Mythes

I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s also
completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually
be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain,
to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His
report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this
standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the dietary
guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of
food—adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also say
that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There’s no
need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...3331&GT1=10008

I've heard the same thing -- no one knows where the "8 glasses per day"
rule started.

On Wed, 16 May 2007 14:06:26 -0400, 2Phat wrote:

I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter
what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s
also
completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might
actually
be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in
vain,
to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth.
His
report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that
this
standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the dietary
guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National
Research
Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of
food—adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also
say
that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There’s no
need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...3331&GT1=10008





--
Bob in CT

"2Phat" wrote in message
...
I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s
also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might
actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in
vain, to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day
myth. His report, published in the American Journal of Physiology,
concluded that this standard health advice was complete and utter bunk
that, like many urban legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth.
Apparently, the dietary guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition
Board of the National Research Council do say that humans need 1
milliliter of water for each calorie of food—adding up to about 10 cups a
day. However, the same guidelines also say that we get most of this liquid
from the water in solid food. There’s no need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...3331&GT1=10008

I've been quite ill - as in recliner-bound for most of every day - for 4
months. At the end of the round of hospitals, tests, specialists...I ended
up at the U of Michigan where the specialist finally gave me a diagnosis and
a plan...but one of the main things he told me was to STOP drinking so much
water. He told me to just drink when I'm thirsty, and that people aren't
doing themselves any favors by flooding their systems.

FWIW

--
Sherry
lowcarb.owly.net

Well, my thinking is that stored body fat is a bit rancid, and has toxins
stored in it. In that context, when actively losing body fat, one would
want to excrete the released toxins sooner, rather than later. Extra water
may help.

The myth may have come from a diet book. My mom read a diet book years ago
that told her to drink something like 8 glasses of water a day.

If you flush the normal salts out of your body, you might have a temporary
weightloss, but not fatloss.

Sometimes one is thirsty and confuses it for being hungry. A small drink of
water before eating can help determine which.



"2Phat" wrote in message
...
I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that's a royal pain. Luckily, it's
also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might
actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in
vain, to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day
myth. His report, published in the American Journal of Physiology,
concluded that this standard health advice was complete and utter bunk
that, like many urban legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth.
Apparently, the dietary guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition
Board of the National Research Council do say that humans need 1
milliliter of water for each calorie of food-adding up to about 10 cups a
day. However, the same guidelines also say that we get most of this liquid
from the water in solid food. There's no need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...3331&GT1=10008

"Cubit"
Well, my thinking is that stored body fat is a bit rancid, and has toxins
stored in it. In that context, when actively losing body fat, one would
want to excrete the released toxins sooner, rather than later. Extra
water may help.

No No no! store body fat is NOT rancid! If it were, your body would have a
reaction to it. You've got to get out of the "toxins" way of thinking.


If you flush the normal salts out of your body, you might have a temporary
weightloss, but not fatloss.

Oh, please! If you actually did flush the normal salts out of your body,
you'd be in the hospital! You wouldn't be saying "Oh goody--I've lost
weight!" You'd be going into shock!


Sometimes one is thirsty and confuses it for being hungry. A small drink
of water before eating can help determine which.

What? If my stomach growls at me, I'm not thinking I need a drink of water!
It's stomach acids hitting that empty stomach that causes the pain. You can
confuse me with the tax code, but not with whether I'm hungry or thirsty.

Pat in TX

On May 16, 1:06 pm, "2Phat" wrote:
I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that's a royal pain. Luckily, it's also
completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually
be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain,
to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His
report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this
standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the dietary
guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of
food-adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also say
that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There's no
need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...p-documentid=1...


I'd seen this several years ago too. While the 8 glass/day number is
frequently recommended, there is apparently no basis for it based on
any studies or science.

On May 16, 2:06 pm, "2Phat" wrote:
I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that's a royal pain.

Uhm. No. It's actually pretty easy to drink quite a bit more. Drink 1
liter while doing your exercise. Drink 1 liter while sitting at your
desk before lunch. Drink half a liter at lunch. Drink another liter
between lunch and leaving work. Then drink some more at home. You'll
have a gallon before you know it.

Luckily, it's also
completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually
be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain,
to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His
report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this
standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the dietary
guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of
food-adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also say
that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There's no
need to drink more.

I enjoy it. I feel better when I drink more (to a point). I definitely
feel peak when I get my 64 ounces + whatever I need during my
workout.

