, but don't take my word for it.

I can get into the expenditures of water by the human body, but I feel it isn't very necessary at this juncture.

>> ^Tymbrwulf:

The recommended daily requirement of fluid for a person is 40 mL/kg/day(as recommended by medical professionals today)

[citation needed]

The rhetoric "8 glasses a day" always sounded like a pain the ass to me. I gotta go GET A GLASS, fill it with WATER.. drink it..set it in the sink, then do it 7 more times... f it.

That guy looks seriously dehydrated BTW.
-Karl

If I needed to drink 8 ounces of water a day, I'd be dead...

>> ^rottenseed:

If I needed to drink 8 ounces of water a day, I'd be dead...

Glasses, not ounces. And anyway, if you were dead, you wouldn't need to drink anything! Re-evaluation of your statement required.

Thank goodness random internet guy is here to give us professional advice about the bad advice that even doctors have been giving out.

After all, everyone knows that when your professional trainer, dietitian and doctor all give you the same advice, you should ignore that advice the moment the internet brings you the correct answer. You should never believe the myths told to you by professional doctors over the advice you saw on the internet.

I've been hearing about the 8 glasses for years and have read what this Doctor is saying in a few places.

I've had a nutritionist tell me I needed to take a tablespoon of salt with a pint of water right after dinner. Gullible as I am, I found it an excellent way to get dinner into a toilet without the hassle of digesting it first.

>> ^cybrbeast:

>> ^Tymbrwulf:
The recommended daily requirement of fluid for a person is 40 mL/kg/day(as recommended by medical professionals today)

[citation needed]


Citation is the my attending I asked today in Gastroenterology. Or did you want a book?

... and I always thought that thirst is the only indicator you need. It still astonishes me that some people actually require other people to tell them how much to drink (or eat). Then again, dietitians and nutritionists need an income as well, don't they ...

Funnily enough, people at work today were talking about the "8 glasses a day" rule. Most of them fully believe that you need to drink 8 glasses of water every day to stay healthy.

This guy makes a good point, that most of that water is in the food we eat. 8 glasses a day (not counting very hot or active days) always seemed like a lot to me.

>> ^Tymbrwulf:

>> ^cybrbeast:
>> ^Tymbrwulf:
The recommended daily requirement of fluid for a person is 40 mL/kg/day(as recommended by medical professionals today)

[citation needed]

Citation is the my attending I asked today in Gastroenterology. Or did you want a book?


A paper showing research backing this claim, or a press article covering that research. A gastroenterologist could just be anybody under a wrong assumption. This is what happens with these myths.

OK, I was able to find an academic source on daily water turnover (and therefore requirements) that mentioned the 40 ml/KG/day. However, the study was done on children, with the 40 ml/KG/day relating to 15 year-olds. Still, there are plenty of authoritative sources out there (in the far reaches of the intertubes) that cite similar or identical turnover rates. A quick search for "human water requirements per day" should get you some decent information. Even the USDA suggests drinking "a lot" of water (3.7 L for men, 2.7 for women) every day. (source)

It's not magic or a made up number, it's a simple in/out calculation. Urine accounts for between 500 and 1,000 ml of water loss, sweating and evaporation of water through breathing--or insensible water loss--accounts for another 450-1900 ml, and feces counts for a couple hundred ml as well (source). So if you're losing two to three liters of water every day, shouldn't you replace it? Wouldn't that be the logical conclusion?

Also, water in the food you eat accounts for only about 20% of your daily intake. (source)

Of course, your environment, activity level, age, weight, sex and other factors can play a part in how much water your body needs. Also, I'm not a doctor, just some guy with access to a search engine, so don't take my word for it.

Thanks for sources blutruth. But I have a problem with your simple in/out calcualtion. If you drink less there is also less to come out. I.e. if you drink a lot you will pee a lot and your pee will be colorless. If you drink less water you pee much less, but it will become ever more yellow/brown. The big question is at what color is your pee showing you, you drink too little.
There is a lot of range in the insensible water loss, which as stated in the clip means you don't have to drink much if you don't do much physical activity.

...I always just figured that drinking 8 glasses of water a day would just make you eat less.

Fill up on water, eat less food.

Who knows.

I always hated to drink water (unless THIRSTY)... like pulling teeth for me. I am having problems now that dehydration can partially explain. After the surgeons who cut me up last January told me DRINK MORE WATER - HYDRATE YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, I'm a believer all of a sudden.

Dali smile creases.

Then there's the fact that if you drink TOO MUCH water...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Something to consider:
The amount of fluoride in a pea sized blob of toothpaste, is the same as that in a glass of water.You should drink at least 8 glasses of water daily.
If you ingest just one pea-sized blob of fluoridated toothpaste, you are told on the tube to seek immediate medical help.What is the equivalent of 8 blobs doing to you every day?
Also, Tea can have up to 11ppm in it as well.

