How much WATER do you drink?

Feb 9, 16 7:15

Post #1 of 50 (5148 views)

I've seen the "100oz" recommendation. Some of my friends carry around a water bottle everywhere they go. How much water do you drink (when NOT working out), and, do you think it's enough? Has anyone ever switched to drinking more water throughout the day and had positive benefits from a performance/recovery standpoint?

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 7:18

Post #2 of 50 (5136 views)

I drink coffee in the AM and beer in the PM. I feel perfectly well hydrated (very light colored urine almost all the time). I'll sip water during a workout but unless it is actually hot out I tend not to drink all that much during the workout. Every time I tell myself I "should drink more water" the only end result is I pee a lot more.

I don't understand those people that seem to need to carry a water bottle around with them wherever they go. Like they might suddenly desiccate if they are separated from it for more than 10 minutes.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 7:29

Post #3 of 50 (5117 views)

workdays I have a 20oz bottle that sits with me, I fill it 4x each day usually. When I am at home I probably have 1-2 more fills in the evening. So I guess that gets me pretty close to that 100oz you reference, though I don't count or target my ounces it just seems to happen. The rest is coffee and beer, occasional LaCroix water. I don't know if it has altered my performance, but I can feel the difference in general on the days I don't drink water (usually weekends when I am not on routine) and the days I do, and yes I feel that ~100oz is enough.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 7:33

Post #4 of 50 (5106 views)

I drink when I'm thirsty, don't feel the need to carry around water, don't track the volume.

I don't trust the thirst response when racing though, so that's when I follow a schedule.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 7:52

Post #5 of 50 (5054 views)

I drink a fair amount of coffee, but never drink water. Don't really see the point TBH. What's the benefit?

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:01

Post #6 of 50 (5027 views)

noofus wrote:

I drink coffee in the AM and beer in the PM. I feel perfectly well hydrated (very light colored urine almost all the time). I'll sip water during a workout but unless it is actually hot out I tend not to drink all that much during the workout. Every time I tell myself I "should drink more water" the only end result is I pee a lot more.

I don't understand those people that seem to need to carry a water bottle around with them wherever they go. Like they might suddenly desiccate if they are separated from it for more than 10 minutes.

It's an obsession based on a misunderstanding combined with a marketing strategy.

As far as I'm aware (and I can't readily cite references so I could be wrong!) the whole recommendation that people should drink 2 litres of water a day (or imperial equivalent!) came from a US military study in the 60s or 70s but it was later quoted out of context and misinterpreted ad nauseum. The original study, as I understand it, suggested that 2 litres of water a day were the typical baseline requirement but it was not suggesting this water had to be consumed as a beverage or that without flavouring, etc. It included water contained in all food and drinks. The whole idea that we should force ourselves to consume this volume of simple water above and beyond what we've already consumed in other forms makes no sense and I don't believe it was ever suggested in the original study. If I eat fruit and soup all day, why would I also need to drink copious amounts of water? It's an arbitrary number originally including all water intake, now totally misinterpreted and clearly the figure should differ based on diet, body size/composition, environmental conditions, etc. So how can we figure out how much we should drink..........we get thirsty! There's a control system provided, it works, why ignore it in favour of an inferior rule of thumb based on misunderstandings?

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:01

Post #7 of 50 (5027 views)

I drink 20oz, but I drink that same 20oz 4 times on average

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:02

Post #8 of 50 (5024 views)

I drink more than 100 oz of water per day and I'm pretty much one of those people that carries bottles around. I know that my body uses a lot of water and I find myself easily dehydrated if I'm not careful. I'm also one of those people that ends up with shoes that are completely saturated after longer runs (I look like I've been swimming) due to a very high sweat rate.

