How much water do you need?

[johnnyk]

Remember, water occurs in beer so stay hydrated. In the case of Budweiser, it IS the "beer".

[Ratsima]

I learned the 'urine color' test back when I was running marathons and wanted to monitor my rehydration progress. I don't run those distances anymore (gotta save those knees!), but I still drink enough water so that my pee runs clear at least once a day. I think it's an easy and reliable test.

Drinking too much water can drain your body of electrolytes. Water toxicity is rare, but it happens.

[chaspul]

Drinking too much water can drain your body of electrolytes.

This is the most important statement made so far. Electrolytes in the blood can be likened to battery acid, if too weak will not allow neurologic signals to pass through the body and it will shut down.

Spent the last 20 years living and working in climates much hotter than here, places where the sweat is baked off the body before you even realise you are sweating. This can be extremely dangerous and requires constant vigilance.

In days of yore troops living in hot climates were given daily salt tablets, now proven to be a bad thing as it gave the body too much salt.

Simple test is to sprinkle a little table salt in the palm of one hand, wet the index finger of the other hand and place on the tongue towards the front where the salt receptors are. If you can not taste the salt you need some, or some form of electrolyte.
Drink a couple of teaspoons of salt in a glass of water, or commercial electrolyte drink powders, also the potassium salts used in colas are good.

Urine testing is good indicator for dehydration, mine has usually cleared by the 3rd cup of tea each morning. But a tad of an inconvenience if out in public.
Much simpler test is to pinch the skin on back of the hand, if a ridge remains you are dehydrated, drink water immediately.

Dehydration symptoms usually first present a feeling if light headedness, discoordinated body movement and a feeling that you are going to black out. It can hit you anywhere.
Common practice in Saudi if you felt like this when supermarket shopping, was to grab a bottle of water, consume it and present the empty bottle for payment.

Chas

[dtaai-maai]

Much simpler test is to pinch the skin on back of the hand, if a ridge remains you are dehydrated, drink water immediately.

I wonder if there is anyone who, after reading this, didn't do the pinch test?

Interesting thread.
I spent a couple of years in Islamabad, where in the summer it was at least as hot as here, but not so humid. I seem to remember finding it easier to deal with.
Can one of you experts answer this for me - do some people sweat more than others, or is that a myth?

[Dannie Boy]

Much simpler test is to pinch the skin on back of the hand, if a ridge remains you are dehydrated, drink water immediately.

I wonder if there is anyone who, after reading this, didn't do the pinch test?

Interesting thread.
I spent a couple of years in Islamabad, where in the summer it was at least as hot as here, but not so humid. I seem to remember finding it easier to deal with.
Can one of you experts answer this for me - do some people sweat more than others, or is that a myth?

Unless there is a strange scientific way for it to evaporate without it being noticed, then there must be variations in the amount people sweat. I'm one of those people who perspire very easily and am forever mopping my brow, whereas others hardly show any signs.

And yes I did the pinch test!!

[Dannie Boy]

Drinking too much water can drain your body of electrolytes.

This is the most important statement made so far. Electrolytes in the blood can be likened to battery acid, if too weak will not allow neurologic signals to pass through the body and it will shut down.

Spent the last 20 years living and working in climates much hotter than here, places where the sweat is baked off the body before you even realise you are sweating. This can be extremely dangerous and requires constant vigilance.

In days of yore troops living in hot climates were given daily salt tablets, now proven to be a bad thing as it gave the body too much salt.

Simple test is to sprinkle a little table salt in the palm of one hand, wet the index finger of the other hand and place on the tongue towards the front where the salt receptors are. If you can not taste the salt you need some, or some form of electrolyte.
Drink a couple of teaspoons of salt in a glass of water, or commercial electrolyte drink powders, also the potassium salts used in colas are good.

Urine testing is good indicator for dehydration, mine has usually cleared by the 3rd cup of tea each morning. But a tad of an inconvenience if out in public.
Much simpler test is to pinch the skin on back of the hand, if a ridge remains you are dehydrated, drink water immediately.

Dehydration symptoms usually first present a feeling if light headedness, discoordinated body movement and a feeling that you are going to black out. It can hit you anywhere.
Common practice in Saudi if you felt like this when supermarket shopping, was to grab a bottle of water, consume it and present the empty bottle for payment.

Chas

Not during Ramadan I hope?

[chaspul]

DB wrote

Unless there is a strange scientific way for it to evaporate without it being noticed, then there must be variations in the amount people sweat. I'm one of those people who perspire very easily and am forever mopping my brow, whereas others hardly show any signs.