"2Phat" wrote in message
...
I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that's a royal pain. Luckily, it's
also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might
actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in
vain, to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day
myth. His report, published in the American Journal of Physiology,
concluded that this standard health advice was complete and utter bunk
that, like many urban legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth.
Apparently, the dietary guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition
Board of the National Research Council do say that humans need 1
milliliter of water for each calorie of food-adding up to about 10 cups a
day. However, the same guidelines also say that we get most of this liquid
from the water in solid food. There's no need to drink more.

http://www.health.msn.com/womensheal...3331&GT1=10008


I live in Las Vegas, NV. I find it EASY to get in lots of water. You do the
math.

--
~Melodie~ Aka AnonomissX

On Wed, 16 May 2007 14:06:26 -0400, "2Phat" wrote:

I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no matter what.

Drinking eight glasses of water a day

Admit it, this is one healthy habit that’s a royal pain. Luckily, it’s also
completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a day might actually
be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies and potentially
life-threatening water intoxication, caused by kidneys not being able to
keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a kidney specialist tried, in vain,
to find any scientific evidence supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His
report, published in the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this
standard health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the dietary
guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of
food—adding up to about 10 cups a day. However, the same guidelines also say
that we get most of this liquid from the water in solid food. There’s no
need to drink more.

Here is an article from the Los Angeles Times that you may find
interesting.

Monday, November 20, 2000
Home Edition
Section: Health
Page: S-1
For years we've been admonished to chug eight glasses of water a
day--for our skin, for our weight, for general good health.
But--surprise!--experts say that advice is simply...; Hard to Swallow
By: BENEDICT CAREY
TIMES HEALTH WRITER

