Drink when you're thirsty - what's the problem?

[AuldWan]

There have been a few threads lately about water, not drinking enough, dehydration etc. But for thousands of years humans have got by perfectly well by drinking when they are thirsty. Thirst is an extremely sophisticated human sense - of course in a tiny minority of people it can go wrong, but for the vast majority of humans it works perfectly. It doesn't even have to be water - just fluid, and it can also come from food.
This is the current scientific consensus as I understand it - the idea that drinking x litres of water daily is good for us to de tox, keep our skin good, give us energy etc has no scientific basis and is essentially just made up non-science.
For example read this: www.livescience.com/61353-how-much-water-you-really-need-drink.html
I mean - drink however much water you want - but humans only really need to drink if they actually feel thirsty. So lots on a hot day, on a cold wet day, not so much. Not complicated.

If you're thirsty you're already dehydrated.

It seems like a bit of a shit body design to make you be thirsty AFTER you need to drink...I mean I’m sure in caveman times they weren’t all thinking “ooh I’m not thirsty but I might be dehydrated anyway...”

There was a ridiculous thread on here a few years ago where people who drink water were described as passive aggressive.

My six year old lacks a thirst drive (very complex medically). Alongside that she is at a very high stroke risk if she gets dehydrated. It's a whole day's work every single day to make her drink.

DrDavidBanner - see the article below which suggests that while this is often claimed, it is not true?

I drink very little and rarely

I drink a lot but my mouth gets dry from 7hrs a day talking on the phone! It helps my throat too, prone to sore throats/tonsillitis

I drink a lot of fluid. I also sweat a lot . My father is exactly the same. My mother and siblings hardly sweat at all and just about hit the minimum recommended fluid intake.

For me, school was a misery of dry mouth and pain when weeing. I ended up with recurring UTIs as a teenager. I do need to drink regularly and if I don’t I get soreness. Not everyone is the same.

I don’t get thirsty. Not sure why, something is obviously missing somewhere my throat gets dry sometimes but I’ve never felt the need to drink. I do drink a lot though because of this.

I remember that thread about the passive aggressive water guzzlers. Of which I am one.

@Cantfindaholiday

DrDavidBanner - see the article below which suggests that while this is often claimed, it is not true?

Fair enough. I'm just going off my own experience, if I don't drink much in the day I get headaches and don't sleep well.

Assuming you're an adult then you have free will and can drink as little as you like. You don't need validation from anyone else.

I probably drink about 4 cups of tea per day. Its a comfort thing more than an urge to drink. I'll drink water if I'm doing a class.
I tried drinking 3 litres of water per day. I didn't feel any better for it. Just annoyed at having to piss like a racehorse all day. I don't care what other people do though. Each to their own.

Thirst is one of your body’s first mechanisms to combat dehydration. When you experience thirst you have a water deficit- this may be very mild but if not reacted to can lead to symptomatic dehydration. So to saying ‘when you are thirsty you are already dehydrated’ is an over simplified. It is nether true nor false as it depends on how dehydration is defined. The extremes of age have a harder time regulating their thirst but also other factors do influence your innate feeling of thirst. But if you are thirsty you do have a water deficit that the body is trying to correct.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1467-3010.2001.00097.x

Depending on our diet, we can obtain a lot of liquid from food.

Burger & salty chips are not a great source of hydration. Fruit, veg and salad on the other hand...

I have found that wearing a mask at work all day & endeavouring to communicate through it has made me super thirsty though, so have been consciously drinking more at break times.

@Michaelbaubles

It seems like a bit of a shit body design to make you be thirsty AFTER you need to drink...I mean I’m sure in caveman times they weren’t all thinking “ooh I’m not thirsty but I might be dehydrated anyway...”

dunno, it's pretty much like any other bodily function, isn't it? I mean you feel tired, so you sleep, then you feel rested. need to pee, do so, feel better Hungry, this prompts you to eat, you then feel better (in caveman times, and how we are supposed to work anyway, although for me at least it's not particularly hungry - see doughnut - eat it - feel guilty )

We don't really tend to sleep in the middle of the day to prevent us from becoming tired, or try and force going to the toilet when we don't need to so assume dehydration works the same way - this is talking about fairly minor dehydration though, not really fatal.