All to do with humidity, seem to remember another thread on this forum giving a graph of effects of humidity on temperature, giving dangers to the human body. You will find it on google.

31 degrees C and 80% humidity here, compared to 55 degrees C and less than 10% humidity in central Arabia, are about the same. The humidity here will not allow sweat to evaporate.

Some people acclimatise quicker than others, the body adjusts, you just have to "get your knees brown", an old British forces saying.

Chas

[Dr Mike]

Just a thought about water and alcoholic drinks. If you are short of fluid your body signals thirst. When alcoholic drinks are available there is a reflex attraction to them thinking that they are thirst quenchers. Actually they are not good for this, the alcohol has a drying and diuretic effect and if anything your thirst will increase and you are on a downward spiral. Bars often give away free salty nuts or chips/crisps to increase this effect.
If I am going to one of those receptions with free pouring of drinks I always drink a tall glass of water before leaving home so as not be be dehydrated.
Also as a previous post has suggested dehydration is an important factor in hangovers and if you can remember to drink water before going to bed it will help reduce the toxicity.
I am in China at the moment and had forgotten that if you ask for water you get warm water. You have to ask specifically if you want cold or iced water. The Chinese think that drinking iced water is very dangerous. Its strange, after just a few weeks here I am drinking the warm water and enjoying doing so.

[Dannie Boy]

DB wrote

Unless there is a strange scientific way for it to evaporate without it being noticed, then there must be variations in the amount people sweat. I'm one of those people who perspire very easily and am forever mopping my brow, whereas others hardly show any signs.

All to do with humidity, seem to remember another thread on this forum giving a graph of effects of humidity on temperature, giving dangers to the human body. You will find it on google.

31 degrees C and 80% humidity here, compared to 55 degrees C and less than 10% humidity in central Arabia, are about the same. The humidity here will not allow sweat to evaporate.

Some people acclimatise quicker than others, the body adjusts, you just have to "get your knees brown", an old British forces saying.

Chas

I am clearly one of those people who sweats very easily, whether it be in the warmth of a UK summer (but relative high humidity) or much hotter countries. - I have worked/lived in countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, and of course Thailand and the sweat just drips off me after almost 20 of "acclimatising", so I'm still waiting for my body to adjust.

[dtaai-maai]

The Chinese think that drinking iced water is very dangerous. Its strange, after just a few weeks here I am drinking the warm water and enjoying doing so.

I very rarely drink chilled water these days. Not really a matter of principle, just that I was offered water at someone's house a few years ago, and they only had room temp water. I liked it and got into the habit.

[donald65]

I take one liter of the water each morning. it eliminates out the stoles and all harmful fluids, fumes and bad things from the body. I think 3 to 4 liters are a good amount in a sunny day.

[Takiap]

Well, I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry, because I haven't drank water, as in plain water, ever since my army days, roughly thirty years ago, and I've never had reason to see a doctor in all that time, except once for a back injury.


Maybe it's time to begin showing my body a bit of gratitude, and drink a glass or two of water each day. How about Soda water? Would that do the trick?

[STEVE G]

The Chinese think that drinking iced water is very dangerous. Its strange, after just a few weeks here I am drinking the warm water and enjoying doing so.

I very rarely drink chilled water these days. Not really a matter of principle, just that I was offered water at someone's house a few years ago, and they only had room temp water. I liked it and got into the habit.

I used to work outdoors a lot at airports in Indonesia and quickly discovered that if you drink chilled water, it's difficult to drink enough of it to stay hydrated as it numbs your mouth and you stop drinking it before you've had much. We used to take one of those plastic water cooler barrels and just leave it under the wing of a parked airplane and a couple of us would pretty much empty it in a day.

[cookmanchef]

Definitely did the pinch test : )

Seems everyone is different, few cups of tea and a carton of juice do the trick for me, never feel thirsty, light headed or any other symptoms during a normal day, when I play golf I drink a couple of litres and some m sport.

[PeteC]

"As you age, you become more susceptible to dehydration for several reasons: Your body's ability to conserve water is reduced, your thirst sense becomes less acute and you're less able to respond to changes in temperature......."

The highlighted item I've heard and seen a lot with older people throughout my life, and now that I'm becoming older so to speak, I can confirm it. I can be outside working and sweating buckets, but I don't get thirsty. Just out of habit I go in and drink a glass or two every hour or so, more to cool me off than to satisfy a recognized thirst. It's a bit scary when you think about it as that loss of sense could do some serious damage to some people. Pete