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.

General rule of thumb across all mammalian species is that we need 50ml/kg of fluids over 24 hours.

Doesn't matter if it's coffee, soup, fruits, veggies, whatever...

Drinking enough to 'get by' is a low bar though.

I feel better when well-hydrated. I'm also type 1 diabetic which means I dehydrate a bit quicker than somebody without diabetes, which in turn ups the risk of ketoacidocis (a medical emergency and different from ketosis).

My point is there are loads of reasons to aim for well-hydrated instead of taking in just enough liquid to 'get by'.

Tons of people have a problem with constipation, for example, and not drinking enough is one of the reasons for this.

I have no idea when I feel thirsty. Yes I live in my head too much and not in my body.

I know when I feel out of sorts and a glass of water lifts me, and I know I feel soo much better when I have a glass of water first thing in the morning. So I am another fan of the routine approach.

I've always needed to drink loads, was tested to see if anything was wrong with me when I was about 2 because of it. Now 40 and still on about 4 litres a day. I've mentioned it to doctors in the past but they don't seem concerned. Would be interested to know if anyone is similar?
I only drink when I'm thirsty though, just happens to be a lot of the time!

Oopsadaisydoddle that doesn't hold true for hunger in most adults. The hunger response is utterly messed up in most modern humans in western countries. The hunger response really only functions properly in people who never eat processed food. Most adults these days feel genuine hunger when they don't actually need food, because the more frequently people eat processed foods the more frequently they feel hunger. If a person is used to eating every 90 minutes they will feel genuine gnawing hunger if they go 3 hours awake without eating, but they don't actually need to eat. If a person gets in the habit of fasting they stop feeling hunger eventually but this can also go too far and someone who hasn't eaten anything at all in 5 days often stops feeling hunger, yet they absolutely need to break the fast and readjust to eating in most cases!

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 I hated it, I remember feeling thirsty all the time. Regularly refilling a water bottle made such a difference to how I felt even 20+ years ago.

@Magicbabywaves

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

Bizarre wasn't it?

Started off a bit like this... people don't need to carry water with them, no body did this in the olden days and we were fine...

And evolved into comparing bottles to nipples, people who drink water to being babies who have a dummy and people being passive aggressive by drinking or carrying water.

Plus all the arguments about plastic, overpriced water and chemicals in water bottles.

It was so bizarre. And it might have been the same thread or a different one that was annoyed about people having take away coffees and likened them to baby sippy cups.

@Magicbabywaves

It was so bizarre. And it might have been the same thread or a different one that was annoyed about people having take away coffees and likened them to baby sippy cups.

I forgot about that! Yes you're right!

Reminding yourself to drink water is to stave off the unpleasant things that can come with thirst, which is a sign of dehydration - so headaches, tiredness, grogginess, etc. Have a drink of water before those symptoms arise, and be more comfortable!

I confuse hunger and thirst. At work before lockdown a young girl who drinks a lot of water was talking about her mum ratching through the cupboard at night looking for biscuits and the girl had said "mum you're thirsty, not hungry". Weirdly it really stuck with me and I think about that part of her story a lot and now try and drink more between meals

Left to my own devices I'd probably only have 1 or 2 glasses of water and 3 cups of tea a day

• 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*

When I was a kid in the 70s/80s my mum used to give us 2- litre bottles of weak squash if we went out, as we used to go out for most of the day (lots of fields near the house).

For me, the first sign I'm dehydrated is often a slightly fuzzy head or feeling tired rather than feeling thirsty. I do suffer with migraines though, so that's just how it manifests with me. Everyone is different, people have different lifestyles THAT affect the need for water consumption. The drink 2-3 litres a day is very general and not for everyone. Does make you wonder whether it was initially dreamed up by a mineral water company in the 80s/90s though!

I once had a colleague who used to brag about how he hardly ever drank anything I thought, well it's making your breath smell bad and you'll end up with renal stones if you're unlucky.

I drink alot of water because it personally makes me feel better, but each to their own. I would never tell someone else to drink more. Plus I love the cute bottles you can buy to fill up!

I remember taking it all a bit personally at the time as I was breastfeeding a newborn and had an 18 month old as well so felt a constant thirst from that and always had water with me and also got a take away coffee in the morning so I could walk the baby to sleep whilst pepping myself up! The fact that I was Possibly being silently judged slightly unnerved me!

I think there was a thing about dehydrated = less learning happening hence the appearance of those sports bottles at school for children to drink water plentifully from (15 or so years ago?)

passive aggressive sucking like babies etc etc thread here

@FlibbertyGiblets I’m a page in and I just know this is going to be a gripping read 🤣

Hurhurhur.

But for thousands of years humans have got by perfectly well by drinking when they are thirsty.

For most of human history, humans didn’t have access to caffeine, alcohol, sugar, or any of the things we “guzzle” which fuck up our bodies and dehydrate us and make us less able to understand the signals our bodies are giving us.

For example thirst is often misinterpreted as hunger - many people stuff down some crisps (salty, therefore increasing need for water) when they are actually thirsty. So comparisons with pre-historic people are facile.

And it might have been the same thread or a different one that was annoyed about people having take away coffees and likened them to baby sippy cups.

The anti-takeaway coffee threads are coded SAHN vs working women rivalries, IMO. Those threads are full of posters going, “FFS just go home and make a cup of coffee when you’ve finished the school run it’s not hard to wait till you’ve got home, women brandishing their takeaway coffee cups are just doing it to show off so other women will think they’re busy!” and working posters going “I go to work after the school run, I don’t go home, I spend my day running between work appointments, I don’t sit at home all day, and I drink coffee because I need it not to impress you.” Basically it’s SAHM being jealous of WM and working women being judgy of SAHM.

^Of course plenty of SAHM drink takeaway coffee too (and have busy lives), and some WM work in offices with coffee machines. I’m not implying SAHM aren’t busy!

I guess it's as reasonable a topic to discuss as any