8 glasses of water.....??

With up to 78% of our body’s weight being water, it’s a bit startling that with just a 1-2% water loss in the body, dehydration symptoms would begin to kick-in.

What starts out as thirst, discomfort and loss of appetite and energy, turns into headache, dizziness and delirium – eventually leading to unconsciousness and death.

We lose a lot of our water through

• Sweating (significantly more with exercise)
• Urination
• Bowel movements (significantly more with diarrhea)
• Breathing

Needless to say we need to replenish ourselves.

But do we really need 8 glasses of water per day?

It’s a good rule of thumb, but there are a few arguments about this.

Some might adjust this to say “drink eight, 8-ounce glasses of fluid per day”.

Contrary to what many of us have heard, all fluids can count towards the “8 glasses” – juices, coffee, tea, milk, even soft-drinks.

Foods count as well – contributing about 20% of our daily fluid intake.

But before we get too reckless…beer and pretzels are probably not the best option to rehydrate ourselves. In fact, alohol, soft-drinks, coffee, etc. should be taken in moderation.

Water is the wisest choice, as are foods with high water content – like fruits and vegetables.

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” (Thomas Fuller)

Overdosing of water...

We live in society that seems to obsess over hydration. 

8 glasses a day is a generally accepted rule of thumb, but some experts say that even this could be too much and that we are safest when we pay attention to thirst.

Basically, if we drink water faster than we lose it (through sweating, breathing or urinating) it can actually kill us.

Tragic Example…

A 28 year old women competes in a ‘water-drinking contest’. 

3 hours and 6 litres of water later, the women vomited, went home with a bad headache and later died from water intoxication.

What Actually Happens…

By drinking too much water too quickly, our kidneys are unable to flush it out fast enough.  This leaves our blood somewhat watered-down.

That diluted blood is then drawn to areas of the body where the salt content is higher.  Excess water leaves the blood, enters these other cells and causes swelling as a result.

Most cells of the body can accommodate a bit of swelling, but a big exception is the neurons of the brain.  Inside the skull there isn’t much room for expansion.  When this does happen, it can be fatal!

The lesson?

It is possible to have too much of a good thing!