Water, water everywhere, but no real need for it. Why do people not believe this?

[ElderLemon]

The evidence is clear that unless we are elderly, we can just drink when thirsty and be absolutely fine. The need for x litres per day is just made up bollocks. But I know from multiple threads over many years that many, if not most, people on here will down right refuse to believe this. Is it just that people don't like science? I don't know why it annoys me so much, live and let live etc. But when I see all the health and beauty articles repeating it I get enraged, I really do. Anyone else? www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/09/is-it-true-that-we-should-all-drink-more-water?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

One thing I will say is that not drinking is associated with bad breath. I really notice this with my son, who has a tendency never to drink anything unless prompted.

Maybe it was a marketing ploy by an enterprising company, so that they could start a new trend in fancy drinking vessels, and make a fortune?

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women.

As long as your urine is clear/pale yellow, you're drinking enough.

Most people don't drink enough though, so the 8 glass thing just helps remind people.

I get headaches and uti if I don't constantly drink water/tea/whatever so I do need it personally.

My kids are the same with headaches.

She’s right. Any fluid will hydrate you (maybe not gin!) so tea, coffee, squash, pop, whatever will hydrate you. Maybe not with the same efficiency as water, but they do hydrate you.

At many points in history most people (especially in cities) didn’t drink water because it wasn’t clean and survived entirely on small beer. They lived.

But that doesn't mean it all has to be in the form of plain water? As pp said, we get fluid from food, tea, coffee etc.

It’s supposedly unhealthy to wait until you have symptoms of thirst to actually take a drink.

Gah...feeling thirsty is the first sign of dehydration. So if you're thirsty you're not drinking enough.

Which is why the NHS recommends drinking regularly (not just when you're thirsty).

https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/nutritional/dehydration/

You’re living a very charmed life if that’s all you’ve got to get worked up over.

I drink at least 2 litres a day and it makes me feel so much better. If I waited until I was thirsty I'd be eating lots more (unnecessarily) and probably would just feel quite rubbish.

The thirst sensation is triggered when the body is already dehydrated, so it seems logical to drink regularly to prevent this. For years, I've made it a habit to drink at least 2 litres of water daily, even if I'm not feeling thirsty. If I don’t stick to this routine, I end up with terrible headaches. I don’t understand why the advice to drink a specific amount of water each day bothers you so much—after all, you’re not obligated to follow it.

I don't think I physically could drink 2 litres a day without spending half the time going for a piss.

I have two mugs of tea as routine and water when I feel thirsty. Which is a feeling of wanting to drink, not a physical state.

Never had dark piss or a single UTI.

I'm quite sure I consume over 2 litres of water if you count the moisture in food, which you are supposed to.

My cat's wet food is over 80% moisture according to the can and it is not soupy. I infer that most normal human meals are also very high in moisture. Look at a fresh piece of meat vs dried meat for example - it's soo much bigger with all the water in it.

After my father had stayed with us for a few days he told me he hadn’t realised he was dehydrated most of the time.

Because we serve water with a meal and use bigger mugs for tea than he does at home, he was having more liquid.

“My pee was pale for the first time in years. I’d just thought it was normal to be very dark because I was older.”

I agree with the OP that endless slurping from enormous water bottles is unnecessary. But it is equally very easy to normalise dehydration in your life, so a middle ground is better.

Just a thought - Another reason we may perhaps need more water than in the past is obesity. Type 2 diabetes is rife in the population and does make people thirsty.

Have you had terrible headaches from birth?

If not, I'd suggest that you get them when you don't drink your 2 litres because you have created a dependency in your body. Your headaches are a withdrawal symptom from your body not getting what it is used to (like the withdrawal symptoms from an addiction/dependency), rather than simply not getting enough iyswim.

@ElderLemon I totally agree with you, I was having this conversation just a few days ago. My health isn't great so I'm not the best advert but the water nonsense gets my goat. It's just to sell more bottled water and vessels from which to drink it

I dont get thirsty very often (autistic so interoception issues). I often don't realise I haven't had enough to drink until I get a headache which isn't good, and hot weather in the summer absolutely wipes me out so I have to make really conscious effort to get plenty of fluid in.

I think everybody is different. I have always need to drink water as I get dehydrated very quickly.

I agree. The bottled water and reusable bottle companies just peddled this 2 litre rubbish.

Winds me up when my pt spends half my session in the loo because she's drinking far too much water!

Overloading the kidneys with water isn't good though

I think this is a case of more than one thing can be true at the same time. Thirst is a good indicator of needing a drink, that's what it's for. But often people don't realise what they are feeling is related to thirst. Thirst isn't only dry/scratchy throat/"i could murder a drink", it can also often be feeling a bit sluggish, or dry eyes/nose or whatever. But when a lot of people feel sluggish, they won't think "this is thirst so I will have a drink", they think "i'll have a biscuit, I need the sugar" or whatever.

Also, whilst you get a lot of water from food as you say, there's a big difference between someone who eats a lot of veg and someone who lives off toast and buegers - the amount of hydration you get from food will massively vary person to person!

Ew tmi

It's up to you what you put in the your body, and up to others what they do after they've read similar articles.

I must admit I didn't expect this many responses! Some of the responses seem more enraged than me 😂

When I was on chemo, I had to drink far more water than I was used to, as chemo can be harsh on kidneys and bladder so you want to keep everything really diluted.

Even drinking all that water, the positive impact of a saline drip was really noticeable. Properly hydrated I felt amazing. Once you feel the difference, it's easier to keep drinking lots of water.

Still, if it bothers you I'll try to stay out of your way while I look after my health.