[dailydriver]

For an automotive forum, we have quite a few threads harping on this simple liquid.

1.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ated-move.html (Hydration Pack Review: Keep yourself hydrated on the move)
2.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...-airports.html (Drinking water facility at some renovated Airports)
3.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...-purifier.html (Recommended water purifier?)
4.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shift...ngalore-5.html (The water crisis in Bangalore)
5.https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...m-running.html (Distilled Water : A scam running?)

But the trigger for this thread was the following comment:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm amazed at the amount of water people consume!

in response to a few suggestions to increase the daily intake of water:

From being the first liquid to be dished out to us when we are born (a practice modern science says is a taboo and must be ended) and also the last that is administered when it is time for us to bid the final goodbye (yeah, i too have a small pot of gangajal stashed somewhere in the pooja room), water serves our body and becomes one with us, like no other.

Dear friend Wiki says that

By weight, the average human adult male is approximately 60% water and the average adult female is approximately 50%.

The USGS Water Science School (is that a real thing!) lists the following as the primary benefits of water for an average joe.

-A vital nutrient to the life of every cell, acts first as a building material
-It regulates our internal body temperature by sweating and respiration
-The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream
-It assists in flushing waste mainly through urination acts as a shock absorber for brain, spinal cord, and fetus
-Forms saliva
-Lubricates joints

General wisdom states that it is imperative for us to drink at least 2 litres of water per day.

But more importantly, as the USGS site clarifies,

All of the water a person needs does not have to come from drinking liquids, as some of this water is contained in the food we eat

I undertook a jugaad survey yesterday, asking my male friends and colleagues the pattern and the quantum of their water consumption. The under 40s I spoke to didn't think drinking adequate water is a matter that needs to be discussed at length. They said that they drink when they feel the need to. The over 40s' reaction was different and divergent. Most of them made it a point to drink water at regular intervals, and were conscious of the pros and cons of water intake. The sample size being small and the questions-answers subjective, i cannot of course draw any conclusions out of this; but it is an interesting divide.

Now, this brings me to the title of the thread, a phrase i have shamelessly copied from Nobel laureate C V Raman's eponymous essay.

Through the ages, man has sought in vain for an imaginary elixir of life, the divine Amrita. A draught of amrita was thought to confer immortality. But the true elixir of life lies near our hands. It is the commonest of all liquids. It is the plain water.

Agreed. Water could indeed be the elixir of life. But, as the saying goes

Ati Sarvatra Varjayet

the gist being that too much of anything is as bad as too little of the same.

In the instant case, it must be understood that Overhydration too is actually a serious medical issue that results in severe depletion of sodium content, thereby causing

muscle weakness, spasms, or cramps, seizures, unconsciousness, coma.

Apart from this, there is also the hitherto unknown (to me at least) problem of Water Intoxication, medically known as Hyponatremia. So, It is possible to get high on water too!

With the baggage of the aforementioned points in tow, can we have a healthy discussion on the facts, myths and matter surrounding water? (while being actually surrounded by water, literally and philosophically too )

Before i get up to pick up my morning dose/glass of RO purified-yet stored and supplied in dirty plastic can-water, I would humbly take recourse to lessons I skimmed off two wise men on the forum.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Mind you, it was a wise person who told, "When you feel you need something, but can't workout what, it is probably water."

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I can tell you from personal experience, water is simultaneously the most important and most underrated fluid in existence!

Disclaimer: Apart from a lame line or two written in a vain attempt at humour, most of the findings or contentions mentioned in this post are NOT MINE. All of them have been copied from various online sources that open up when you click on the links. My sincere thanks to all the sources.

As for your daily water intake, well, its your business after all!!!

[V.Narayan]

Brilliant. Clearly H2O is your daily driver :-) Not only is it needed for our bodies but it seems tomorrow even our cars will run on it. Will they be called hydromobiles? I want to set up a society of soda water drinkers. Water with fizz is a great way for teetotallers, like me, to hold our own at a party without other chimps constantly pushing us to have a drink. Great article.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Clearly H2O is your daily driver :-)

If you say so .

...but it seems tomorrow even our cars will run on it.

Incidentally, I started a thread (Can a car run on water? "Water and a little Graphene", claims an Indian startup!) on a similar subject, recently.

I want to set up a society of soda water drinkers. Water with fizz is a great way for teetotaller, like me...

You will have a founding and in all probability, life member of the society, in yours truly.

[dark.knight]

Water is an essential part of life, like oxygen, carbon dip-oxide and nitrogen.