alk about a drinking problem.
On the one hand, it seems that more people than ever are drinking
heavily: College students bring bottles into classrooms; office
workers nip from jugs all day long. Many of us are like Gerri Johnson,
a 56-year-old kindergarten teacher living in Manhattan Beach, who
says, "I carry a bottle of water throughout the day, and I'm always
drinking. It flushes out my body, and it's good for my skin."
At the same time, some nutritionists insist that half the country is
walking around dehydrated. We drink too much coffee, tea and sodas
containing caffeine, which prompts the body to lose water, they say;
and when we are dehydrated, we don't know enough to drink.
Can it be so? Should healthy adults really be stalking the water
cooler to protect themselves from creeping dehydration?
Not at all, doctors say. "The notion that there is widespread
dehydration has no basis in medical fact," says Dr. Robert Alpern,
dean of the medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas.
Doctors from a wide range of specialties agree: By all evidence, we
are a well-hydrated nation. Furthermore, they say, the current
infatuation with water as an all-purpose health potion--tonic for the
skin, key to weight loss--is a blend of fashion and fiction and very
little science.
Consider that first commandment of good health: Drink at least eight
8-ounce glasses of water a day. This unquestioned rule is itself a
question mark. Most nutritionists have no idea where it comes from. "I
can't even tell you that," says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition researcher
at Pennsylvania State University, "and I've written a book on water."
Some say the number was derived from fluid intake measurements taken
decades ago among hospital patients on IVs; others say it's less a
measure of what people need than a convenient reference point,
especially for those who are prone to dehydration, such as many
elderly people.
Kidney specialists do agree on one thing, however: that the 8-by-8
rule is a gross overestimate of any required minimum. To replace daily
losses of water, an average-sized adult with healthy kidneys sitting
in a temperate climate needs no more than one liter of fluid,
according to Jurgen Schnermann, a kidney physiologist at the National
Institutes of Health.
One liter is the equivalent of about four 8-ounce glasses. According
to most estimates, that's roughly the amount of water most Americans
get in solid food. In short, though doctors don't recommend it, many
of us could cover our bare-minimum daily water needs without drinking
anything during the day.
"Whenever I go to the airport I see all these people carrying around
bottles of water, and I wonder, 'What's behind this?' " says
Schnermann. "Certainly not science."
Try confusion. The way it's almost always stated, in books, magazines
and newspapers, the 8-by-8 rule specifically discounts caffeinated
beverages, such as coffee. This is flat wrong. Caffeine does cause a
loss of water, but only a fraction of what you're adding by drinking
the beverage. In people who don't regularly consume caffeine, for
example, researchers say that a cup of java actually adds about
two-thirds the amount of hydrating fluid that's in a cup of water.
That is to say, one cup of coffee equals about two-thirds a cup of
water--if you're not a regular caffeine drinker.
Regular coffee and tea drinkers become accustomed to caffeine and lose
little, if any, fluid. In a study published in the October issue of
the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers at the
Center for Human Nutrition in Omaha measured how different
combinations of water, coffee and caffeinated sodas affected the
hydration status of 18 healthy adults who drink caffeinated beverages
routinely.
"We found no significant differences at all," says nutritionist Ann
Grandjean, the study's lead author. "The purpose of the study was to
find out if caffeine is dehydrating in healthy people who are drinking
normal amounts of it. It is not."
The same goes for tea, juice, milk and caffeinated sodas: One glass
provides about the same amount of hydrating fluid as a glass of water.
The only common drinks that produce a net loss of fluids are those
containing alcohol--and usually it takes more than one of those to
cause noticeable dehydration, doctors say. Do the Math: We're Drinking
Plenty
Now, take a close look at a survey released this May by the
International Bottled Water Assn. Based on interviews with 2,818
adults in 14 U.S. cities, the association concluded that "although an
overwhelming majority of Americans know that drinking water enhances
health, most don't drink as much per day as they should."
Yet, according to the association's own numbers, Americans say they
drink an average of 6.1 glasses of water, 3.7 servings of soda or
sports drinks, 3.2 of coffee and tea, 1.9 of juice, 1.7 of milk, and
one alcoholic drink each day.
All told, after subtracting the alcoholic drink, that's a sopping 15
glasses of hydrating fluids, well above the already exaggerated
"minimum." And it doesn't even include the three or four glasses
contained in solid food.
What do we do with all this excess water? Ask any water junkie who's
tried to sit through a movie lately: We run to the bathroom.
For some people, drinking plenty of water is a very good idea. As we
