Why MUST I drink lots of water on low carb?

Drink all the water you can handle. I usually drink about a gallon a day.
Sometimes more, sometimes less, but never less than a half-gallon.

It's just good for you, and will do a lot towards revamping your feeling of
well-being. How much more reason do you need?

Drink all the water you can handle. I usually drink about a gallon a day.
Sometimes more, sometimes less, but never less than a half-gallon.

It's just good for you, and will do a lot towards revamping your feeling of
well-being. How much more reason do you need?

John E wrote:
| Hi folks,
|
| I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
| lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
| gave no reason.
|
| Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?
|
| Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
| Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
| Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
| because that organ HATES ketone concentration.
|
| Your help is appreciated,
|
| J.

You will hear many people recite that you have to drink gallons of water or
very bad things will happen to you, blah blah blah yada yada. None of it is
true IMO. If they want to have to pee every 10 minutes to get rid of the
extra water they drink, that is certainly their perogative. But rest
assured, this is merely their opinion and what they choose to believe; it is
not a universal truth. They usually forget to add "YMMV" and "IMHO" to the
posts, and state the super-hydration opinons as if it were fact.

Most vegetables are 90+% water (this is why juicers work) and meats are 70+%
water. O a low-carb regimen you will get plenty of H2O, and you will feel
thirsty and drink when your body needs extra water. I have yet to see
anyone prove that somehow low-carb dieting shuts off the thirst reflex when
our body needs water. Or that it somehow dehydrates us when xactly the
opposite is true. Some say that you have to drink pure water, that the tea,
iced tea, decaf coffee, SF soda, etc., doesn't count towards your daily
water intake. This is simply a case of misery loves company IMO adn makes
no sense at all.

If someone wants to drink tons of water, more power to them; it's certainly
fine by me. Maybe it's something that gives them a psychological edge in
their weight loss, and that's a good thing. But for myself (and others), I
have not made a point to drown myself in water; I drink when I'm thirsty,
and am plenty hydrated. The former rough dry skin on my hands and eczema on
my elbows, knees and knuckles have cleared up on low-carb. My hair looks
shinier and healthier than it has in years. At 52 years old I have smooth
skin on my face with almost no wrinkles. I have normal bowel movements
since I eat plenty of healthy vegetables. A recent complete physical exam
showed normal electrical activity in my heart. I see no reason to force
myself to drink all that extra water; nor do I see why anyone else should --
unless they really want to.
--
Peter
270/215/180
Before/Current Pix:
http://users.thelink.net/marengo/wei...htlosspix.html

John E wrote:
| Hi folks,
|
| I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
| lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
| gave no reason.
|
| Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?
|
| Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
| Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
| Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
| because that organ HATES ketone concentration.
|
| Your help is appreciated,
|
| J.

You will hear many people recite that you have to drink gallons of water or
very bad things will happen to you, blah blah blah yada yada. None of it is
true IMO. If they want to have to pee every 10 minutes to get rid of the
extra water they drink, that is certainly their perogative. But rest
assured, this is merely their opinion and what they choose to believe; it is
not a universal truth. They usually forget to add "YMMV" and "IMHO" to the
posts, and state the super-hydration opinons as if it were fact.

Most vegetables are 90+% water (this is why juicers work) and meats are 70+%
water. O a low-carb regimen you will get plenty of H2O, and you will feel
thirsty and drink when your body needs extra water. I have yet to see
anyone prove that somehow low-carb dieting shuts off the thirst reflex when
our body needs water. Or that it somehow dehydrates us when xactly the
opposite is true. Some say that you have to drink pure water, that the tea,
iced tea, decaf coffee, SF soda, etc., doesn't count towards your daily
water intake. This is simply a case of misery loves company IMO adn makes
no sense at all.

If someone wants to drink tons of water, more power to them; it's certainly
fine by me. Maybe it's something that gives them a psychological edge in
their weight loss, and that's a good thing. But for myself (and others), I
have not made a point to drown myself in water; I drink when I'm thirsty,
and am plenty hydrated. The former rough dry skin on my hands and eczema on
my elbows, knees and knuckles have cleared up on low-carb. My hair looks
shinier and healthier than it has in years. At 52 years old I have smooth
skin on my face with almost no wrinkles. I have normal bowel movements
since I eat plenty of healthy vegetables. A recent complete physical exam
showed normal electrical activity in my heart. I see no reason to force
myself to drink all that extra water; nor do I see why anyone else should --
unless they really want to.
--
Peter
270/215/180
Before/Current Pix:
http://users.thelink.net/marengo/wei...htlosspix.html

"John E" wrote:

Hi folks,

I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
gave no reason.

Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?

Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
because that organ HATES ketone concentration.

Your help is appreciated,

One reason is related to the exercise component. The body normally
stores glycogen in and around the muscles. Glycogen is one part carb
and four parts water. It is fuel that can be burned quickly, when the
muscles are called on to work hard. If you are doing the exercise
component of Atkins properly, ie lots of exercise daily, then
especially during the weight loss phases, your body will normally be
depleted of glycogen and so will have much less stored water. Drinking
all this extra water helps keep the level up to where it would
normally be if you were eating more carbs. It is especially important
if you are training hard.

