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. Young people drink a lot if it. Most old people I know don't.

Yes this is definitely a thing, my parents never ever seem to drink water.

It's coffees all day then a glass of wine with dinner. They have water glasses which genuinely hold about 150ml maximum.

I actually have major problems with remembering to drink enough, I literally never feel thirsty and don't drink hot drinks. If I'm not proactive about it I can go over 24 hours without a drink and not notice.

I sometimes wonder if I didn't drink enough as a child and it "broke" my feeling of thirst.

I have been trying to drink a lot more water, at the start you seem to spend most of the day in the toilet but after a short while your body seems to adjust to being more hydrated & toilet visits are less frequent. I definitely notice how much better I feel when I am more hydrated, more energy & just overall better in myself

Yep my Mum avoids drinking water to avoid needing the loo (or at least she used to) and I remember her getting annoyed at my brother and I taking advantage of the water cooler at the dentists "because it'll make you need the toilet". She thinks it's mental that the kids at DDs school take in flasks to keep in the classroom and said we never had that and we were fine. I pointed out that I was always severely dehydrated by the end of the school day.

Humans have survived for millenia, without drinking eight glasses of water a day.

Survive, yes. I'd like to do a bit more than just survive, thanks.

Yes people "survived" without drinking water historically but go back 300 years and life expectancy was half what it is now. (I understand many factors contribute to this)

@RosetteNebula

I doubt you were “severely dehydrated”. 🤦‍♀️ I am sure there were no clinical signs of that.

Children relentlessly drinking from their flasks during lessons can be quite annoying. As can the constant toilet trips. Drinks at first break, lunchtime and maybe one in the afternoon should suffice. It’s a huge distraction actually and one that many children play on.

My parents don’t drink any water. My Mum has frequent dehabilitating UTIs and a lot of hospital investigations for them and no one in the health profession has once suggested to her she should drink more water. Personally, I’m sure that would go some way to solving her issues. She won’t listen to me, I’m a doctor but I’m her daughter and obviously not involved in her direct care.

She drinks coffee and tea in the day and red wine when it’s a socially acceptable time of the evening, neither the hot drinks or wine to excess. She likes to savour things and won’t entertain eating or drinking anything that she doesn’t like. She finds water a massive chore and when I pour her a glass (because I am worried about her) makes a big song and dance about not liking drinking it.

We are a bit obsessed with drinking water in general but yes, IME, many older people need to drink more.

Your urine tells you all you need to know about your hydration levels. If it's clear or close to clear then you are likely hydrated enough.

8 glasses of water a day was a beauty tip from a famous model back in the 1980s. People have gotten confused and think it's a general health recommendation. But it is not a bad beauty tip.

@Doesnthaveaphd

That sounds like my mother in law. Chronic UTIs and now under the consultant for it.

She does not drink water, perhaps one cup of tea (certainly not a lot) and the odd cup of orange juice (around 100ml). She is thick though so can’t be told and just likes to moan about her chronic UTIs.

So, I think really this is about fluid intake overall. Like I said my granny lived until 97 drinking exclusively tea, but she drank a lot of it. I guess that’s the difference.

"The urge to drink just isn't there"

This is what happens to a lot of older people, as well as the other reasons already posted.
My late MIL didn't drink tea and coffee and lost the urge to drink and she got horribly dehydrated and constipated.

I'm glad I have a tea habit because I can drink tea even if I'm not thirsty. I only ever feel like a drink of water if I am very thirsty. Water just doesn't hit the spot the way a cup of tea does.

Please quantify "large cohort," and also we'll need a full breakdown of diet, exercise and of course full gene mapping of all of the women... ridiculous

People definitely don’t drink enough water, especially old people, you’re correct. Evidenced by the amount of hospital admissions for acute kidney injury all year round, but particularly when we have a hot spell, and they’re taking the likes of Metformin, Diuretics, Ace Inhibitors and NSAIDs.

I can tell when I’m dehydrated as I feel dizzy, wooly headed and generally depleted. I drink around 2-3L of dilute squash a day, but also a lot of coffee!

I can make observations, and so can you. But it is a generally agreed that genes only make up for around 20% of aging, including skin aging - as demonstrated by the Danish Twin Studies. The rest is lifestyle-related.

Absolutely this. Aged relatives don't drink nearly enough fluid but it's all down to mobility issues and having to go to the loo. They all drank plenty of fluids when they were younger.

8 glasses is made up, like 5 fruit and veg is made up. Trying to encourage people to drink water and eat fruit and veg is good, but making up a random amount risks putting people off. Most people get plenty of fluid daily without drinking 8 glasses of water.

I remember a lecture with a Nephrologist when I was at uni, he said not to rely on our sense of thirst, due to the way that the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system works, by the time you feel active thirst, you’re already in a fluid deficit.

Utter bollocks

@thegreencomet

Yes but on that list it’s sunshine and cigarettes that will make the most difference overall. Sunshine being the biggest culprit in my opinion. I’m 34 and the difference between me and my sun worshipping friends is really quite astonishing.

@YouWithoutEnd

No, your body is in a water homeostatic state. It sends the thirst signal long before any clinical signs of dehydration. It’s a polite reminder from your body that will increase in intensity if ignored for an extended period of time.

Wait till you are twice that age! There are all sorts of lifestyle factors that might affect skin appearance and aging, as well as overall "diseases of aging": for example, diet, exercise, prolonged stress, poverty, hard physical labour, sun exposure, pollution exposure, smoking, drug abuse, and alcohol consumption.

Botttoms up.

Okay, well I guess the Nephrologist just decided to tell 150 undergrad HCP’s that for fun then 🤷🏻‍♀️

I only drink water and will feel like I’ve been drinking a lot during the day but then I end up with a burning bladder and need to drink about 2 cups to make it disappear. Not a UTI, been like this for years.

@YouWithoutEnd

Possibly for fun then as I was not told that information from a very respected consultant, but hey Ho the nephrologist is life 😂.