No benefit in drinking eight glasses of water a day, scientists say

No benefit in drinking eight glasses of water a day, scientists say

www.telegraph.co.uk

The idea that drinking eight glasses of water a day is good for your health has been dismissed as a myth.

Scientists say there is no evidence drinking large amounts of water is beneficial for the average healthy person, and do not even know how this widely held belief came about.

Specialists in kidney conditions in America reviewed research on claims eight 8oz glasses of water help flush toxins from the body, preventing weight gain and improving skin tone.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Water is a key component to staying healthy. Whether or not 8 glasses of water makes a difference I don't know. The study says otherwise, but then again, no study is fail-proof.

I can point out that if one is dehydrated or over-hydrated, problems can arise. Dehydration is a problem facing many people in the West where sweat evaporates off the skin when the body tries to cool down. Where I live in Arizona, you don't even know you're sweating because the wind takes the moisture right off your body.

Overhydration can be deadly, as well as dehydration. There was a woman in Buffalo, NY in a water drinking contest. She chugged a few gallons of water (I don't know the exact amount) and died of OVERhydration. That sounds like an oxymoron, but it can happen.

Dr Dan Negoianu and Dr Stanley Goldfarb, of the Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division at the University of Pennsylvania, said no single study indicated average healthy people needed to drink this amount of water - a total of 3.3 pints - each day.

I know when I am hiking, I need to drink around 4 liters of water per day. However, that's with at least five miles of travel with a heavy pack on so that's quite different than a sedentary lifestyle. Now I think I drink 2-3 liters per day, and I feel fine.

If you listen to your body, you will know when you're dehydrated and need water. Right now my body is telling me I need to drink.

I can notice poorer concentration, slower movement, headaches if I stand up too fast (same with food headaches I guess), and drowsiness.

If you have those symptoms, drink some water and eat some food .

As I just said above:

The researchers did find some evidence that individuals in hot, dry climates, as well as athletes, need to increase the amount of water they drink. Studies have also shown that drinking lots of water helps the body to clear salt and urea.

Thanks for telling me something I already know...

And also as I just said above:

Headaches also are often attributed to water deprivation, but there is little data to back this up, claim the scientists.

Only one small trial has addressed this question, and while trial participants who increased their water intake experienced fewer headaches than those who did not, the results were not statistically significant.

They should have asked me to participate in that study .




www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

From what I remember, the push to drink X amount of water each day only came to light after all the large beverage companies were bottling water. Prior to that we were told to drink X amount of milk a day or eat Y amount of Z.

Last I saw, people in underdeveloped nations were living longer lives than the average American. Shows how much the FDA and their food-pyramids know hehe

reply to post by TXRabbit


I can understand what you say about the bottled water, but I'm going to have to disagree about the life expectancy of developing nations. That's simply not true.

We have access to western medicine which cures many debilitating diseases, whether chronic or not. Most developing nations don't.

And they usually don't have access to clean water, depending how you view "clean" (running water may be more accurate in some cases).

Don't get me started on the food pyramid...its clearly biased.

As for the 8 glasses per day, I don't know. I told you I drink 2-3 liters per day and I feel ok. Does that mean I can run on less? Yes, but when I'm hiking if I don't drink at least 3 liters I could pass out.

Don't want that to happen now do we?

saw this on a fox news site as well (linked from google news) and the headline is as follows:

Study: Skip the Water, Have a Soda Instead

www.foxnews.com...

i think it's pretty irresponsible to imply that the study favors soda over water when it doesn't make or even imply any such claim. that's the msm for you - and the worst of them.

Originally posted by an0maly33

Study: Skip the Water, Have a Soda Instead

www.foxnews.com...

i think it's pretty irresponsible to imply that the study favors soda over water when it doesn't make or even imply any such claim. that's the msm for you - and the worst of them.

I would say very irresponsible of them. Did you notice their disclaimer:
We Report, You decide!



It should say....We Imply, You take for Gospel

I am no scientist or nutritionist, but I know high fructose corn syrup is not a healthy food to rely on. Water is water, a basic element and over 70% of the human body consists of it.

We need water, that's a fact. How much of it per day is to be debated. Do we really need 8 glasses of water? I don't know. My body lets me know when I need to drink, and I don't count the glasses as I usually drink out of a reusable water bottle (metal, not plastic...I don't like chemicals leeching into my body).

Fox news of all places should not be giving dietary recommendations. They're probably the worst place to find any kind of news, let alone "fair and balanced" (but that's another story).

Well, on a normal day (working) I drink coffee in the morning, eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day, and drink beer at night.

When I feel "thirsty" I drink a glass of water. If my thirst is quenched I do not drink another glass.

When I am working out or playing sports I drink water or a sports drink.

I drink when my body tells me I'm thirsty.

The only time I drink water when I'm not thirsty is when I am sick, because when I was little that is what my mom told me to do.

What is my point?

Our bodies tell us when we need hydration. I don't get the whole water quota.
I guess our scientists are running out of real experiments to perform?



[edit on 3-4-2008 by defuntion]

Originally posted by biggie smalls
I can understand what you say about the bottled water, but I'm going to have to disagree about the life expectancy of developing nations. That's simply not true.