Drink to the extent of physical activity/dehydration.. your body itself will tell you when you are thirsty. Gulping in 2-3 litres of water would only mean that you're going to the toilet 15 times a day, now some doctors would say that it is good, the amount of water going out indicates that the stomach and bladder are cleansed, another myth. That is like saying that the longer you spray water over a car the cleaner it becomes, there is 1% utility to that activity but 99% of it is waste.

Your body will tell you exactly how much water you need, it should remain well under a litre.. you do have other sources of liquids (clear or not) like milk, curd, fresh fruit juices etc. Keep it mind also that tea, coffee and any caffeinated drinks like Pepsi, RedBull etc do not hydrate, they have a reverse effect i.e they throw out the water in the body, so for more caffeine intake, the clear liquid outflow can be compensated with more water.

I take about 3-4 glasses of water a day, at the peak. That would be approximately .75 litres. Milk, juices, curds round off the intake to maybe a litre. I visit the restroom exactly 3 times a day for expelling water, sometimes only twice including the morning first time. Drinking too much water can result in hydro-poisoning, which happened to my uncle, he was very careful on salts, restricting his intake to hardly a pinch of salt a day.. now even though his water intake was normal for a man of his age (<1 litre) this caused the sodium levels to collapse and he had to be wheeled into emergency while we all ran to his side.. he had dementia for about half a day when he wasn't totally unconscious, while the hospital worked aggressively on replenishing the sodium levels through drips after which he was completely normal.

Your water intake also depends a lot on salt intake and exercise. My physical activity on an average day is low so I can get by easily with my existing low water intake. 3-4 litres of water a day is an utter joke, 20 glasses? If people only knew the size of the internals organs, they'd know that this is as ridiculous as asking a horse to drink a swimming pool of water per day. Also the chlorine, fluoride, possible trace quantities of heavy metals and assorted contaminants present in water doesn't help when taken in even more massive quantities, all the ingredients to make a normal man into a perfect moron. All my body functions are fine with a half-litre to 3 quarter litre water intake. Those who do heavy gymming and lose a lot of sweat in a day might need a litre more.. but 20 glasses/4 litres a day is pure nonsense.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

... I want to set up a society of soda water drinkers. Water with fizz is a great way for teetotallers, like me, to hold our own at a party without other chimps constantly pushing us to have a drink. Great article.

A man after my own heart, count me in Good Sir!

Soda water, and the occasional Tonic water infused with mint leaves is my lifesaver at drinking parties to ward off the constant requests to get sloshed.

To answer the OP, I'm a big fan of plain water primarily because it's easily available, is unadulterated as long as it's from a safe source, and keeps me away from consuming unnecessary loads of sugar and assorted chemicals that I can do without.

Even my water bottle at my weekend sporting endeavours is a humble packet of Electral or a substitute ORS powder (has sugar essential to rehydration but not a lot) mixed in a litre of water. Works better than any of the expensive, sugar loaded branded coloured water people swig like there's no tomorrow.

One simple but vastly underrated function of water, and very relevant to sedentary urban lifestyles: it helps avoid snacking when we aren't necessarily hungry, just craving a sugar/carb rush. A swig of water takes that away.

Our fascination with artificial flavoring is best summed up by a spam message I got a while ago: We drink lemon-flavored fizzy drinks by the litre, while real lemons are consigned to finger bowls.

P.S. I intentionally left out mentioning my daily consumption because I believe it varies person-to-person based on a bunch of factors, and it's upto the individual to figure out how much works for them, not blindly follow a set recommendation.

[Miyata]

Not to mention there are many "significant thinkers" who think the world war - III could be about water -

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...er-cause-wars/

Additionally, most of our current electricity needs are met only because of water - be it either through hydro; coal; nuclear ; anything else - it's the water that's eventually propelling those turbines!

For human internal consumption, I do believe the media does hype it more than is necessary. Too much water will also dilute away the salts (electrolytes) leading to whole set of other medical conditions. Common sense with a little feedback from medical science (good, reliable docs) is a better guide, surely.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Two things:

No one is suggesting over hydration but a litre of water is too less for a healthy individual.

Secondly, I take strong objection to the words like pamphlet doctors or doctor bashing especially when quoting Google searched facts and not trusting doctors with years of experience.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Drink to the extent of physical activity/dehydration.. your body itself will tell you when you are thirsty..