I think the point is everyone has a different metabolism so listen to your body and do what makes you feel best.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:24

Post #9 of 50 (4978 views)

I agree, our bodies will tell us exactly what we need to know. i.e. Thirst / Sweat rate / urine color / Skin texture etc. etc. are all indicators we should pay attention to, plus many others. I wouldn't put to much faith in a system that tell us to drink x amount of water each day. Those same individuals are most likely making a tidy profit off bottled water. Heck, maybe that want us to load up on the Chlorine or fluoride that's found in most tap water. The people of Flint, Mich had faith in a system that let them down horribly...

If you are drinking 2+ litres a day, hope you invested in a powerful filter...

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [Phoenixrising] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:32

Post #10 of 50 (4959 views)

Quote:

powerful filter...

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:36

Post #11 of 50 (4946 views)

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [TriLes] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:38

Post #12 of 50 (4936 views)

I have started to notice a weird game of oneupsmanship in my office. Everyone seems to try to display some sort of level of status/prowess based on the size of their water bottles. People used to carry around 750ml bottles... Then I noticed a few people upgraded to 1L bottles. Lately a few people now carry around 1.5L bottles.

Then one woman inexplicably started carrying around a pitcher (like a beer pitcher you might get at a bar), with a straw stuck in it.

I never realized your water bottle was a status symbol/dick measuring contest, but apparently it now is.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:39

Post #13 of 50 (4933 views)

Hilarious. Strange Denizens of the... Office.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [noofus] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:46

Post #14 of 50 (4917 views)

LOL! That is pretty funny. I also get a kick out of the guys lifting at the gym that carry around the 1 gallon milk jug full of water. MUST. ALWAYS. HYDRATE....

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 8:47

Post #15 of 50 (4916 views)

Sort of on topic - the folks who sell the Kangen water machines always let people try them for a number of days to see if they feel better. Many people often claim they feel better during the trial and credit it to the machine so they buy it. I have always assumed they feel better simply because they were drinking more water, not because the water was "making them less acidic" or whatever the argument is for those machines. My in-laws have one and swear by it. I asked them how many glasses of water they drank before installing the machine and they had no clue. However, they drank at least 5 glasses a day after the machine was installed for the trial. They felt better, lost weight, etc. Well, instead of having juice or soda, they were drinking water. They were also eating less because they were full on the water.

Setting aside the claims of Kangen (alleged acid reduced water in general) water, I do think many people "feel" better if they drink more water each day. I think its a result of many factors in addition to the increased water consumption - i.e. less eating, less snacking, less sugar, less softdrinks/juice, etc. I doubt the majority of people are existing in a dehydrated state.

So does drinking more water make you healthier or even feel better? Like all things, it likely depends. Further, it's likely a combination of factors related to drinking more water as opposed to the water itself IMHO.

Last edited by: flynnzu: Feb 9, 16 8:55

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 9:34

Post #16 of 50 (4847 views)

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

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Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 9:44

Post #17 of 50 (4824 views)

Here's my daily drinking habits.

3/4 pot of coffee in the morning (no joke, my favorite beverage)...........total: 50oz
20-40oz water with Nuun tab for a workout..........................................total: 30oz
At work I have a 23oz container I fill up 3-4 times per day....................total: 80oz
fill water bottle twice...........................................................................total: 40oz

Total: 200oz

Last edited by: TriowaCPA: Feb 9, 16 9:45

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [santino314] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 10:20

Post #18 of 50 (4767 views)

santino314 wrote:

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

It wouldn't be good enough for me. That's an anecdote, not evidence ;)

More water than what? Is more always better? The answer is most certainly no. It is very possible to over-drink water to the detriment of your health.
It may well be true that some people are under-hydrated and that may contribute to kidney stones; that doesn't mean everyone should drink more water. People who drink too little should drink more, people who drink too much should drink less.

Look around and you can find an anecdote to support almost any conclusion. Homeopathy anyone? ...since we're on the subject of water.

