Do I Really Need 8 Glasses of Water a Day?
You need to drink eight glasses of water every day. This is an advice we’ve been hearing even during our elementary years. But does it really have to be 8?
We, humans, are very special creatures. We are not just gifted with an intelligent mind, but also with an intelligent body that certainly knows what it needs even before our mind recognises it. So if you feel hungry, you know you are because your stomach tells you so. When your body needs rest, you know it because you feel tired and weak. And that’s true even when it comes to drinking water. Even without the thought of water coming into your mind, you know when you need to drink whenever you feel thirsty. That’s what you call ‘thirst mechanism’ and our body is very much good at it. You really need not count how many glasses of water you should consume per day. Following your body’s thirst mechanism is probably the best way to make sure you are having enough of fluid in your system.
8-a-day water consumption has no scientific basis
While having your 8-a-day glass of water is a must according to books and dietary guidelines, there’s no scientific evidence that supports this claim – argues Heinz Valtin, a school physician at Dartmouth Medical School. In his study published in the American Journal of Physiology, he talks about how the 8-a-day advice on drinking water was popularised. Valtin said it may have started in 1945, when the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council recommended drinking at least “1 millilitre of water for each calorie food”. In total, you would have to drink 64 to 80 ounces a day to hydrate your body. Perhaps the public got so excited that they missed to read (or forgot) the next sentence following the advice which states “most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods”.
It is important to remember that water can also be taken from food sources. Those that contain highest levels of water include apples, apricots, bean sprouts, watermelon, strawberries, cucumbers, peaches and green peppers. Even meat products such as chicken contains considerable amount of water.
Other than the water you get from the drinking faucet, your regular cup of tea and all other beverages you consume (such as coffee, fizzy drinks, fruit juices, milk, etc.) should also be counted in your daily water consumption – and research can attest to this. In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, scientists evaluated the urine, body weight, and blood test results of two groups of participants after drinking either water alone or a combination of water and other beverage types (carbonated, caloric and non-caloric colas, and coffee). Researchers found no changes in the urine, blood and body weight evaluations taken before and after the study regardless of whether the participants drank plain water or in combination with other types of beverage.
And although water contains no harmful compound (unless it’s dirty of course!), too much water in your body can be more of a bad thing than a good one. Drinking excessive water can lead to water intoxication – a serious condition that can be very fatal.
So how much water should you drink? Well, it’ safer to just listen to your body. When you’re thirsty, go ahead and drink. After all, your body knows best.
Dear Readers,
What do you think about our water consumption needs?
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