age, for example, many of us grow less sensitive to losses of body
water and don't drink when we should. Developing a water habit is a
good precaution against dehydration. In addition, researchers have
good evidence that people who develop kidney stones can lower their
risk of further problems by drinking more fluids. "Those are the only
patients we would tell to drink more water," says Alpern.
But there are also people for whom guzzling water is dangerous.
According to Dr. Gary Robertson, who studies water metabolism at
Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, these are patients
whose bodies have trouble eliminating fluids--for example, those with
diabetes who are taking anti-diuretic hormone, or ADH, which prevents
the body from losing water. "The excess water cannot be excreted," he
says, "and the result is water intoxication, which produces symptoms
ranging from mild headache to confusion, coma, seizures and
occasionally even death."
Increasingly, says Robertson, doctors are prescribing ADH for
conditions such as nocturia, a persistent need to urinate at night,
which ruins sleep in many elderly people; and bed-wetting, in both
older adults and children. He's aware of one case already in which a
diabetic woman taking ADH died of water intoxication after following
the advice of an article discussing the health benefits of water.
Of course, if you're healthy, and you're laboring over the stair
machine, playing basketball, or even gardening in a hot, dry climate,
you're going to need a lot more than a liter to keep you hydrated. But
you hardly need a nutritionist or a doctor to tell you that.
"You're dying of thirst," says Alpern. "The thirst mechanism is one of
the most powerful and sensitive of all the body's regulatory
processes." Thirst Is Your Best Indicator
Robertson says that this mechanism almost always kicks in when we've
lost between 1% and 2% of body water. "There's no evidence that this 1
to 2% decrease is harmful in any way," he says. "Thus, there is really
no need to 'prevent' this slight decrease in body water by drinking a
specified amount in the absence of thirst."
What if you're sweating and for some reason don't or can't drink?
That's when the body will begin to squeeze water from its own tissues,
including the brain and the skin. And that's why you may get a
headache when dehydrated, and why your skin can look ragged and dry. A
tall, cool glass of water or soda or iced tea will soothe your head
and revive your skin, in most cases, doctors say--but only if you're
dehydrated to start with.
"If you're a normally hydrated person, like you or me," says Dr. David
Rish, a dermatologist in Beverly Hills, "then drinking extra water is
not going to do anything for your skin. If your skin is dry, and
you're hydrated, the best thing to do is apply lotion." Using Water as
a Diet Aid
Perhaps most cruelly of all, there's no good evidence that drinking
water significantly curbs appetite. "I think that's mostly an
invention of the diet industry," says Carolyn Katzin, a nutritionist
in Brentwood who runs the American Cancer Society's nutrition program
in California. "A better way to get water is in fruits and
vegetables."
A couple of liters of drinking water certainly fill the stomach,
researchers say. But you're just as hungry shortly thereafter; and
once all that water flows under the bridge, you tend to eat as many
calories as you would have without guzzling.
Barbara Rolls, the Pennsylvania State researcher, says water can help
you eat fewer calories--as long as it's cooked into food. In a 1999
study, Rolls tallied how many calories 24 healthy adult women ate when
served a lunch of chicken and rice. When the chicken and rice were
prepared as a casserole and served with a glass of water, the women
consumed an average of 392 calories each. When the rice, chicken and
water were cooked together into a soup, the women ate an average of
only 289 calories each. "And they did not make up for those calories
by eating more at dinner," says Rolls.
"This is really the way the body is engineered to get water--in food,
in soup, in fruits and vegetables, which are almost all water," says
UCLA psychologist William McCarthy, who's also director of science at
the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica. "When we get water in
this food matrix, it stays with us for a while. Whereas when we drink
liquid water, it goes right through the body. I see all these people
carrying around their water bottles like talismans to protect them
from disease and weight gain. Well, lots of that water is going into
the stomach--and right out."
Not that it's doing any mischief in healthy adults along the way. "You
know, I get patients in my office all the time, saying, 'I've been
real good, doc, I'm drinking seven glasses of water a day,' " says
Alpern. "And I leave them alone. It's certainly not doing them any
harm, and it's a lot better than other habits they could have."
So relax, doctors say. Forget the diet books. And listen to your own
body. Says Ann Grandjean: "Look, if you're running to the bathroom so
much it seems like you can't get any work done, you're drinking too
much. And if you're going less than four times a day, you're probably
drinking too little."
PHOTO: When we drink glass after glass of water, says UCLA's
William McCarthy, "lots of that water is going into the stomach--and
right out."