Last edited by: Ai_1: Feb 9, 16 10:21

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 10:40

Post #19 of 50 (4730 views)

Ai_1 wrote:

santino314 wrote:

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

It wouldn't be good enough for me. That's an anecdote, not evidence ;)

More water than what? Is more always better? The answer is most certainly no. It is very possible to over-drink water to the detriment of your health.
It may well be true that some people are under-hydrated and that may contribute to kidney stones; that doesn't mean everyone should drink more water. People who drink too little should drink more, people who drink too much should drink less.

Look around and you can find an anecdote to support almost any conclusion. Homeopathy anyone? ...since we're on the subject of water.

Huh? This is not anecdote but fact:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26150027
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26022722
http://www.tandfonline.com/...10408398.2014.964355

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [mcnnr27] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 10:45

Post #20 of 50 (4721 views)

mcnnr27 wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

santino314 wrote:

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

It wouldn't be good enough for me. That's an anecdote, not evidence ;)

More water than what? Is more always better? The answer is most certainly no. It is very possible to over-drink water to the detriment of your health.
It may well be true that some people are under-hydrated and that may contribute to kidney stones; that doesn't mean everyone should drink more water. People who drink too little should drink more, people who drink too much should drink less.

Look around and you can find an anecdote to support almost any conclusion. Homeopathy anyone? ...since we're on the subject of water.

Huh? This is not anecdote but fact:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26150027
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26022722
http://www.tandfonline.com/...10408398.2014.964355

Nobody is going to deny that hydration is important for avoiding kidney stones. However what is in dispute is exactly how much water everyone should be drinking. Hint: it is going to be different for everyone.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 10:58

Post #21 of 50 (4702 views)

i live in the tropics where we shower 2-3 times a day and change clothes twice. so yeah, hotness ranges (although i'm typing this wtih flannel on the bottom, Socks On, a down jacket on backwards and vest on my back). I think it got down to 14C last night - we are all frozen. pretty sure it is in the 20s now but likely 24ish.

i don't drink water.

i drink a LOT of coffee (pretty sure that is made with a lot of water) and a cup of soymilk, lots of soup/broths (even in summer one meal is broth soup) and most of the fruits are water based (papaya i have about 1/2 of one daily) or watermellown. outside run/bike i will sometimes drink down 500mL of water. if i workout in the evening i will be drinking 2-3 500mL bottles before bed.

if i dont drink enough i will get very noticable and bothersome palpitations and my HR increases.

http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 11:01

Post #22 of 50 (4699 views)

Hydrating is a priority for some and others it's not. I myself drink 4.2L a day (6x700ML Bottle) and I do it in a very regimented way. Keeping the water flowing into your system at an even pace is the key here. Getting 4.2L a day in a short burst won't allow for absorption. I drink 1 full 700ML bottle with every meal (B/L/D) and the reason is it increases the feeling of fullness which leads to better portion control for me. Many people actually snack more than they should because they misinterpret their body's thirst signals as hunger signals (or that is one theory). In between meals I sip on the other half of my daily water intake every 15-20 minutes to keep things even throughout the day. Yes this comes with an increased need for bathroom trips but, we should get up and move every couple hours anyway so it's a handy biological alert to get that done.

One other thing I'll note from personal experience is that drinking more water helped me loose weight. By questioning whether or not I was hungry or thirsty before eating/drinking anything I was able to subdue the craving with a few mouth fulls of water. It was such a small adjustment to make to be conscious of this otherwise habitual snacking trend. 0 Calories in water definitely goes a long way in getting to optimal race weight.

------
"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [nickwhite] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 11:21

Post #23 of 50 (4667 views)

The only time I drink water is during trainer workouts or right after a run...other than that coffee (regular and decaf) and orange juice. It's very rare that I drink plain water. Note that I don't need much water. I have done several IM bike legs on 4-5 Gatorade bottles only. I don't sweat much.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [mcnnr27] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 11:22

Post #24 of 50 (4664 views)

mcnnr27 wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

santino314 wrote:

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

It wouldn't be good enough for me. That's an anecdote, not evidence ;)

More water than what? Is more always better? The answer is most certainly no. It is very possible to over-drink water to the detriment of your health.
It may well be true that some people are under-hydrated and that may contribute to kidney stones; that doesn't mean everyone should drink more water. People who drink too little should drink more, people who drink too much should drink less.

