Good News, Let go of the water bottle. You're plenty hydrated, people. (bladder, kidney stones)

[JD59]

I'm tired of drinking 8 glasses of water a day for my health.

If you can't stomach the thought of guzzling down eight glasses of water every single day, here's some good news: You're off the hook, more health experts are saying.

A new editorial in an Australian public health journal is the latest to bust the widely-repeated health myth we need to guzzle 64 ounces, or eight 8-ounce glasses, of water each day just to stave off dehydration. Actually, we get enough fluids to keep our bodies adequately hydrated from the foods we eat and the beverages we drink -- even from caffeinated drinks like coffee and tea.

Let go of the water bottle. You're plenty hydrated, people - TODAY Health

[cb at sea]

Yay!!!! I wish more folks believed that! Unless you're doing some sort of very vigorous activity in very hot, humid conditions, your body will tell you when you need fluids....you get THIRSTY!!!! We get PLENTY of fluids from our foods! ANY fluid will do....after all, most of it IS water in some form or other.
This business of never having a drink out of your hand drives me nuts!!!!!

[Jukesgrrl]

I used to think I drank plenty of fluids. Then one busy day I passed out cold ... fell like a dead-weight in a narrow hallway and broke my left leg, tore bunch of ligaments in my left foot, and broke several toes on my right foot. (Best guess is my legs smacked against the door jambs in the hallway.) Turns out I was dehydrated. My broken leg didn't hurt half as much as the headache I had from electrolyte imbalance. This was in Pennsylvania in May when it wasn't even hot outside and I HADN'T gone without any fluids.

A couple of years later ... I called my 70-something mother on the phone for the daily wellness check I always give her. Her conversation was rather incoherent, so I got in the car and drove for an hour to her house. Found her with a high fever (caused by a bladder infection she had neglected to mention she had). I rushed her to the emergency room where they immediately assessed the situation, put her on an IV, and checked her into the hospital where she had to remain for three days while they rebalanced her electrolytes. The docs said her fever caused dehydration and infection itself was probably caused by not drinking enough fluids and flushing out her bladder. They said had she remained at home for two more hours she probably would have died. That happened in Pennsylvania in on a cool day in June.

I live in Southern Arizona now and I'm NOT putting down my water bottle. I don't care what anybody says. You won't hurt yourself drinking too much water. You can kill yourself not drinking enough.

[PippySkiddles]

I love water. I drink water,water,water. I haven't measured how much water I drink but when home I drink at least 10 glasses of water from morning throughout the night. When I go out I always,always have a bottle of water with me.I don't live in a hot and humid climate either.
I don't see the problem with it.
BTW-one of my friends wanted to lose weight so she gave up ALL liquids except water. She now loves and drinks water constantly. She's dropped 25 pounds and several inches in 6 weeks . She uses her treadmill every day also but she believes the water makes the biggest difference.

[nmnita]

let's face it, we went years without drinking water by the bottle all day, every day and most of us had no side reactions from lack of water. I do think, like many thing, it becomes a habit after awhile and we do crave the water. My theory, and I have no idea if I am right, if you really enjoy it, certainly water will not hurt you; probably will help you. If you don't, it is important to drink some, but not as much as some think. Both hubby and I always have a water bottle at our finger tips but mostly out of habit. In his case, no, he does need to drink a lot as he is inclined to become dehydrated easily. In my case, it is something I have gotten used to doing. I have heard it helps with the wieght issue only because water fills you up as well as helps you iliminate fluids which do weigh a lot. Even our doctor doesn't think the water craze in necessarily that important.

Nita

[Ohiogirl81]

Didn't we just hash this topic out to death a few weeks ago?

[Diskothek]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

I live in Southern Arizona now and I'm NOT putting down my water bottle. I don't care what anybody says. You won't hurt yourself drinking too much water. You can kill yourself not drinking enough.

Well living in Southern AZ it is a good idea to drink water and keep hydrated.

But you CAN hurt yourself from drinking too much water.

Healthy kidneys are able to excrete approximately 1 litre of fluid water (0.26 gallons) per hour.[10]

Water intoxication - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Water intoxication is really unlikely in healthy adults. It's something that happens to people who participate in water drinking contests or extreme athletes, not the average person with the water bottle sitting on her desk, sipping maybe a bottle every two hours.

Personally, I drink about a gallon a day, I feel better drinking water than I used to when I drank about a gallon of diet soda a day. Drinking water won't make you lose weight, unless you were drinking lots of high calorie beverages before you switched to water.

[southernnaturelover]

After having kidney stones, I have learned to pay attention to what my urine looks like, if it starts looking dark yellow I know it's time to drink more water. Urine should stay a very light yellow, almost clear.

[Ceece]

I feel so much better when I drink a lot of water during the day so I won't be changing my habits.