To think that a lot of people don't drink enough water?

[Chocolatefreak]

Not the most riveting subject but I think it unknowingly causes a lot of health problems, particularly in the older generation. For example, I know several people of my parent's age who have had kidney issues; repeated infections, cystitis, stones, etc. Spending time with people of my parents' and grandparents' generation I've noticed the tiny amount of water they drink compared to the amount younger generations do. My grandmother used to avoid drinking water to avoid needing the loo and unsurprisingly often felt dizzy and sick in the morning. When I remind them, my parents reluctantly serve water with meals (in almost shot-sized glasses!) and consider it to be a chore, when they'd much rather get stuck straight into the wine. My mother hydrates exclusively on tea, coffee and alcohol. As a child I had incredibly dry hair and skin which I'm wondering now was probably due to constant dehydration.

Has anyone else noticed this and why are we drinking more water now? Is it because it's been successfully marketed (mineral water and reusable drinking bottles) or because people are more aware of the benefits? If so, why only in the last few years? I rarely go out without water.

I agree that as people get older they need to keep hydrated to stay healthy. My MIL doesn't drink enough, she avoids drinks as her mobility is impaired and her toilet is upstairs. I'm sure many UTI's could be avoided if she drank more.
However, I don't think we need to have bottles of water to hand constantly at work etc. People have survived thousands of years without them.

It's marketing, IMO. It started somewhere in the mid-nineties when everyone started flogging bottled water. Perrier used to be about the only bottled water you could get and people would only consider bottled water on holiday where the water wasn't safe to drink.
Suddenly everyone is selling/drinking bottled water.
Similarly dress down day was invented by Levis to sell dockers trousers.

I agree about old people not drinking much. My parents would never have a drink with a meal, no water at all nothing. You could have a cup of tea after you'd eaten, but nothing with the meal. I remember being horribly thirsty while trying to get through dinner. If we were out for the morning I would have to wait to get home to have a drink of water, there would be no chance of stopping for a drink, even if it was 3 or 4 hours.

The headline that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day is the only bit that people remember now, and interpret it literally. In fact the study and recommendations which lead to that headline is quite clear that you don’t need 8 glasses of water in addition to other drinks and food, but you need the equivalent of 8 glasses of liquid a day to stay hydrated. That comes from your hot drinks and food like soup and fruit as well. Caffeine has a slightly dehydrating effect but it’s negated by the amount of liquid you have in each of those drinks, so you are still hydrating even with caffeinated drinks.

Of course the 8 glasses of water was jumped on by the bottled water producers and that’s what people remember now.

I recently had a meeting and a woman there who is also a personal trainer, was constantly saying that people don’t need water, water is bad yada yada and that we only need milk! Milk milk milk! Everyone was a bit 🙄 because she went on and on about milk. Personally I drink a lot of water and nothing else, especially not milk!

It's awareness isn't it that water is generally better for you than say fizzy drinks etc

I know I don't drink enough water, I'm rubbish at it, I'll just go the entire day without drinking then wonder why I'm cottonmouthed by tea time.

We got a space fridge with an ice and water dispenser recently so I'm hoping that'll encourage me to drink more, I can't even fathom drinking 8 glasses a day, that seems so much.

I think people drink more water now just because we're more aware of the health benefits.

Apparently a large number of falls in older people is due to not drinking enough water, something to do with blood pressure or something.
My mum and dad don't really drink water at all. They also don't drink much in the evening because they don't want to be up in the night for the toilet.

Are you one of those weird people that doesn't realise the water in tea and coffee is still water?
Like the silly women in my office who thinks I must be dehydrated because I drink about 5 pints of mint tea a day and little cold water.

There’s a middle ground between drinking 8 glasses a day and never drinking water at all. I drink quite a lot as I like it, and I have an insulated bottle I refill from the cooler at work so have nice cold water at hand all the time. My parent’s generation rarely drink water on its own. Many of them probably do stay hydrated enough through lots of cups of tea etc but it annoys me when someone is croaky or has that dry, gargle sort of voice you can easily avoid just by drinking some bloody water! However this is also common in teenagers I find as they drink gross sweet drinks that I wouldn’t find refreshing at all.