There is a big difference between being thirsty and being dehydrated. Most people cannot figure out that they are dehydrated because they do not feel thirsty at that time.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

I take strong objection to the words like pamphlet doctors or doctor bashing especially when quoting google searched facts themselves.

Perfectly true.

Sometimes, we do get carried away in the heat of the argument. Treat it as the tantrum of an anxious patient and keep doing what you are good at - giving us medically proven and professionally sane advice.

Even the best of the doctors we consult offline do not have enough time to satiate our queries. What we can't ask them directly gets discussed here. And all doctors on the forum, beginning from you, have been calming our nerves and soothing our real or imagined ills with immense success and patience. My respects to all of you.

Therefore, I will bow out of this discussion

Please don't.

This thread is all about education; transferring our learnings and experiences and having

a healthy discussion on the facts, myths and matter surrounding water

You will understand that we, the non doctors, are all buoyed and brought up listening to the (unsubstantiated) old wive's tale which contends that an old patient is better than a new doctor.

Old habits die hard and therefore you mustn't take our ramblings to heart.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

My physical activity on an average day is low so I can get by easily with my existing low water intake. 3-4 litres of water a day is an utter joke, 20 glasses? If people only knew the size of the internals organs, they'd know that this is as ridiculous as asking a horse to drink a swimming pool of water per day. Also the chlorine, fluoride, possible trace quantities of heavy metals and assorted contaminants present in water doesn't help when taken in even more massive quantities, all the ingredients to make a normal man into a perfect moron. All my body functions are fine with a half-litre to 3 quarter litre water intake. Those who do heavy gymming and lose a lot of sweat in a day might need a litre more.. but 20 glasses/4 litres a day is pure nonsense.

You are assuming that what works for one body i.e. yours works for all bodies with their million variations of size, activity, DNA, food and what not. It is a common human fallacy that we assume that what works for us is universally applicable to the other 7500 million humans on planet earth. If 0.75 litres works for you that's good. 4 to 5 litres is what works for me and has done so for almost 6 decades and the pistons and gearbox are still working very well. For my wife 2 to 3 litres seems to be the norm. To each his own, brother. I can't understand why this tone of sarcasm and condescending attitude in your post given that you are no more a PhD on water intake than any one of us.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

...who would rather google diagnosis and not trust doctors with years of experience.

This is a fairly common problem these days. While it certainly is good to have a source of information to learn more, relying on Google has it's drawbacks. Chief among them being that you can search for and find enough sources to back up almost any ridiculous claim!

Let such people fend for themselves by all means. The rest of us would rather listen to specialists who have studied and worked on the actual human body for years, and we understand than nothing can replace that. So please do keep posting your good advice.

About dehydration, I have some little experience with that. When you are actively and intensely playing a sport, I've found that quite often I don't even 'feel' thirsty. The first sign I get is when my fingers cramp up and I have to physically straighten them out! I have to remind myself to keep drinking water throughout. Often just water will not do, I eat a banana or eat some salty snacks as well and the issue subsides. But just goes to show that waiting till you feel thirsty is probably not the best way to stay hydrated.

[Jeroen]

An interesting discussion. I do not think anybody would doubt the need for a certain water intake per day per individual. Even so, I do believe these days it is getting ridiculous. People cant leave their homes for an hour without taking a bottle of water with them.

When we grew up we never ever took water with us when we went out, or for instance on a school outing. You would drink when there was a tap around and not before. I have never ever seen my parents bringing bottle of waters when we went out or on holiday.

Still, everybody lived pretty healthy it seemed.

Having worked as a marine engineer I do know a thing or two about dehydration. But that is under extreme circumstances. Doing hard physical work in an engine room with an ambient temperature of +60oC requires a constant intake of water. But again, this is extreme.

Jeroen

[srishiva]

When I see people with water bottles all the time, I wonder if I am drinking enough and feel guilty :( I workout for 2 hours in the morning and consume 1 liter just during and soon after that. Later I have 1 liter for my duration in office. All you lose is through breathing and kidneys without any sweat.

I do monitor the colour of what I pass to check if I need to drink water.

Maybe max of 3 liters everything combined. If one is not working physically hard, guess 2 liters should be good enough for me.

[GTO]

I'm a total water baby and am always drinking water. After reading some comments on this thread, I hope I'm not overdoing it.

Back of the envelope calculations tell me I do maybe 4 -5 liters / day. This is how my desk looks:

[Samurai]

I drink about a liter a day, not more. So I used to be very guilty about not drinking enough water. Then I saw this video, and lost my guilt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWASUMMQjj8