Water Obsession - Do you really need so much water?

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dznutzxxx

New member
hydration

I've always been a bit suspicious of the convention that you need to drink 8, 8oz glasses of water per day.

Unless it's a very hot day in which you've done a lot of physical activity, and sweated a lot, it's very hard to drink so much. You seem to have to force it down and it feels nasty.

Your body is pretty good at warning you of its needs and problems. We have all experienced thirst; our bodies tell us when we're dehydrated. We have all experienced hunger; our bodies tell us when we need nutrients. We have all experienced pain when our bodies are injured.

I'm not trying to downplay the importance of staying hydrated. I know it's very important for bodily function. But I don't think we need to be forcing down over a gallon of water a day. It seems ridiculous to me. Animals are doing fine with a few slurps a day. Should we probably have a little more water than we feel we need? Yes. but maybe 1-3 extra glasses a day above what we drink when thirsty. This idea of drowning yourself....over a gallon of water a day, on top of all the water in our food and other beverages...it seems crazy!



I found this article that supports my belief:

How Much Water Do You Really Need? | The Dr. Oz Show
 
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Since I've started drinking primarily a lot of water - gallon plus a day with ease.
I've peed more and have had a lot less headaches. The pros outweigh the cons in my view.

Dr oz isn't a good enough reason to stop and unless you have a reason that states a gallon plus is bad for me. Ill be a water nerd.
 
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Dr.Oz was created for single over weight women,
Lol do you have "green coffe bean extract" in your supplement stash
 
Heres my take on it, and it goes along with my take on most things. Listen to you body, instead of a study or article or whatever. Sometimes studies on certain things tend to leave out a lot of important factors and tend to be geared towards the authors beliefs not what is actually factual. Theses types of studies arent totally out to lunch but the are a bit off the mark. I know for a fact that I need at least 4L of water per day because if i dont drink that much i get gassy, bloated, i get headaches, I have a hard time with digestion and generally feel bogged down. So if someone says I dont need that much i have a hard time buying into that. Obviously Dr. Oz isnt a complete idiot, but bodybuilders bodies tend to need more of most everything compared to your average human being.
 
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I think everyone has made valid points. I personally always go by feel. I hate the taste of plain water so I, more than I should, mix BCAAs in a shaker and will drink a few of those throughout the day as well as plain water. I also drink a lot of herbal tea. I don't like that I drink BCAAs because they are packed with artificial sweeteners and colours and also very acidic which is detrimental to oral health BUT it tastes good. I try and rinse my mouth out with water after drinking the BCAAs.
 
Based on some comments, I fear the post wasn't actually read, nor was the article posted...

Listen to your body was exactly the whole point, and only bodies with medical conditions, or bodies under severe physical stress in hot climates, would be telling you to drink a gallon a day. Your dog does good on a few slurps a day. He knows when he's dehydrated, and drinks. He does fine. Should we probably drink a little more than that, just to be sure? Absolutely. But a GALLON a day!?! doesn't anyone think that seems extreme? That's got to be 20x the amount your body is telling you it wants.
Saying that you should drink more water than your body asks for is like saying that you should consciously breathe more often than you feel like because if a little oxygen is good for you then more must be better.

The article isn't a study. It's just an opinion, pointing out the that there is no good study to suggest you need so much.

I have no idea who Dr. Oz is and I don't have any supplements, besides ephedrine. This is just one of many articles I came across, calling BS on the 8x8 rule.

There is a growing movement to "drink to thirst" which hopes to persuade athletes not to over hydrate with the potentially fatal consequence of diluting your sodium level, causing hyponatraemia. Many of the people encouraging us to drink so much, are being sponsored by water corporations. (according to the bbc article)

This list goes on and on...

BBC News - Do you really need to drink eight cups of water a day? (This is probably the best one)

Fact or Fiction? You Must Drink 8 Glasses of Water Daily - Scientific American

8 glasses of water a day 'an urban myth' - Health - CBC News

Hydration 101: How Much Water Do You Really Need?

How Much Water Do You Really need? | Nerd Fitness
 
I wonder if its a myth if the less water your drink the more your body retains or vice verse, the more you drink the less you retain.

But you might be right for an average person. I don't consider my eating, lifting, or lifestyle as an inspiring bodybuilder to be average.
 
whytesmoke said:
Based on some comments, I fear the post wasn't actually read, nor was the article posted...

Listen to your body was exactly the whole point, and only bodies with medical conditions, or bodies under severe physical stress in hot climates, would be telling you to drink a gallon a day. Your dog does good on a few slurps a day. He knows when he's dehydrated, and drinks. He does fine. Should we probably drink a little more than that, just to be sure? Absolutely. But a GALLON a day!?! doesn't anyone think that seems extreme? That's got to be 20x the amount your body is telling you it wants.
Saying that you should drink more water than your body asks for is like saying that you should consciously breathe more often than you feel like because if a little oxygen is good for you then more must be better.

The article isn't a study. It's just an opinion, pointing out the that there is no good study to suggest you need so much.