Yeah, they screwed up the advice on how much water to drink. It wouldn't be
so bad if that's all they got screwed up.....but, damn!


john wrote:
:: On Wed, 16 May 2007 14:06:26 -0400, "2Phat" wrote:
::
::: I found this one interesting. I'm still drinking my water no
::: matter what.
:::
::: Drinking eight glasses of water a day
:::
::: Admit it, this is one healthy habit that's a royal pain. Luckily,
::: it's also completely unnecessary. For some people, eight glasses a
::: day might actually be far too much, leading to sodium deficiencies
::: and potentially life-threatening water intoxication, caused by
::: kidneys not being able to keep up the intake of liquids. In 2002, a
::: kidney specialist tried, in vain, to find any scientific evidence
::: supporting the eight-glasses-a-day myth. His report, published in
::: the American Journal of Physiology, concluded that this standard
::: health advice was complete and utter bunk that, like many urban
::: legends, stemmed from a tiny grain of truth. Apparently, the
::: dietary guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Board of the
::: National Research Council do say that humans need 1 milliliter of
::: water for each calorie of food-adding up to about 10 cups a day.
::: However, the same guidelines also say that we get most of this
::: liquid from the water in solid food. There's no need to drink more.
::
:: Here is an article from the Los Angeles Times that you may find
:: interesting.
::
:: Monday, November 20, 2000
:: Home Edition
:: Section: Health
:: Page: S-1
:: For years we've been admonished to chug eight glasses of water a
:: day--for our skin, for our weight, for general good health.
:: But--surprise!--experts say that advice is simply...; Hard to Swallow
:: By: BENEDICT CAREY
:: TIMES HEALTH WRITER
::
:: alk about a drinking problem.
:: On the one hand, it seems that more people than ever are drinking
:: heavily: College students bring bottles into classrooms; office
:: workers nip from jugs all day long. Many of us are like Gerri
:: Johnson, a 56-year-old kindergarten teacher living in Manhattan
:: Beach, who says, "I carry a bottle of water throughout the day, and
:: I'm always drinking. It flushes out my body, and it's good for my
:: skin."
:: At the same time, some nutritionists insist that half the country is
:: walking around dehydrated. We drink too much coffee, tea and sodas
:: containing caffeine, which prompts the body to lose water, they say;
:: and when we are dehydrated, we don't know enough to drink.
:: Can it be so? Should healthy adults really be stalking the water
:: cooler to protect themselves from creeping dehydration?
:: Not at all, doctors say. "The notion that there is widespread
:: dehydration has no basis in medical fact," says Dr. Robert Alpern,
:: dean of the medical school at the University of Texas Southwestern
:: Medical Center in Dallas.
:: Doctors from a wide range of specialties agree: By all evidence, we
:: are a well-hydrated nation. Furthermore, they say, the current
:: infatuation with water as an all-purpose health potion--tonic for the
:: skin, key to weight loss--is a blend of fashion and fiction and very
:: little science.
:: Consider that first commandment of good health: Drink at least eight
:: 8-ounce glasses of water a day. This unquestioned rule is itself a
:: question mark. Most nutritionists have no idea where it comes from.
:: "I can't even tell you that," says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition
:: researcher at Pennsylvania State University, "and I've written a
:: book on water." Some say the number was derived from fluid intake
:: measurements taken decades ago among hospital patients on IVs;
:: others say it's less a measure of what people need than a convenient
:: reference point, especially for those who are prone to dehydration,
:: such as many elderly people.
:: Kidney specialists do agree on one thing, however: that the 8-by-8
:: rule is a gross overestimate of any required minimum. To replace
:: daily losses of water, an average-sized adult with healthy kidneys
:: sitting in a temperate climate needs no more than one liter of fluid,
:: according to Jurgen Schnermann, a kidney physiologist at the National
:: Institutes of Health.
:: One liter is the equivalent of about four 8-ounce glasses. According
:: to most estimates, that's roughly the amount of water most Americans
:: get in solid food. In short, though doctors don't recommend it, many
:: of us could cover our bare-minimum daily water needs without drinking
:: anything during the day.
:: "Whenever I go to the airport I see all these people carrying around
:: bottles of water, and I wonder, 'What's behind this?' " says
:: Schnermann. "Certainly not science."
:: Try confusion. The way it's almost always stated, in books, magazines
:: and newspapers, the 8-by-8 rule specifically discounts caffeinated
:: beverages, such as coffee. This is flat wrong. Caffeine does cause a
:: loss of water, but only a fraction of what you're adding by drinking
:: the beverage. In people who don't regularly consume caffeine, for
:: example, researchers say that a cup of java actually adds about
:: two-thirds the amount of hydrating fluid that's in a cup of water.
:: That is to say, one cup of coffee equals about two-thirds a cup of
:: water--if you're not a regular caffeine drinker.
:: Regular coffee and tea drinkers become accustomed to caffeine and
:: lose little, if any, fluid. In a study published in the October
:: issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition,
:: researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition in Omaha measured how
:: different combinations of water, coffee and caffeinated sodas
:: affected the hydration status of 18 healthy adults who drink
:: caffeinated beverages routinely.
:: "We found no significant differences at all," says nutritionist Ann
:: Grandjean, the study's lead author. "The purpose of the study was to
:: find out if caffeine is dehydrating in healthy people who are
:: drinking normal amounts of it. It is not."
:: The same goes for tea, juice, milk and caffeinated sodas: One glass
:: provides about the same amount of hydrating fluid as a glass of
:: water. The only common drinks that produce a net loss of fluids are
:: those containing alcohol--and usually it takes more than one of
:: those to cause noticeable dehydration, doctors say. Do the Math:
:: We're Drinking Plenty
:: Now, take a close look at a survey released this May by the
:: International Bottled Water Assn. Based on interviews with 2,818