Look around and you can find an anecdote to support almost any conclusion. Homeopathy anyone? ...since we're on the subject of water.

Huh? This is not anecdote but fact:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26150027
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26022722http://www.tandfonline.com/...10408398.2014.964355[/quote[/url]]
The previous poster said his friend suffers from chronic kidney stones and told him more water equals less stones and that was good enough for him. I didn't say he or his friend were lying. I said this was an anecdote. Is it not?

An anecdote can be a fact, that doesn't make it useful in isolation. A large number of anecdotes, controlled to avoid bias and other distortions and then sensibly analysed = evidence. Collect anecdotes by all means, but make decision based on evidence.
I could quite accurately tell you that I drink water when I feel like it, I don't make a particular effort to drink lots and I've never had kidney stones. I changed jobs about 8 months ago and due to the distance between my desk and the nearest source of water I have been drinking less (I also work in a cleanroom area so it's not permissible to bring a drink to my desk). Drinking less has not equalled more kidney stones. Now, I could ask you to take this as evidence that you don't need to drink more water. but I won't because it's not useful evidence, it's just an anecdote. Our anecdotes are no doubt equally factual but if you were to infer your best course of action from our experiences you wouldn't know what to do since they are contradictory.

His friends advice, as presented here, is no more compelling than mine. Both are irrelevant in isolation. That's all I was saying.

Re: How much WATER do you drink? [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]

Feb 9, 16 11:37

Post #25 of 50 (4642 views)

Ai_1 wrote:

mcnnr27 wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

santino314 wrote:

Friend of mine suffers from chronic kidney stones. He says more water means less stones. That's good enough for me.

It wouldn't be good enough for me. That's an anecdote, not evidence ;)

More water than what? Is more always better? The answer is most certainly no. It is very possible to over-drink water to the detriment of your health.
It may well be true that some people are under-hydrated and that may contribute to kidney stones; that doesn't mean everyone should drink more water. People who drink too little should drink more, people who drink too much should drink less.

Look around and you can find an anecdote to support almost any conclusion. Homeopathy anyone? ...since we're on the subject of water.

Huh? This is not anecdote but fact:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26150027
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26022722 http://www.tandfonline.com/...10408398.2014.964355[/url]

The previous poster said his friend suffers from chronic kidney stones and told him more water equals less stones and that was good enough for him. I didn't say he or his friend were lying. I said this was an anecdote. Is it not?

An anecdote can be a fact, that doesn't make it useful in isolation. A large number of anecdotes, controlled to avoid bias and other distortions and then sensibly analysed = evidence. Collect anecdotes by all means, but make decision based on evidence.
I could quite accurately tell you that I drink water when I feel like it, I don't make a particular effort to drink lots and I've never had kidney stones. I changed jobs about 8 months ago and due to the distance between my desk and the nearest source of water I have been drinking less (I also work in a cleanroom area so it's not permissible to bring a drink to my desk). Drinking less has not equalled more kidney stones. Now, I could ask you to take this as evidence that you don't need to drink more water. but I won't because it's not useful evidence, it's just an anecdote. Our anecdotes are no doubt equally factual but if you were to infer your best course of action from our experiences you wouldn't know what to do since they are contradictory.

His friends advice, as presented here, is no more compelling than mine. Both are irrelevant in isolation. That's all I was saying.

Anecdote, rumor, hearsay, whatever. If Dr. Seuss told me that drinking more water reduced my chances of kidney stones, I'd follow orders to avoid the risk.

I know it was an anecdote. I still only see drawbacks associated with drinking too little.

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