This being said, I don't drink much tea but I know of many people that make their tea with water directly from the tap and they drink it daily.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?title=Talk:Water_fluoridation

>> ^ButterflyKisses:

Something to consider:
The amount of fluoride in a pea sized blob of toothpaste, is the same as that in a glass of water.You should drink at least 8 glasses of water daily.
If you ingest just one pea-sized blob of fluoridated toothpaste, you are told on the tube to seek immediate medical help.What is the equivalent of 8 blobs doing to you every day?
Also, Tea can have up to 11ppm in it as well.
This being said, I don't drink much tea but I know of many people that make their tea with water directly from the tap and they drink it daily.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?title=Talk:Water_fluoridation


That only goes for crazy countries who put a topical medicine in their water. Where I live, and as far as I know in the rest of the EU there is no fluoridated water, only some chlorine in some countries.

Like most dietary advice, the genesis of this recommendation probably comes from two things... 1. Your friendly federal government trying to horn into your life and 2. extrapolated stupidity.

http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/442A08B899F44DF9AAD083D86164C75B.ashx

Some pool of doctors somewhere looked at the DRI tables at some point and concluded, "Most people don't drink NEAR this much water in a day..." So to them, the fact that people aren't following the government's DRI for water is a 'health crisis'.

Naturally in the face of this phantom crisis, they feel obliged to meddle. The DRI tables are too complicated, so they pick a simple target which is in the ballpark (64 oz) and start telling people "your doctor recommends that you drink 8 eight oz glasses of water a day". Bingo - you have a myth.

My doctor - who isn't an idiot - put it quite simply. "Drink when you're thisty until you're not." That's all you need to know. These 'targets' you get from the USDA, DRI, AMA, and other places are general advice - not gospel truth. Listen to your body & use common sense. Your body and brain are 100X more qualified than the nanny state and buttinsky panels.

I don't care what anyone says, there's no way I'm running a marathon without extacy.

This is pretty much as simply as I could put everything, it's a long relatively disorganized post so be prepared:

>> ^blutruth:

Also, I'm not a doctor, just some guy with access to a search engine, so don't take my word for it.


Thanks blutruth for looking into these kinds of claims instead of just watching videos as fact like most people do. I, on the other hand, AM in the medical field, and slightly disagree with this video.

>> ^cybrbeast:

Thanks for sources blutruth. But I have a problem with your simple in/out calcualtion. If you drink less there is also less to come out. I.e. if you drink a lot you will pee a lot and your pee will be colorless. If you drink less water you pee much less, but it will become ever more yellow/brown. The big question is at what color is your pee showing you, you drink too little.
There is a lot of range in the insensible water loss, which as stated in the clip means you don't have to drink much if you don't do much physical activity.


cybrbeast you are simplifying your argument too much. The simple in/out calculation is exactly that, simple. The information backing it has to do with body self-regulation with Urine/Plasma Osmolality tied to with Glomerular Filtration Rate, reabsorption of relevant electrolytes, and hormones controlling these functions. After studying the method of how a body detects it's own fluid level(effective circulating volume, also blood pressure), and working out how each system in it's own produces an effect on either water loss/retention, we worked out the approximate numbers of a person's water requirements. We even have a formula to check a person's current water deficit:

Water Deficit = 0.4 x Lean Body Weight x (plasma [Na]/140 -1)
(Renal Pathophysiology: The Essentials by Rennke/Denker pg. 90)(http://www.amazon.com/Renal-Pathophysiology-Essentials-Helmut-Rennke/dp/0781796261/)

The best way to answer your second question is about pee color, is to look at urine osmolalities. Urine osmolality can range from 50-100 mOsm/kg to 1000-1400 mOsm/kg(same renal book, page 206). The lower the osmolality, the more concentrated your urine is(and the more yellow it is) and the more water your body is retaining. There is no "perfect pee," from what I have learned, only a pretty relaxed range which anyone with access to fluids can maintain. If you want a specific color or osmolality you won't find one.

You are right when it comes to the large range of the insensible water loss, but you would be surprised what would make you lose that water and how much of it. Unfortunately I don't have time to look up the exact numbers of insensible water loss, but off the top of my head I can list physical activity (through sweating), breathing, environment with low humidity or high temperature. These little things can all add up to water loss.

Also stimulants like amphetamines, methamphetamines, caffeine, and depressants such as alcohol can lead to increased water loss.

What I'll also add to this is that it isn't only water that you lose throughout the day, but also electrolytes that need replacing through food and other sources. Drinking something such as distilled water will not do you any good, some of the best things to drink are isotonic solutions and juices that have many other nutrients and not just water that keep you going. Thanks for your time.

>> ^bcglorf:

Thank goodness random internet guy is here to give us professional advice about the bad advice that even doctors have been giving out.
After all, everyone knows that when your professional trainer, dietitian and doctor all give you the same advice, you should ignore that advice the moment the internet brings you the correct answer. You should never believe the myths told to you by professional doctors over the advice you saw on the internet.


What you say with sarcasm, I say with conviction; thank goodness for random internet guy. Bringing the truth to the misinformed masses when nutrition "specialists" have failed us, stolen our money, and slept with our wives.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

*water

Adding video to channels (Water) - requested by SlipperyPete.