This sounds like I'm not a water "guzzler" when I am. I do understand all the disproved science/doesn't have to be plain water/2 litres etc....but for me I just always feel better when I've drunk a lot of water in a day compared to days when I haven't, and it doesn't hurt anyone, does it?

I do wish we had more provision for refilling bottles than defaulting to single use plastic though...

I barely drink during the working day because I’m a teacher and thus can only go to the loo at lunchtime, if it’s free then. I don’t really notice a difference in thirst compared to weekends when I drink normally, but I do notice increased headaches. I’ve no idea what that means re the thirst=dehydration theory, but I’d be interested in finding out!

I remember regularly sitting in school as a kid desperate for a drink, and that was in Ireland so it wasn't hot. Perhaps, here's a crazy idea, some people need to drink more than others? I'm obviously a passive aggressive guzzler

I think the thing about being dehydrated when you are thirsty is, as Timekeepspassing seems to be saying, a misunderstanding of the fact that thirst is your body telling you that you need to drink. You are not dangerously dehydrated, it's just time to top up.

The other thing that I find odd is that people seem to need to drink so often. We have stomachs that take about 4 hours to empty, so 3.5 hours after you've put fluid, or wet food in there, you have fluid available to your body. I suppose if you take a tiny amount each time, then you'd need to keep topping up, but you don't need to take in 500ml an hour.

Not that I really care. Do what you want. But people get so dogmatic on these threads it makes me wonder if people are really getting dehydrated and only producing tiny amounts of very dark urine, or if they just enjoy drinking. And why not?

I think one of the points in the OP is that nowadays everyone has to carry a water bpttle round.
Eg kids go out for a walk and must take a water bottle.

I have no problem with anyone who wants to carry a bottle, but iit is definitely a modern thing, and we all managed fine without it! When I was growing up, we had a drink with breakfast; a glass of milk and biscuit at 10/11 am; drink with lunch; glass of squash and biscuit at 3/4 pm; and drink with evening meal.
That was normal for adults and kids, elevenses and afternoon tea.
I think that culture meant everyone did drink enough. No-one ever carried round a bottle of anything. if you were at someone's house at 11 am, then you were offered a drink.

I think it is the culture change and lifestyle chaneg that has sparked this.

The only times I have ever felt really thirsty were when my babies were small. The moment the baby began to feed (breast) I felt a tremendous urge to drink. I now am a person of routine...... cup of tea first thing, cup of coffee mid-morning, orange juice at lunchtime, tea in afternoon, G and T early evening, wine at the moment. Hardly ever drink tap water, it is boring.

I rarely feel thirsty...and never ever drink water 🤷‍♀️ Don't actually drink much at all really to be honest. 3-4 cups of tea a day and milk on my cereal. The odd squash or coke if I'm out shopping or at a bar (I'm usually driving!) I have amazing skin actually...at 56 it's hardly lined and I look much younger than my age. (God bless my mother 💓)

@GinWithRosie

I rarely feel thirsty...and never ever drink water 🤷‍♀️ Don't actually drink much at all really to be honest. 3-4 cups of tea a day and milk on my cereal. The odd squash or coke if I'm out shopping or at a bar (I'm usually driving!) I have amazing skin actually...at 56 it's hardly lined and I look much younger than my age. (God bless my mother 💓)

That's because the idea that you need your liquid intake to be water is rubbish. As long asyou take in liquid, it doesn't matter if it is tea/squash/coke

I think you are either a thirsty person or you’re not. I am and really feel it if I don’t drink enough (average 3-4 cups of tea, 1 can of fizzy drink and 4-6 pints of water a day). But some people hardly drink anything and feel ok. I don’t think it’s a big deal either way unless you are making yourself ill from not drinking enough.

I rarely, rarely feel thirsty.

I have to make myself drink water.

My dentists always comment on how much saliva I produce. I always need extra suction.

I sometimes wonder if there's any connection! Random I know.

Everyone is different.

My DD and DH love to remain hydrated. My DS and I have to actively remind ourselves to drink as we don't feel thirsty.

I don't show any signs of dehydration - but my DS sometimes does. I stand over him while he drinks 2 glasses of water one after the other.

Cold water best. Lucky to have absolutely delicious Scottish water to drink.