Water

[NeilC]

OK this is a bit of a personal beef I have against what I see as the modern obsession with hydration :-)

Students are sometimes told to bring water with them and to drink every 1/2 hour. Some people don't leave the house without a bottle in their back pocket. I even saw a fun run in London where the distance was 1 mile. Loads of out of shape women were walking it wearing full sports kit and frequently "rehydrating"!

Every magazine is telling you to drink x amount of water a day ranging from the ubiquitous 8 glasses a day right up to several litres. The thinking behind it is often trite thinking like "your body is 80% water therefore you have to drink lots".

More specifically I'm repeatedly told to drink lots and lots of water if I'm dieting as this will make me lose weight. I cannot find any research on hydration and it's role in weightloss. Is this pure baloney?

[gobbla]

Hydration plays a significant role on the vast majority of the bodily functions.

Probably the more obvious factor specifically concerning body composition is that carbohydrate storage requires more water than fat. Meaning that the same amount of calories *could* be stored as different energy sources depending on hydration levels, especially if the person isn't exercising to any significant degree anyway.

Hydration itself is overplayed as a magic bullet, same as miracle foods\juices\pills, which it's not. That's no reason to not drink liquid.

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by gobbla

Hydration itself is overplayed as a magic bullet, same as miracle foods\juices\pills, which it's not. That's no reason to not drink liquid that's not soda.

FYP.

[Mark57]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

That's no reason to not drink liquid that's not non-diet soda.

FYP.

Fixed yours.

[NeilC]

Originally Posted by gobbla

Hydration plays a significant role on the vast majority of the bodily functions.

Probably the more obvious factor specifically concerning body composition is that carbohydrate storage requires more water than fat. Meaning that the same amount of calories *could* be stored as different energy sources depending on hydration levels, especially if the person isn't exercising to any significant degree anyway.

Hydration itself is overplayed as a magic bullet, same as miracle foods\juices\pills, which it's not. That's no reason to not drink liquid.

Thanks. Do you have any links/references relating to this?
At what levels of dehydration would this effect come into play? Is there evidence that people who respond to thirst are dehydrated to such levels?

Obviously being properly dehydrated has harmful effects, just as being deficient in any nutrient will. It's the notion of superhydration and arbitary hydration goals that don't seem to make sense to me.

[gobbla]

That particular bit of thinking was stolen out of one of Lyle McDonalds books, but I'm not entirely sure which one (stubborn fat solution?). Even then I'm not sure of the real emphasis that, "that" is happening so much of as it's reasonable to figure it can. I don't think you're going to find any papers stating a legitimate # or % where things go tits up.

Thirst really isn't the greatest indicator due to years and years of practice of being underhydrated. Your body simply makes more NDH(?) to regulate it. Being on the underside is normal (for you), you're not going to instinctively correct it. By over compensating (for you) for a certain period of time, you'll feel like warmed over ass. Going to the restroom all of the time, bloated, generally unpleasant to be around. Then you hit the opposite side where if you DON'T get your 4l a day you feel parched and sickly.

One of the cool parts of hydration is that it's very uncommon to over hydrate outside of endurance competition. Assuming you're at rest (or take a break now and then), you're going to maintain homeostasis. Being under hydrated has health hazards. It's difficult to be over hydrated. Why mess with it?