"John E" wrote:

Hi folks,

I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
gave no reason.

Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?

Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
because that organ HATES ketone concentration.

Your help is appreciated,

One reason is related to the exercise component. The body normally
stores glycogen in and around the muscles. Glycogen is one part carb
and four parts water. It is fuel that can be burned quickly, when the
muscles are called on to work hard. If you are doing the exercise
component of Atkins properly, ie lots of exercise daily, then
especially during the weight loss phases, your body will normally be
depleted of glycogen and so will have much less stored water. Drinking
all this extra water helps keep the level up to where it would
normally be if you were eating more carbs. It is especially important
if you are training hard.

Martin W. Smith wrote:
|| "John E" wrote:
||
||| Hi folks,
|||
||| I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
||| lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
||| gave no reason.
|||
||| Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?
|||
||| Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
||| Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
||| Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
||| because that organ HATES ketone concentration.
|||
||| Your help is appreciated,
||
|| One reason is related to the exercise component. The body normally
|| stores glycogen in and around the muscles. Glycogen is one part carb
|| and four parts water. It is fuel that can be burned quickly, when the
|| muscles are called on to work hard. If you are doing the exercise
|| component of Atkins properly, ie lots of exercise daily, then
|| especially during the weight loss phases, your body will normally be
|| depleted of glycogen and so will have much less stored water.
|| Drinking all this extra water helps keep the level up to where it
|| would normally be if you were eating more carbs. It is especially
|| important if you are training hard.

So if there is little glycogen, how can the muscle be holding water? You
can guzzle all the water you want, but the water will just flow through and
it won't stored in the muscles with glycogen if you're exercising and
restricting carbs.

"Roger Zoul" wrote:

Martin W. Smith wrote:
|| "John E" wrote:
||
||| Hi folks,
|||
||| I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
||| lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
||| gave no reason.
|||
||| Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?
|||
||| Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
||| Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
||| Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
||| because that organ HATES ketone concentration.
|||
||| Your help is appreciated,
||
|| One reason is related to the exercise component. The body normally
|| stores glycogen in and around the muscles. Glycogen is one part carb
|| and four parts water. It is fuel that can be burned quickly, when the
|| muscles are called on to work hard. If you are doing the exercise
|| component of Atkins properly, ie lots of exercise daily, then
|| especially during the weight loss phases, your body will normally be
|| depleted of glycogen and so will have much less stored water.
|| Drinking all this extra water helps keep the level up to where it
|| would normally be if you were eating more carbs. It is especially
|| important if you are training hard.

So if there is little glycogen, how can the muscle be holding water?

It isn't holding nearly as much. That's the point. You have to keep
drinking.

You
can guzzle all the water you want, but the water will just flow through and
it won't stored in the muscles with glycogen if you're exercising and
restricting carbs.

The drinking isn't for storing the water. The drinking is for ensuring
water is there for the processes that need it, because they can't get
enough of it by burning glycogen, when there isn't much glycogen to be
burned.

When you try your first century without drinking water, you will see
what I mean. You probably won't reach the finish line.

"Roger Zoul" wrote:

Martin W. Smith wrote:
|| "John E" wrote:
||
||| Hi folks,
|||
||| I heard on TV that you must remain VERY hydrated, i.e. drink
||| lots and lots of water when you are in Ketosis. They guy
||| gave no reason.
|||
||| Can somoene please explain the detailed reason behind it?
|||
||| Does being-hydrated help you lose weight faster?
||| Does it give you energy so you won't give up?
||| Or is it a necessity so you won't develop kidney problems
||| because that organ HATES ketone concentration.
|||
||| Your help is appreciated,
||
|| One reason is related to the exercise component. The body normally
|| stores glycogen in and around the muscles. Glycogen is one part carb
|| and four parts water. It is fuel that can be burned quickly, when the
|| muscles are called on to work hard. If you are doing the exercise
|| component of Atkins properly, ie lots of exercise daily, then
|| especially during the weight loss phases, your body will normally be
|| depleted of glycogen and so will have much less stored water.
|| Drinking all this extra water helps keep the level up to where it
|| would normally be if you were eating more carbs. It is especially
|| important if you are training hard.

So if there is little glycogen, how can the muscle be holding water?

It isn't holding nearly as much. That's the point. You have to keep
drinking.

You
can guzzle all the water you want, but the water will just flow through and
it won't stored in the muscles with glycogen if you're exercising and
restricting carbs.

The drinking isn't for storing the water. The drinking is for ensuring
water is there for the processes that need it, because they can't get
enough of it by burning glycogen, when there isn't much glycogen to be
burned.

When you try your first century without drinking water, you will see
what I mean. You probably won't reach the finish line.

"Jim Bard" writes:
Drink all the water you can handle.

Advice I saw elsewhere (Lyle, I think) was that you should drink
enough water to have 4-5 clear urinations per day. That ensures that
you're fully hydrated without drinking more than is needed and
overtaxing (maybe) your kidneys.

Me, I just keep a 2 liter bottle in the fridge and refill it each
night.