I have no idea who Dr. Oz is and I don't have any supplements, besides ephedrine. This is just one of many articles I came across, calling BS on the 8x8 rule.

There is a growing movement to "drink to thirst" which hopes to persuade athletes not to over hydrate with the potentially fatal consequence of diluting your sodium level, causing hyponatraemia. Many of the people encouraging us to drink so much, are being sponsored by water corporations. (according to the bbc article)

This list goes on and on...

BBC News - Do you really need to drink eight cups of water a day? (This is probably the best one)

Fact or Fiction? You Must Drink 8 Glasses of Water Daily - Scientific American

8 glasses of water a day 'an urban myth' - Health - CBC News

Hydration 101: How Much Water Do You Really Need?

How Much Water Do You Really need? | Nerd Fitness
Click to expand...

Basically all these articles or whatever you want to call them boil down to one thing, people overthinking something so simple blowing it out of proportion and making people think and waste their time on something ridiculous. Someone has probably spent so much time looking into this they've convinced themselves that water is bad for them. The amount you have to drink to completely flush yourself of vital nutrients, minerals and vitamin is a ridiculous and is hard to do because you are constantly replenishing those things on a frequent basis. I have friend who compete and in the last few days leading up to the show up their water intake to 10-15L a day, and they are perfectly fine.

I read the first article but I don't need to read the rest of them because im sure I have a pretty good idea what they are going do delve into. I am in no way disrespecting you or your post, but the subject of how much water do we really need is pointless. How in the world can anyone say how much water we need, what this sounds like is someone trying to keep the minds of idiots occupied. How much water do I need, I don't care how much I need I am going to drink enough till my body feels good and running the way it should be, and if my body needs more oxygen it will take deeper breaths or perhaps yawn if it requires more ;)
 
No disrespect to the OP but Shredder has nailed it.

If you want to talk about the right amount of water to drink that's fine, but don't use news channels & Dr oz (the guy who said rasperry ketones will get rid of fat!) as your sources.

If your going to make a serious point about nutrition, have credible sources - go on pubmed, search human studies THEN I'll listen to any evidence you have.
Otherwise, their is no point in anyone (me included) providing evidence to counter your claim since your claim isn't credible to begin with.
 
Oh please Alex Jones. They're news articles sourcing studies by doctors. If you're going to respond, at least read the article before criticizing it (there also happens to be an article there from scientific American). THEN I'll listen to any answer you have.

If you are on these forums to begin with, then you are engaging in the very activity you are belittling, "over thinking" a health issue.
Why use the forum at all, if looking into this issue is a waste? If this is over thinking an issue, then just about all of them are. How many reps, sets, how much test, how much protein, how much rest between sets, workouts.

Those who say to drink 8x8 per day, say it's extremely important, even going as far as listing the side effects of extreme dehydration. They say its important. Those who follow it think its important. If drinking 8 instead of 4, will make a significant difference in my muscles' hydration, effecting lifting, water retention, and effecting energy levels, then I'd like to know.

Just because your friend drank lots of water one day and survived, doesn't mean it was beneficial, or necessarily healthy (it snowed, therefore global warming is a hoax?) and this is hardly about it being unhealthy for me, but more about it actually being beneficial. It's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. If its important enough to drink all that water, then it should be important enough to find out if it's of any benefit at all.

It is a general health matter that effects all people. They aren't trying to tell you any specific amount of water to drink "for a normal person". So it's not something to be disregarded just because you don't consider yourself normal.


What are you, Bill Gates, $10,000 a second? I care, because if it's true, then I'll drink more, but I really can't stand it, so it's worth spending a bit of time looking it up. As a matter of fact, if it's such a terrible waste, why would you have engaged at all? The irony is perplexing! It's not worth looking into, that's a waste of time, something for idiots, but it's worth the investment of criticizing looking into it.
As previously stated, it always seemed a bit bizarre to drink 8 glasses a day, on top of everything else. Especially on a cold winter day, when you aren't thirsty and it's rather painful to drink. I don't enjoy it! So, I found the information a welcome relief. I thought you might too!
 
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8x8 (8-8oz glasses) per day "is not actually based on any scientific evidence but on an abbreviated and subjective viewpoint stated in a 1974 nutritional text that was seized by the clinical professions and has slowly entrenched itself in both clinical dogma and conventional wisdom."

^^^the beat quote I've heard on the topic lol

8oz x 8cups of water comes out to around 1.9L of water a day. Mildly active individuals can maintain proper hydration status with 1.2-1.6L daily which is significantly less. Unfortunately this is for MILDLY active individuals. If you train hard, with high intentisty, high volume, etc it's not unreasonable to assume your hydration needs increase meaning you need even more water. There are two recommendations I've come to follow:

1) 1L of water for every 1000calories expended. If you are eating 3500cals per day than you should take in 3.5L.

2) drink enough water (whatever amount it maybe) to ensure 5 CLEAR urinations per day with at least two coming post workout. Clear urine assuming you're not on a multivitamin or B complex.
 
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