We have access to western medicine which cures many debilitating diseases, whether chronic or not. Most developing nations don't.

Top 40 countries with life-expectancy of males. Data comes from the World Health Organization and is current as of 2005. (www.who.org)


WHO sources: including 'World Health Statistics 2007'.
Country Value
San Marino 80
Australia 79
Iceland 79
Japan 79
Sweden 79
Switzerland 79
Canada 78
Israel 78
Italy 78
Monaco 78
Singapore 78
Andorra 77
Austria 77
Cyprus 77
France 77
Greece 77
Ireland 77
Kuwait 77
Malta 77
Netherlands 77
New Zealand 77
Norway 77
Qatar 77
Spain 77
United Kingdom 77
Belgium 76
Brunei Darussalam 76
Denmark 76
Finland 76
Germany 76
Luxembourg 76
United Arab Emirates 76
Costa Rica 75
Cuba 75
Portugal 75
Republic of Korea 75
United States of America 75
Chile 74

Like 99.9999999% of things in the world . Take as needed.

You cant set a regiment of ANYTHING for the whole of the world. I weigh 135 pounds. Do you really think me and my 300 pound roommate will need the same amount of ANYTHING?
An active person is going to need more water than a non active one . Depending on perspiration per hour and probably 10 other factors..

Everything should be considered on a person to person basis. What could save one man could kill another real easily .
Its just common sense.............. to me anyway .




[edit on 3-4-2008 by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR]

i also just drink when i'm thirsty. i have a can of soda or bottle of prefab bottled tea with lunch, usually some more tea (sometimes self-made) when i get home from work. maybea glass of water when the mood hits me...i'm not a healthy eater, i know, but i think the whole 8 glasses of water a day thing is bunk. we get plenty of fluid from the food we eat. if it's not enough then our body tells us to go drink something.

This has to be one of the dumbest "science" articles I've read. All it talks about is that there is no "conclusive" data for anything regarding water intake on the body, bar for common experience between millions of individuals.

64 oz is the median range of water that people should statistically drink within a society. It's not too much, and it's not too little.

God damn. I don't know why this is news, but it probably has something to do with... population control.

You'd think these mother#ers are trying to get you to kill your organs.

If I said, "Well, running 3 miles 4 times a week, and eating a healthy diet works to keep me in peak shape."

These "scientists" woulds say, "Oh, there is no conclusive evidence that running 3 miles 4 times a week and eating a healthy diet keeps people in peak shape."

They would be right, too. It doesn't offer any evidence - besides the evidence that I personally don't have any fat on my stomach and can run 3 miles without being exhausted.

Originally posted by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR
Like 99.9999999% of things in the world . Take as needed.

I agree, drink what ya' feel you need, when you need it. I've never concerned myself with monitoring water intake, nor adhering to RDA's with Vit's and Min's.

I cannot recall actually being "sick" but once in the last 20 years (that wasn't due to alcohol, which was infrequent anyway)

Edit: Drug references removed.

[edit on 3-4-2008 by intrepid]

You know what the say about health nuts . I may die of cancer. But one day you'll be lying there dying of NOTHING.. I guess with cancer i can at least blame myself and or know the reason . Not just old and senile with no memory left to speak of .

[edit on 3-4-2008 by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR]

Wrong. The study is wrong.

It is very nearsighted and non inclusive of all the physical reactions of the body.

The body is comprised 70% of water. It is a basic component. I can go into more detail, but time and motivation are not currently with me....Flagged so that I will remember to return here.

Suffice to say, Soda and other liquids tend to induce a higher release of Cortisol in the body and that has interesting ramifications. Dehydration, or even a subtle perpetuation of it tends to increase the amount of time Cortisol, and subsequently Adrenaline, are present and relevant in the body. This leads to a perpetuated 'Fight or Flight' physical reaction/inclination that inflects a persons psychological perspective....or inclination towards to various mental behaviours.

The study is bunk. Drink 7 glasses of water a day instead of 8....but drink water.

I've always believed that drinking water is very important. When I recently suffered from kidney stones I had that belief reafearmed by my dr. He told me that we should drink enough water so that we urinate enough to fill a 2 litre bottle. Exactly how much one should drink to do that, I'm not sure. But I easily drink 8 or more glasses of water a day. 16 ounce glasses.

Anyway, water helps to flush out the kidneys which helps prevent kidney stones. And believe me, if you haven't had them, you don't want them.

That's just one aspect of the benefits of drinking water.

This is the beginning of the propaganda campaign to convince people they do not need so much water to survive. Next they will be telling people that baths and showers cause cancer.

Now I am going to go get a huge drink of water and take a shower...


opps forgot that some may not know my interest in the world dominance and control plan for privatizing water and making it an unattainable commodity.

[edit on 3-4-2008 by antar]

Just for perception's sake....an eight ounce glass of water, or rather, eight of them is....

A Big Gulp from seven eleven. It's not too much....

Not to say that I am not guilty, at times....I sometimes drink a big gulp of rum instead of water....

But a Big Gulp isn't alot....we pound the soda like it's nothing.....

reply to post by antar


Agreed. I'll drink to that.

reply to post by MemoryShock


I used to drink a lot of soda. But I stopped. Haven't had a soda in 5 or 6 years.