> Russ, > I find it hard to believe there are no studies showing > how much water the average person should be drinking.
Hi, Wendy (...great name, BTW, and one of the all-time greatest songs...) Such studies are published in books like _Your Body's Many Cries for Water_ [thanks, Jim] which recommends urine testing to accurately assess one's particular water requirements. > Given the facts that many people suffer constipation and > the attendant hemorrhoids, cancer of the colon, spastic > colon and other maladies, and the facts that foods > require water to digest properly, processed foods > contain many artificial ingredients which the body must > eliminate (or try to), required more water to do so, etc., > I am of the opinion that many people are not drinking > sufficient water and also not drinking purified or filtered > water. Yes, and such manifold considerations are precisely why my answer re: 'how much water to drink' begins with "It depends...,' meaning people should study their particular condition rather than accept facile presciptives from the media grapevine. > Drinking tap water will compound the above- > mentioned problems. One of the factors determining a particular individual's water requirement is internal toxicity, the need to flush out pollutants as well as metabolic wastes. My comments concern how much water is needed for *hydration*, not remediation of deleterious habits & lifestyles. I know of someone who *never* drinks water because of the purity of his diet of 100% raw, high-water-content produce (although I don't recommend this, for aforementioned reasons: there's a time to nourish and a time to cleanse). As for 'how much RAW TAP WATER a persons needs,' that's an erroneous question. My comments concern pure WATER, not a pestiferous solution of fluoride, chlorine, petrochemicals & pharmaceutical traces. I run spring water (never fluoridated) through a microbe-trapping medium and a mixed resin bed filter (as labratories use to make de-ionized water) that removes most chemicals, including 99% of whatever fluoride is present (via ion exchange with activated alumina). Then I add a few drops of full-spectrum ionic minerals made form filtered, 100x-concentrated sea water sans sodium salt (see http://www.survivalsystem.com, click on Complete Dietary Minerals , and then the Sea Minerals pic. NOTE: For the best food-form source of *minerals*, click on A SIMPLE, 1-STEP ANSWER TO ALL THE ABOVE). > Coffee is a diuretic and one could > not logically "count" it as water intake, as it causes the > body to eliminate water and speeds up the metabolism, > which requires more water. Juice and sodas contain > much sugar, which requires plain water to digest and > eliminate (not to mention the overloading of sugar in > daily diets leading to diabetes and other problems). I've no reason to disagree with Dr. Lorraine Day's insistance that common diuretics like coffee displace more water than they provide. I've long since abandoned all caffiene, sodas, and refined (esp. synthetic) sweeteners. Again--the question of 'how much water to drink' presupposes what one needs the water *for*...to counteract dehydration from diuretics? ...to dilute phosphric acid from cola? ...to flush out toxic food preservatives (biocidal poisons), dyes (from petrochemicals) & artificial flavorings (from coal tar)? Reversing the ravages of dietary ignorance requires *eliminating* toxic intake, as well as *taking in* many beneficial substances, of which pure water is only one! (The other categories are on the 'Menu' at http://www.survivalsystem.com.) The maladies you cited--hemorrhoids, cancer of the colon, spastic colon, etc.--suggest concurrent problems that far exceed insufficient water intake! > Eight glasses a day is not by any means a "large" > amount unless you have a very small body (midgets and > small children would need less obviously) for an > average sized person in my opinion. And this is an > average. Some may need more, some may need less... Precisely--it depends! And it depends on many other factors besides body weight, not to mention the question of timing, *when* it's benficial to drink water or not. > Why did so many people die in the recent heat waves? > They did not replace sufficient water and minerals (salt > and potassium, > among others) most likely. Agreed--who among them had sufficient mineral intake? Moreover, what dietary toxins were they contending with simultaneously? What essential nutrients had been chronically absent from their diets? Physical resistance, stamina, immunity result from a person's total lifestyle; death isn't usually attributable to any single factor. Such is the wholistic health perspective. The person whose email I initially forwarded happens to be extremely sophisitcated regarding health, so our remarks concerned only the amount of pure required for hydration, not therapy for various forms of lifestyle-induced degeneration. Sincerely, --Russ From: "Russ Rosser" <[email protected]> Reply-To: "Russ Rosser" <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 11:23:44 -0500 To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@server5.safepages.com> Subject: Re: How much water to drink Alan-- I've never been able nor inclined to drink such a daily water quantity as is famously generalized, with the exception of occasional water-fasting. I developed a hypothesis about this, which I later heard a Dr. Parris more-or-less corroborate at a Preparedness Expo in Altanta: Dissolved substances transmigrate through permeable membranes, such as cell walls, according to their comparative concentrations on either side. Therefore, taking an overabundance of water contemporaneously with meals might not only hinder the digestion of foods by diluting enzymes in the alimentary tract, but also hinder cellular absorption by diluting bloodborne nutrients. (My philosophical studies of the Dialectic help to round out this perspective: Paraphrasing Ecclesiastes, 'there's a time to hydrate and a time to refrain from hydrating;' universal law consists of obligations & limitations based on temporal oscillation between polar opposites.) IOW, it's fallacious to prescribe a gross, quantitative quota about