:: adults in 14 U.S. cities, the association concluded that "although an
:: overwhelming majority of Americans know that drinking water enhances
:: health, most don't drink as much per day as they should."
:: Yet, according to the association's own numbers, Americans say they
:: drink an average of 6.1 glasses of water, 3.7 servings of soda or
:: sports drinks, 3.2 of coffee and tea, 1.9 of juice, 1.7 of milk, and
:: one alcoholic drink each day.
:: All told, after subtracting the alcoholic drink, that's a sopping 15
:: glasses of hydrating fluids, well above the already exaggerated
:: "minimum." And it doesn't even include the three or four glasses
:: contained in solid food.
:: What do we do with all this excess water? Ask any water junkie who's
:: tried to sit through a movie lately: We run to the bathroom.
:: For some people, drinking plenty of water is a very good idea. As we
:: age, for example, many of us grow less sensitive to losses of body
:: water and don't drink when we should. Developing a water habit is a
:: good precaution against dehydration. In addition, researchers have
:: good evidence that people who develop kidney stones can lower their
:: risk of further problems by drinking more fluids. "Those are the only
:: patients we would tell to drink more water," says Alpern.
:: But there are also people for whom guzzling water is dangerous.
:: According to Dr. Gary Robertson, who studies water metabolism at
:: Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, these are patients
:: whose bodies have trouble eliminating fluids--for example, those with
:: diabetes who are taking anti-diuretic hormone, or ADH, which prevents
:: the body from losing water. "The excess water cannot be excreted," he
:: says, "and the result is water intoxication, which produces symptoms
:: ranging from mild headache to confusion, coma, seizures and
:: occasionally even death."
:: Increasingly, says Robertson, doctors are prescribing ADH for
:: conditions such as nocturia, a persistent need to urinate at night,
:: which ruins sleep in many elderly people; and bed-wetting, in both
:: older adults and children. He's aware of one case already in which a
:: diabetic woman taking ADH died of water intoxication after following
:: the advice of an article discussing the health benefits of water.
:: Of course, if you're healthy, and you're laboring over the stair
:: machine, playing basketball, or even gardening in a hot, dry climate,
:: you're going to need a lot more than a liter to keep you hydrated.
:: But you hardly need a nutritionist or a doctor to tell you that.
:: "You're dying of thirst," says Alpern. "The thirst mechanism is one
:: of the most powerful and sensitive of all the body's regulatory
:: processes." Thirst Is Your Best Indicator
:: Robertson says that this mechanism almost always kicks in when we've
:: lost between 1% and 2% of body water. "There's no evidence that this
:: 1 to 2% decrease is harmful in any way," he says. "Thus, there is
:: really no need to 'prevent' this slight decrease in body water by
:: drinking a specified amount in the absence of thirst."
:: What if you're sweating and for some reason don't or can't drink?
:: That's when the body will begin to squeeze water from its own
:: tissues, including the brain and the skin. And that's why you may
:: get a headache when dehydrated, and why your skin can look ragged
:: and dry. A tall, cool glass of water or soda or iced tea will soothe
:: your head and revive your skin, in most cases, doctors say--but only
:: if you're dehydrated to start with.
:: "If you're a normally hydrated person, like you or me," says Dr.
:: David Rish, a dermatologist in Beverly Hills, "then drinking extra
:: water is not going to do anything for your skin. If your skin is
:: dry, and you're hydrated, the best thing to do is apply lotion."
:: Using Water as a Diet Aid
:: Perhaps most cruelly of all, there's no good evidence that drinking
:: water significantly curbs appetite. "I think that's mostly an
:: invention of the diet industry," says Carolyn Katzin, a nutritionist
:: in Brentwood who runs the American Cancer Society's nutrition program
:: in California. "A better way to get water is in fruits and
:: vegetables."
:: A couple of liters of drinking water certainly fill the stomach,
:: researchers say. But you're just as hungry shortly thereafter; and
:: once all that water flows under the bridge, you tend to eat as many
:: calories as you would have without guzzling.
:: Barbara Rolls, the Pennsylvania State researcher, says water can help
:: you eat fewer calories--as long as it's cooked into food. In a 1999
:: study, Rolls tallied how many calories 24 healthy adult women ate
:: when served a lunch of chicken and rice. When the chicken and rice
:: were prepared as a casserole and served with a glass of water, the
:: women consumed an average of 392 calories each. When the rice,
:: chicken and water were cooked together into a soup, the women ate an
:: average of only 289 calories each. "And they did not make up for
:: those calories by eating more at dinner," says Rolls.
:: "This is really the way the body is engineered to get water--in food,
:: in soup, in fruits and vegetables, which are almost all water," says
:: UCLA psychologist William McCarthy, who's also director of science at
:: the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica. "When we get water in
:: this food matrix, it stays with us for a while. Whereas when we drink
:: liquid water, it goes right through the body. I see all these people
:: carrying around their water bottles like talismans to protect them
:: from disease and weight gain. Well, lots of that water is going into
:: the stomach--and right out."
:: Not that it's doing any mischief in healthy adults along the way.
:: "You know, I get patients in my office all the time, saying, 'I've
:: been real good, doc, I'm drinking seven glasses of water a day,' "
:: says Alpern. "And I leave them alone. It's certainly not doing them
:: any harm, and it's a lot better than other habits they could have."
:: So relax, doctors say. Forget the diet books. And listen to your own
:: body. Says Ann Grandjean: "Look, if you're running to the bathroom so
:: much it seems like you can't get any work done, you're drinking too
:: much. And if you're going less than four times a day, you're probably
:: drinking too little."
:: PHOTO: When we drink glass after glass of water, says UCLA's
:: William McCarthy, "lots of that water is going into the stomach--and
:: right out."