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[–] 7 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Except it's completely true - rare for WSJ, I know, but not completely unheard of. The weird hype around really unnecessarily excessive water intake is "Facebook Grandma Nutrition"-level bullshit. Healthy people have a reliable, fine-tuned mechanism for figuring out when water is needed: it's called being fucking thirsty

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  • [–] 24 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    1.2 L is cleary not in the realm of "unnecessarily excessive water intake" though.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    over an entire day, sure. needing to carry a 1.2l container around all day seems to me overkill. carry a smaller bottle, refill it when needed, drink a glass of water with your meals etc. remember, juice, tea, coffee, coke etc are mostly water and also count towards your water intake

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  • carry a smaller bottle, refill it when needed

    Depending on where you live, you may not have access to a fountain by the time you need more. I carry around slightly less large bottle (1L) and you can bet your ass I had gone through it on the days when I had to be outside in 100+F/38+C weather for hours, and I got home thirsty. It is way better to have too much water and not need it than to not have enough and need it.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    Sadly that is something many people can't rely upon. I am not that old, and have a tendency to get pretty dehydrated before i get thirsty at all. Old people are famous for getting so dehydrated that they get delirious - ask any nurse working in a hospital, they will agree that this is the case. With summer temperatures rising this will hit a lot more people of the already affected groups, and additional groups which are not sensitized yet towards that issue.

    I agree that most people do not need to drink 3 liters of water per day. But what happens is that people aim for that amount and then land somewhere around 1.5-2 liters / day, which is a pretty good amount for normal days, and they will be more alert towards their water intake on hot days, which prevents deaths.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    Thirst is something no one can rely on. This is the same information I got from multiple doctors each in different fields.

    By the time you register thirst, you are already dehydrated.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    There is a difference between "drinking a glass of water wouldn't hurt you" and "you are dehydrated and it is medically relevant". Every organism on this planet can easily cope with a reduction in available water if it isn't severe. The operating conditions of a human body, if formalized, would only state a minimum of water intake, because the optimal amount of hydration varies wildly from person to person, and it is also dependent on outside circumstances, like heavy work or high temperatures.

    During the winter months, i am completely fine with around 1 liter of fluid intake per day most of the time when sedentary. During the last 2 months, i have topped out at around 7 liters/day (i do sweat a lot), which made me a bit nervous and i made sure to increase my normally very low salt intake a bit, to prevent running out of electrolytes.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    “you are dehydrated and it is medically relevant”

    Which is why "thirsty" as an indicator is the problem. It is your body telling you there is already a problem.

    Every organism on this planet can easily cope

    You can easily cope with all manner of problems. You can go 2 months without Vitamin C. You shouldn't wait until you develop the first signs of scurvy before eating an orange.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago (1 child)
  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago

    Reposting because this is completely wrong.

    After many visits for my daughter with different doctors, all of which were different specializations, the consistent advice from all of them was "going by thirst" is absolutely wrong.

    They each said if you wait to be thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

    It was news to me because I grew up with "drink when you are thirsty".

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  • [–] 4 points 1 day ago

    Yeah, until that mechanism isn’t working anymore, as distraction nowadays is a real issue. Too often I forget about water intake if I don’t have water next to me.

    Additionally, go ask dermatologist what they think about water intake. You can literally see differences in skin health, especially long-term damage which cannot be reversed.

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