I don’t think people need water constantly, like on a short train journey. Loads of people can’t seem to go anywhere without a bottle of water. If I was travelling from my home to a city around 20 miles away I wouldn’t bother, I’m capable of sitting on a train/in a car for less than an hour without a drink.

We certainly didn’t have water bottles/drinks in classrooms when I was at school like seems to be the norm now.

As pp said, tea, coffee, juice all count towards your daily liquid intake. I don’t drink ‘enough’ but I very rarely feel thirsty. Can easily go breakfast-lunch on one cup of tea 🤷‍♀️

I know I do t. I just don’t like it. Drink lots of green tea though so I guess that counts.

There is water in tea, milk, food etc. The 8 glasses a day thing is a myth. Unless you're living in a very hot climate, this is too much water.

I don’t agree. The body is clever and most people are not dehydrated at all. You’re not dehydrated when you are thirsty, that’s a myth. Your body sends the thirst signal, long before you’re dehydrated. It’s clever like that. Obviously the thirst will get worse the longer you leave it. We don’t all need 2 litres a day and it will do nothing other than make you piss a lot.

I'm croaky but that's just the amount of time I spend talking at work

Probably drink 5 big mugs of tea a day and a couple of litres of water
Exercising is when I drink the most, 30 min spin I drink about a litre

Indeed.

www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4280.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=ZD92BtTrOIdw3Rv

I stayed with my mum for an extended period. I can confirm that she never ever drinks a glass of water.

tea and coffee? Yes all day. Diet Coke. Yes.

but no actual hydrating liquid! No fruit juice because apparently not allowed it on slimming world. No squash. No flavoured water.

literally tea, coffee and a can of coke.

i don’t know how she has survived so long!

Yes my grandma never drank water (I can remember one time that she drank a glass of water on a hot day and that's it!) - she had never ending kidney problems but she just wouldn't drink water.

Equally one of my friends never drinks water, only tea or coffee, and frequently collapses/feels tired/has various issues caused by kidney infections etc. She also has a very unhealthy, high sodium diet and doesn't make the connection (she's an extremely intelligent professional person with a medical background as well!!) Its bizarre!

I think that the whole 8 glasses a day thing puts people off even trying if I'm honest! If they said 5 glasses (as they did with the 5-a-day campaign) and explained the benefits I think more people would drink water.

Do you actually think tea is not a hydrating liquid? Wht do you imagine happens to the water...which is what tea is made of? And coffee, and diet coke....why is this notion so prevalent?

@bonzaitree

Tea will hydrate you along with Diet Coke, which is carbonated water. Of course she survived with her adequate fluid intake. I can’t remember the last time I had a glass of water. Genuinely. Last time I checked my Fitbit my heart still appears to be beating.

I'm amazed people think t tea and coffee is not hydration!

People in general: YABU
Elderly people: YANBU

But cups of tea and coffee definitely count as hydrating fluids.

I was worried the OP was going to use the 'we need 8 glasses of water' line, which was completely made up by drinks marketing.

absolutely all liquid counts ( soup smoothies milk on cereal liquid in gravy, wet foods like cucumber and fresh fruit and about 1500-1800ml is what the average woman needs per day, if you exercise a lot or it is very warm or you are taller or heavier than average you might need a bit more but nobody needs 3-4 litres, people in kenya do not drink 4 litres a day
saying when you are thirsty you are already dehydrated makes as much sense as when you are hungry you are already starved and when you are tired you are already asleep it is patently rubbish

also although coffee and tea have a slight diuretic effect it is more like 200ml of coffee gives 195ml of liquid , not that you need an extra 200ml of water to compensate

I'm sticking with my 3litres! Tall, exercise and spend all day talking so I drink for my throat mostly as it gets scratchy/dry/sore

Yes I could manage with less but I would be uncomfortable and croaky