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Water/hydration
I'm sure I've rambled about this before, but I've never managed to come up with a good answer to the question of "how much water do I need to drink to stay hydrated?" that's founded on decent science.
Points made include:
'8 glasses of water a day' = 2 pints or so. [More is needed in hot weather, I know]
'coffee + tea + other caffeine containing drinks don't count 'cos they're dehydrating' - how does one make up for this? Do they simply 'not count' or does one drink additional water, on top of the 2 pints, to make for them?
'there's lots of water in some fruit and veg' - can this be deducted from the '8 glasses'?
'thirst isn't a reliable indicator of dehydration, by the time you're thirsty you're already 2% dehydrated'
'urine should be pale & copious'
What points am I missing? How do I coordinate them all into a nice, easy to apply strategy for drinking enough water?
Points made include:
'8 glasses of water a day' = 2 pints or so. [More is needed in hot weather, I know]
'coffee + tea + other caffeine containing drinks don't count 'cos they're dehydrating' - how does one make up for this? Do they simply 'not count' or does one drink additional water, on top of the 2 pints, to make for them?
'there's lots of water in some fruit and veg' - can this be deducted from the '8 glasses'?
'thirst isn't a reliable indicator of dehydration, by the time you're thirsty you're already 2% dehydrated'
'urine should be pale & copious'
What points am I missing? How do I coordinate them all into a nice, easy to apply strategy for drinking enough water?
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Not strictly true. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it faffs about with your hormones so that you pee more. But you actually get more fluid from drinking them than you lose through the diuretic quality.
I think if you try to drink 1 1/2 - 2 litres a day you'll be sorted.
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I usually don't count coffee towards the total, but do count tea. My tea is rather wealker than what is common in the UK though. I don't count soda either (light might count, but I avoid that for different reasons).
I think you can't just subtract fruit and veg from the water you drink, but it does add a little - maybe a quarter of the volume of the fruit/veg if consumed raw?
When you're getting dehydrated, it's not unusual to feel *hungry* first (as a general sign of 'body needs something, specifics not quite clear yet'). So it may be a good idea to drink some water when you feel hungry - if it goes away, it wasn't food you needed ;)
Usually, after having drank about 2 liters of water during the day, I find myself thirsty oin the afternoon/evening, while I am already over the recommended amount. My guess is that the mechanism behind this is something along the lines of my body noticing that water is available in abundance, so it might as well make use of it to get rid of some junk, or something. This is just a theory though.
I find it hard sometimes to tell the difference between thirst and a beginning throatache.
Don't forget to mention that sweating (hot weather and exercise) will make you require more water. 2 or 3 pints on a hot summer day or when you're going to the gym is not enough.
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Absolutely! And there's water in other foods too. You can find plenty on this with skillful googling, but Snopes has a decent article.
I'm very much in the drink-when-thirsty school, with more-as-you-fancy it added in which includes PerfDave's 'whenever he feels like it' and doing it to cool down after exercise or when it's hot.
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I find that I will notice my lips getting dry before I notice I am thirsty - I don't always notice thirst, or may mistake it for hunger.
The simplest thing, for me, seems to be to keep some water around all the time - if it's there on my desk/beside my chair/in my bag I'll probably drink it, and if it isn't I may not think to get up and get some. If there isn't filtered water available I usually put a small quantity of squash in it, because I don't like the taste of London water, or just make some non-diuretic herbal tea (some of which is quite drinkable cold). It's somewhat difficult to have too much water if you're sipping regularly and not taking drugs/doing things that mess with electrolyte balance - I've treated UTIs by drinking loads of water and I really start to feel a bit like a fish and that I do not want any more water when I've had more than a few litres in a few hours (so, um, I stop then, and make sure I'm also eating).
Caffeine will make you pee more; I suspect that whether coffee/tea/etc cancels itself out probably depends on how strong it is - strong coffee is a stronger diuretic than weak tea. If you're thirsty, strong coffee is probably not your best option, but I don't think there's much harm in having the odd cup of coffee or tea if you have lots of water available to drink.
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Apparently tea is fine ...
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I think we get more fluid than we realise from our food - particularly if things like fruit and salad are part of our diet.
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However, if you do want to up your amount have a small 500ml bottle on your desk and aim to drink 1 to mid morning, 1 to lunch, 1 to mid pm and then 1 before home. It's far less daunting than a big bottle
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Experiment with what feels good, and keep some to hand. Go easy on soft drinks, which are full of crap to make you thirsty again so you drink more.
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I see no reason not to apply this to human beings. The only thing needed to put into acount is the amount of fluid in the things you eat and drink. I seem to remember something about about thes containing about 1-2 litres depending on the kind of food you eat.