Dr. Mercola April 22 2008 185,928 views
A review of studies dealing with the healthy benefits of drinking lots of water concluded that, while athletes and people in hot, dry climates do better with increased fluid intake, for average healthy people, more water does not mean better health.
There is little evidence for or against any of the supposed benefits of extra water, such as increased toxin excretion, improved skin tone, lessened hunger, and reduced headache frequency.
Every day your body loses water through urine and sweat, and this fluid needs to be replenished. Fortunately, your body is already equipped with a virtually foolproof mechanism that tells you when you need to replenish your water supply -- it’s called thirst!
Why Do You Need Water?
You can actually survive without food for months, but without water you’d die after a few days, so needless to say, water is absolutely essential to life.
Your body is made up mostly of water, which:
But do you need to drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day?
That’s the recommendation we’ve all been traditionally told. The article above is actually not offering proof that this recommendation is wrong, per se. It’s simply a review of the available research on water’s ability to improve your health when ingested in larger amounts, such as 8 glasses a day or more.
Its conclusion that increased water intake has no discernible health benefits might be a bit misleading, however.
For example, the research on water intake and reduction in migraine headaches showed that 15 patients with migraines, who were assigned to increase their water intake for two weeks, had 21 hours less migraines compared to the control group. However, the difference was not considered to be statistically significant. If you suffer from migraines, you might disagree…
Your Body Tells You How Much Water it Needs – Here’s How
A few years ago I too began to question the general recommendation of eight glasses of water per day, which led to my refined recommendations on water intake.
Since your body is capable of telling you its needs, using thirst and the color of your urine as guides to how much water you should be drinking are good ways of ensuring your individual needs are met, day-by-day.
As long as you are not taking riboflavin (vitamin B2), which fluoresces and turns your urine bright yellow (it is also in most multi-vitamins), then your urine should be a very light-colored yellow. If it is a deep, dark yellow then you are likely not drinking enough water.
When your body begins to lose from 1 percent to 2 percent of its total water, your thirst mechanism lets you know that it’s time to drink some water. If you are healthy, then drinking whenever you feel thirsty should be an adequate guide of how much water you need. You can confirm whether you are drinking enough water by looking at the color of your urine, as mentioned above.
Of course, if it’s hot, exceptionally dry outside or you are engaged in exercise or other vigorous activity, you will require more water than normal so be sure to stay well hydrated in these cases.
Additionally, as you get older your thirst mechanism works less efficiently so older adults will want to be sure to drink water regularly, and again make sure your urine is a light, pale color.
Keep in mind that quenching your thirst with substitutes such as sodas, coffee or sugary fruit juices is NOT the same as drinking pure water! Both coffee and soda are high in caffeine, which acts as a diuretic that will dehydrate you even further. And then of course you have the issue of sugar and HFCS – but I will not rant about that here.
Water is Water, Right?
Not so fast!
Even more important than how much water you should be drinking is what type of water you should drink.
The answer is clean spring water and water that has been filtered by reversed osmosis -- I do not recommend drinking either tap water or distilled water. Contrary to the traditional belief, it’s also important to avoid fluoridated water.
Why should you avoid distilled water?
Distillation is the process in which water is boiled, evaporated, and the vapor condensed back to liquid water. Although it’s a controversial stance, I am firmly convinced that regular and consistent use of distilled water is harmful to your health. If you want VISUAL proof, just take a look at these photographs!
Distilled water has the wrong ionization, pH, polarization and oxidation potentials, and if you drink it for too long it can drain your body of necessary minerals. This happens because distilled water is like a vacuum without any minerals, so it will actually leach beneficial minerals from your body to balance it out. While this might be beneficial for a short period during some sort of detoxification regimen, it’s usually highly counter-productive in the long run.
Distilled water is also highly acidic. Most of us are far too acidic already and the last thing we need to be drinking is a fluid that will make us even more acidic.
Distilled water is usually touted as beneficial because of its lack of contaminants. However, many of the devices that distill water are made of metal, which will actually add certain toxic metals like nickel back to the water and worsen your health.
Why You Should Avoid Bottled Water
Filtering your own water is important because you really want to avoid bottled water as much as possible.
Not only is bottled water a major strain on the environment, but a lot of bottled water is no cleaner than tap water. In fact, about 40 percent of bottled water IS regular tap water, which may or may not have received any additional treatment.
The metal antimony (a silvery white metal of medium hardness) has been found in many commercially bottled water brands, for example. The amount of antimony leeching into the water you're drinking depends on the manufacturer, and can vary greatly. One study that looked at 63 brands of bottled water produced in Europe and Canada, found concentrations of antimony that were more than 100 times the typical level found in clean groundwater (2 parts per trillion).
It’s also been found that the longer a bottle of water sits on a shelf -- in a grocery store or your refrigerator – the greater the dose of antimony present. The biggest offenders were packaged in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers. It is believed that the amount of antimony leeching from these PET bottles differs based on exposure to sunlight, higher temperatures, and varying pH levels.
Most municipal tap water -- though generally far from pure -- must actually adhere to stricter purity standards than the bottled water industry. In one study, a third of more than 100 bottled water brands tested for contaminants were found to contain chemicals like arsenic and carcinogenic compounds, at levels exceeding state or industry standards.
