To ask if you drink a lot of water do you actually notice a difference?

Being thirsty occasionally doesn't mean your body is existing on the bare minimum.

@SkulkHollow precisely!

@gamerchick that's not true - thirst (as long as not unexplained and excessive) is a perfectly normal physiological response and my example is certainly not "existing on the bare minimum". Ask a nephrologist ;-)
(and no, I don't feel particularly thirsty on what I consume)

Your body is really good at telling you how much fluid you need.

The idea that a healthy adult needs to drink x amount of water a day according to some blanket rule is nonsense.

If you aren't thirsty and your pee is a pale colour you don't need to drink any more. If you are already adequately hydrated, drinking more won't help you feel less tired or make your skin feel plump. You'll just pee it straight back out.

You're not supposed to get to the point of thirst. You might want to allow your body to exist on the bare minimum but it doesn't mean it's healthy long term.

I find I realise just how thirsty I am and how much water I need. I'm constantly thirsty, the more I drink the more I need. if I don't drink water I don't get thirsty. Really weird. It does make you wee more. Your bowel movements should be better, your skin clearer and you sleep a bit better I think. Keep it up, it's a good habit. I have 2 litres next to me per day but usually only manage half. If I stop then I feel headachy and not thirsty at all weirdly!

Water requirements depend hugely on your diet. If you eat a lot of upf you will need more water as the water content is a lot lower than in whole food.

I think I'm less tired when I drink plenty and it definitely improves the appearance of my skin, everything's just a bit more plumped up.

I also quite like needing the loo more frequently - it means I get out of the chair more often!

Not drinking enough water gives me migraines, so I definitely notice the difference lol!

I notice my lips particularly. Without the water they're dry and shrivelled and really pale too.

If I'm at work I drink 3-4 glasses of water a day (350ml glasses). I'll have a couple of hot drinks (if I'm feeling thirsty I'll have decaf), a soft drink at lunchtime and a soft drink/sparkling water when I get home. Overall I must drink between 2 and 2.5l a day.

At the weekends it's less (wine doesn't count apparently!) and I definitely notice it. I just don't like the water at home, so end up having squash if I need water.

I drink about 2.5 litres a day, I don’t drink tea or coffee but a lady in the office said to me once that she didn’t know how I could fit it in while admitting she probably drank 10-15 cups of tea just while she was working 😂 pretty much one ever half an hour, that seems like loads but I don’t drink any so I think dh drinks loads of tea a day where it’s really about 5 cups.

All drinks count towards your daily intake( not wine though!)
I do think you need to drink a bit more
even a large travel mug on the way to work for example

I usually drink 2 litres a day.

I stopped over Christmas and my skin was awful.

Back on my health kick last week, drinking 2 litres and my skin has gone nice again.

I went from drinking 500ml a day to 2litres a day in a month and have never looked back! Your body needs water in order to function properly and you will notice a lot of benefits once you start to drink more. Your body will thank you for drinking more and you will notice differences over time. Even if you are needing to go for a wee every 10 minutes, this is just your bladder adjusting to the change and it will soon settle down! It really helps if you have a water bottle with the times on the side which do help motivate you, or perhaps a still flavored water if plain water is not your thing! 1 thing to do is make sure you have a drink with every meal that you have and make sure that for what you eat, you are drinking with this as usually you will consume more whilst you are having a meal

Google #hydrationbollocks

If you're thirsty, drink. If not, don't. Your body tells you what you need...

You get a surprising amount of water from food btw. I survive perfectly well on 3 cups of tea and 2-3 small glasses of water a day (more if hot weather or exercising). Its fine!

The only side effect I notice is that I need to pee a lot more.

I do drink plenty of fluids though, just not plain water as I don't particularly like it.

What are hydration tablets? I've had a google, some sort of dissolvable? My mam has been told to reduce her water intake because her sodium levels were too low. As were a few other things (iron/ magnesium/ something else) She is struggling with drinking less and feels thirsty a lot.

Absolute minimum (cold weather, no exercise) is 1600ml plus teas and coffees.

Probably goes up to 3 or 4L with exercise/hot weather.

I do have to be careful to balance with hydration tablets/diet though, or I still get headaches because I'm low in salts and sugars.

I definitely don't function well when I'm dehydrated. Headaches, v sluggish, vague, snack on sugary food, eat more generally... so I guess if you invert that - fewer headaches, more energy, better focus, eat healthier and eat smaller amounts...
Plus I would imagine it lessens the likelihood of water infections, thrush etc

1 litre, 1 tea and 1 coffee is no where near enough

You need to up your water intake alot

You should be drinking 1.5 to 2l of fluid a day
I drink lots of water and have noticed:
Less headaches
Skin not as dry
Clearer skin
That's about it!

I have a 2 litre bottle to fill up and work my way through the day and a litre bottle for the gym and a coffee in the morning. When it's warm weather I get more in.

I was like you at first though, peeing for Britain. That does get better though.

Thirst can translate as hungry as well so some people tend to just eat instead of drinking. Also the skin is the largest organ in the body and the first to suffer when not getting enough fluids. Don't forget we sweat around half a pint a nignt, so that needs to be replaced as well.

I started making the effort to drink decent amounts of water a few years ago. I really noticed the benefits to my skin. It felt and looked plump and hydrated.

Now, I feel the effects if I don't drink enough water - headache, dull skin, eyes like pissholes in the snow, dry lips.

I definitely look and feel worse if I'm not properly hydrated, but honestly, it makes zero difference whether that's with water or whether it's with tea, sugar-free squash, Diet Coke or anything else that's non-alcoholic and non-sugary.

I don't look or feel better if I swap a cup of tea for a glass of water.

I actually asked my doctor about this fairly recently and he laughed and said patients ask him this a lot and there's an awful lot misconceptions around drinking water. The whole thing about aiming to drink eight glasses of water per day has no actual scientific evidence to back it up, some people will need more and some will need less, and it's perfectly OK to drink water-based drinks instead of plain water, provided they're low sugar and non-alcoholic. Basically, he said that you want to make sure you drink fairly regularly rather than waiting until your mouth feels dry and that your wee should be pale in colour.

I said 'So is it the case that tea and coffee aren't hydrating as water, because of the caffeine?' and he said 'Yeah, that's nonsense as well. Caffeine might make you wee more, but that doesn't mean you're not being hydrated.'

I hear you about constantly needing the toilet! I’m hoping that settles down.
I’m drinking 2.5 ltr of water plus other drinks, because I need to maintain a high fibre diet for medical reasons.

I can’t say I’m feeling amazing but I haven’t had a headache for a while. I haven’t given much thought to what I’m not feeling.

Drinking more water was a game changer for weight loss for me. It really helped shift the last stone I was trying to lose.
I drink 2l of water per day (at least) as well as 2/3 black coffees and 1/2 teas with milk.