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| No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| bhaloo |
| 08/11/02 at 10:54:05 |
| [slm] No need to spend all that time at the water cooler, says one expert. :( No Need to Guzzle All That Water, Expert Says Fri Aug 9, 7:40 PM ET By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Trying to do the "right" thing by drinking eight full glasses of water a day may do little more than make a person run to the bathroom, a researcher said on Friday. Newspaper articles, health and beauty magazines all advise drinking at least 8 full glasses of water a day totaling 64 ounces for optimal health -- an approach called "8x8" by proponents. But Dr. Heinz Valtin of Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire said there is no scientific evidence to back up this advice, which has helped create a huge market for bottled water. "After 10 months of careful searching I have found no scientific evidence that supports '8x8'," Valtin, who has written textbooks on the subject of human water balance, said in a telephone interview. Writing in the American Journal of Physiology, Valtin, a kidney specialist, said people forget that the food they eat also contains some water. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council ( news - web sites) has recommended that people take in about one milliliter of water for each calorie of food eaten. This adds up to two liters, or 74 fluid ounces on an average 2,000-calorie diet. But the National Research Council also noted that much of this is already contained in food. "I did 43 years of research on that system -- the osmoregulatory system. That system is so precise and so fast that I find it impossible to believe that evolution left us with a chronic water deficit," Valtin said. LOW ON FLUID If a person gets low on fluid, the body compensates by bringing fluid back out of the kidneys and by slowing the loss of water through the skin, Valtin said. Thirst kicks in long before dehydration starts, he added. "It does it very quickly and very accurately and it does so in minutes," Valtin said. He said he and colleagues became concerned after seeing dozens of newspaper and magazine articles urging people to sip water all day. "I started talking to my colleagues and asking them 'Do you know of any evidence for this?'. Invariably, they said, 'No I think it's a myth'," Valtin said. The journal asked him to review all the scientific studies he could find and he concluded that someone misinformed has been telling people to drink large amounts of water when most do not need to. "I am referring to healthy adults in a temperate climate leading a largely sedentary existence," Valtin said. "Persons with certain diseases must have large volumes of water -- kidney stones are probably the most common example." The rest can just drink enough to slake thirst -- and this includes coffee, tea, and even beer -- despite their diuretic effects, Valtin said. He hopes people will be relieved of the guilt of not getting enough water, and of the expense of buying bottled water to drink throughout the day. "There is also the possibility that if you drink a lot of water that happens to be polluted then of course you get more pollutants," Valtin said. "Then there is the inconvenience of constant urination, the embarrassment of having to go to the bathroom all the time," he added. And overdoses of water can cause water intoxication that can lead to confusion and even death. Water intoxication is one deadly effect of taking the drug Ecstasy, for instance, because it makes people thirsty beyond their physical needs. |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Barr |
| 08/11/02 at 11:09:52 |
| ??? I thought that has always been the case. You don't literally gulp down 8 glasses of water, but eat and drink foods & drinks that will equate to 8 glasses. Hm, I guess based on this article the "Water Treatment" for all diseases thread.. is actually a hoax, then? ??? I wonder how many people atually drank all of those water after reading the water treatment article. Allahua'alam :-) |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| eleanor |
| 08/11/02 at 11:16:41 |
| [slm] well, what is recommended here is that you drink about 2litres a day of any fluid - that includes juice, water, tea, diet soda drinks etc. Just coffee is not included because that contains more toxins than good stuff. I think you feel a lot healthier if you drink this much every day. And when you add up all that you have drunk throughout the day, it generally is at least 1.5 litres, so no big deal ;) |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| dirt |
| 08/11/02 at 11:40:40 |
| [slm] I am very, VERY skeptical of these findings. The funny thing about the health world is they are always finding out what is good for us only to retract the findings later. I'll stick with my plan....do what works for me and try to be moderate in all things. As far as the water article is concerned, I don't think it puts enough stress on the fact that it's findings are only for sedentary individuals. If you are physically active in any way, you are still going to need an increased intake of water. And at the end of the article it makes it seem like people are dropping like flies from water intoxication. I lived an extremely active lifestyle and was around tens of thousands of other extremely active individuals who all drank copious amounts of water and I remember only one case of overhydration. And that case was an extreme situation where the person was put in extremely strenuous physical conditions and the heat was ridiculously high. Basically, I'm gonna need more proof to believe this jive. [wlm] |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| muqaddar |
| 08/11/02 at 12:19:51 |
| [slm] I read an article on this 3 years ago in an islamic magazine which argued this very point They were putting forward the benefits of fasting and basically saying drinking too much water just puts pressure on the kidneys' |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Ameeraana |
| 08/11/02 at 15:28:35 |
| I have friends who don't drink lots of water everyday, and yet I have friends who drink lots of it, like me, for instance, I would say I drink about 75-120 ounces of water a day. I drink soda rarely and I don't drink much juice either. But I am pretty active and I just naturally drink this much. I don't force it. But anyways, I couldn't say I see any difference in "health" between my friends and I who do and don't drink lots of water. Maybe those symptoms appear later in life? I can tell if my body hasn't had enough water, but I think that is different for everyone. |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Aurora |
| 08/11/02 at 23:08:38 |
| I love water. I love the way it tastes. I drink it for that reason 'n that reason alone:) The health benefit is just a bonus:--) |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Aadam |
| 08/11/02 at 23:33:56 |
| [slm] Aurora can you describe the way water tastes? |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Ameeraana |
| 08/12/02 at 09:14:02 |
| IF you drink spring water for a long period, which is just pure nothing in flavor, and then drink tap water... you will be able to taste and even smell the chlorine in it... yuckkk. Well-water also has a distinct flavor, but its so good and sweet. I personally like spring water the best, no taste at all. |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Aurora |
| 08/12/02 at 13:34:52 |
| [quote author=Aadam link=board=bebzi;num=1029077646;start=0#7 date=08/11/02 at 23:33:56] [slm] Aurora can you describe the way water tastes?[/quote] It tastes too good for words ;D |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| safa |
| 08/13/02 at 11:31:54 |
| Then there's the one about a sip of red wine now & then, being actually good for your heart >:( |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| jannah |
| 08/13/02 at 16:20:29 |
| [quote author=safa link=board=bebzi;num=1029077646;start=0#10 date=08/13/02 at 11:31:54]Then there's the one about a sip of red wine now & then, being actually good for your heart >:([/quote] 002.219 They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin , and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit."... |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| bhaloo |
| 08/13/02 at 23:37:20 |
| [slm] I have heard that it is the grape seeds that contain the benefit and not the wine. |
| Re: No need to drink 8 glasses of water |
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| Sparrow |
| 08/14/02 at 21:05:37 |
| I've heard the same thing. I think the alternative health guru Dr. Andrew Weil said you could eat grapes everyday or drink grape juice and you'll get similar health benefits. Sparrow |
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