Additionally, fluoride (a highly toxic bone poison that should be avoided at all costs) is usually present in both tap water AND filtered bottled water.
Nalgene bottles should also be avoided as they can leach another unsafe chemical called BPA into your water. Glass bottles are best, but if you’re traveling and can’t use a glass bottle, the high-density polyethelene (HDPE) Nalgene bottles appear to be a safer choice, so far.
I totally agree that MOST people need more water. Especially since alot of people's diets consists of way too much coffee which in itself dehydrates the body. And really, i think its dumb to try and meet some exact standard for water like 8 glasses of water a day. I drink well over that i'm sure. But I dont ask myself how many glasses I had today. I just keep drinkin it throughout the day, because I dont find many other liquids worth my time or health ie. pop, pasteurized juice, milk etc etc And because, well i just plain feel better darnit! It's water, its good for you, it cleanses your body, drink lots!! :D
For migraines, Dr. Bat recommends adding salt to the water and then drinking it.
I did quite a bit of research on water during my days of environmental writing and covering water fluoridation. One of the first things I learned that too much water, no matter the mineral content, still strips electrolytes from the body. The feeling is one of being tired and is called "water intoxication (hyponatremia - dilution of plasma sodium)."
As for ingesting adequate daily minerals (electrolytes) from water; the mineral content of plain water is negligible - you are going to flush out more electrolyres than you take in even from mineralised water.
From my research, the actual meaning of the 2.0 litres of water a day requirement was based on water from all sources. This would include the water content of meats, fruits, beverages, and veggies, and not particularly exclusive to the consumption of 'plain water.'
Many hunter gather groups living in arid and semi arid environments depend on plants and roots for their main daily intake of water - the average water content of roots, leafy veggies and fruits range between 60% - 97%. The hunter gathers also get the added benefit of imbibing a host of essential minerals (electrolytes) that varies according to the fruit or veggies.
This concept that everyone should drink 2.0 litres of water (liquids) a day is flawed in that it doesn't account for climatic conditions, personal needs, medical conditions,etc., and other sources of water in the diet.
As for myself, I drink when I'm thirsty, and I don't drink very much 'straight water' at all. I've drank predominantly coffee since I was six-years old - and I can count the number of times I've been to a doctor regarding a health problem on my both hands.
If you feel a drop in your energy level shortly after consuming your eight ounce glass of water, it's because your electrolytic balance is low - it's been diluted - you are going hyponatremic, so better a glass fruit or veggie juice than plain water.
George Glasser
Thanks, George. This is good information!
Then it appears I need three liters a day including meats, veggies, etc. Two non-alternative doctors have told me I wasn't getting enough water based on blood and urine testing, so I have increased my consumption. I notice no difference in how I feel. I suspect the requirement for water varies among people--I am very active. I think you have a good point, though, about loss of minerals. I drink a liter of vegetable juice (spinach, celery and other greens) each day. Someone mentioned sea minerals below, and I think that might be a good idea as well. Many women in Japan noted big improvements in their health from drinking water with a little "nigari" (sea water with much of the NaCl precipitated out, leaving primarily magnesium).
As a licensed massage therapist in Hawaii this is a subject I am quite passionate about. I also practiced in Canada for years so my experience is not limited to a hot climate. Dehydration is very evident by the texture of a person´s musculature and is endemic in our society. 8 glasses per day is sufficient for a person who weighs 136 pounds but not more than that. A lymphologist in LA once told me she goes by the formula of half your body weight in ounces, daily. I agree whole heartedly with this and many chronic aches and pains are cured - yes, cured - by drinking the right amount of water and stretching to get the fluid into the affected areas. At first there is a lot of frequent urination as in its infinate wisdom a body cleans the system´s fluids before taking it deeper. Discs can rethicken and depressions cured by proper water intake. Statistics tell us young adult bodies are 70-75% water and senior bodies are 60-65% water. This means a life time of dehydration. When we are talking about nerves that have a 2mm clearance as they exit the spinal column how much shrink wrapping can they take before impingement happens?
A University of Hawaii study showed 90% of all midnight hunger pains vanish with an eight ounce glass of water. In Americans the hunger reflex has become confused with the thirst reflex; Jane Fonda once said if you´re thristy for a sip then your body is probably down a quart. She´s still going great last I saw!
Many B vitamins and multivitamins have yellow food coloring added to them as people expect to see a brighter yellow urine when taking them. Even so called natural vitamin supplements. Young coconut water is very beneficial every day and is now available many places on the mainland in containers.
I joined just to post this comment. The evidence under my hands for seventeen years and the changes that are experienced as a body properly rehydrates is in no way subtle.
I am also a massage therapist and a Jin Shin Do Acupressurist and I absolutely agree with you--my experience has been like yours. I read an interesting article in the AOBTA Pulse--and I am sorry I cannot remember the therapist who wrote this--he said that he started having his clients drink a glass of water before the session instead of after (as many of us bodyworkers do) and was amazed with the difference in treating them--it was so much easier. i always wonder who is funding these studies that say we don't need to drink so much water since we can get our fluid from other drinks and food--as if Americans don't consumre too much of everything else already! I recomend to my clients what I do--drink a glass of water whenever youfeel thirsty, and one when you feel hungry--then if still hungry you can eat--but often find that you no longer feel so hungry. Almost everyone I know agress this works.