hydration or anything else without due consideration of *timing* and *proportionality*. Answering the question of 'how much water to drink' begins, therefore, as most intelligent replies: "It depends..." --Russ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Hulsebus" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 12:19 AM Subject: how much water to drink > > Theory doesn't hold water > > Scientific support for `8 x 8' rule lacking > > Bernard Trink > > Much of what we've had drummed into us since childhood is questionable if > not untrue, though we are reluctant to give up our beliefs (``Mummy and > daddy told me so''). Get ready to be shook up again. It comes from a news > release (truncated here) issued by Dartmouth Medical School (DMS). The need > to drink eight glasses of water a day is questioned. > > Hanover, New Hampshire _ It has become accepted wisdom: ``Drink at least > eight glasses of water a day!'' Not necessarily, says a DMS physician Heinz > Valtin, MD. The universal advice that has made guzzling water a national > pastime is more urban myth than medical dogma and appears to lack scientific > proof, he found. In an invited review published online by the American > Journal of Physiology August 8, Valtin, professor emeritus of physiology at > Dartmouth Medical School, reports no supporting evidence to back this > popular counsel, commonly known as ``8 x 8'' (for eight, eight-ounce > glasses). > > Valtin, a kidney specialist and author of two widely used textbooks on the > kidney and water balance, sought to find the origin of this dictum and to > examine the scientific evidence, if any, that might support it. He observes > that we see the exhortation everywhere: from health writers, nutritionists, > even physicians. Valtin doubts its validity. Indeed, he finds it, > ``difficult to believe that evolution left us with a chronic water deficit > that needs to be compensated by forcing a high fluid intake.'' > > The 8 x 8 rule is slavishly followed. Everywhere, people carry bottles of > water, constantly sipping from them; it is acceptable to drink water > anywhere, anytime. A pamphlet distributed at one southern California > university even counsels its students to ``carry a water bottle with you. > Drink often while sitting in class.'' > > How did the obsession start? Is there any scientific evidence that supports > the recommendation? Does the habit promote good health? Might it be harmful? > > Valtin thinks the notion may have started when the Food and Nutrition Board > of the National Research Council recommended approximately ``1 millilitre of > water for each calorie of food'', which would amount to roughly two to > two-and-a-half quarts per day (64 to 80 ounces). > > Although in its next sentence, the Board stated ``most of this quantity is > contained in prepared foods'', that last sentence may have been missed, so > that the recommendation was erroneously interpreted as how much water one > should drink each day. > > He found no scientific studies in support of 8 x 8. Rather, surveys of fluid > intake on healthy adults of both genders, published as peer-reviewed > documents, strongly suggest that such large amounts are not needed. His > conclusion is supported by published studies showing that caffeinated > drinks, such as most coffee, tea and soft drinks, may indeed be counted > toward the daily total. He also points to the quantity of published > experiments that attest to the capability of the human body for maintaining > proper water balance. > > Despite the dearth of compelling evidence, then, What's the harm? ``The fact > is that, potentially, there is harm even in water,'' explains Valtin. Even > modest increases in fluid intake can result in ``water intoxication'' if > one's kidneys are unable to excrete enough water (urine). Such instances are > not unheard of, and they have led to mental confusion and even death in > athletes, in teenagers after ingesting the recreational drug Ecstasy, and in > ordinary patients. > > And he lists other disadvantages of a high water intake: (a) possible > exposure to pollutants, especially if sustained over many years; (b) > frequent urination, which can be both inconvenient and embarrassing; (c) > expenses, for those who satisfy the 8 x 8 requirements with bottled water; > and (d) feelings of guilt for not achieving 8 x 8. > > Other claims discredited by scientific evidence that Valtin discusses > include: > > Thirst Is Too Late. It is often stated that by the time people are thirsty, > they are already dehydrated. On the contrary, thirst begins when the > concentration of blood (an accurate indicator of our state of hydration) has > risen by less than two percent, whereas most experts would define > dehydration as beginning when that concentration has risen by at least five > percent. > > Dark Urine Means Dehydration. At normal urinary volume and colour, the > concentration of the blood is within the normal range and nowhere near the > values that are seen in meaningful dehydration. Therefore, the warning that > dark urine reflects dehydration is alarmist and false in most instances. Is > there scientific documentation that we do not need to drink ``8 x 8''? There > is highly suggestive evidence, says Valtin. > > First is the voluminous scientific literature on the efficacy of the > regulatory system that maintains water balance through the antidiuretic > hormone and thirst. Second, published surveys document that the mean daily > fluid intake of thousands of presumably healthy humans is less than the > roughly two quarts prescribed by 8 x 8. Valtin argues that, in view of this > evidence, the burden of proof that everyone needs 8 x 8 should fall on those > who persist in advocating the high fluid intake without, apparently, citing > any scientific support.'' > > B.T.: Controversial certainly, but the professor emeritus of physiology at > Dartmouth Medical School is no quack and hardly irresponsible. What he says > may not change your mind, but it might make you wonder. > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get MSN 8 and enjoy automatic e-mail virus protection. > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus > >
