Re: was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

[Guest guest]

As a runner and resident of the deep south (where it does get warm), I am

aware that not enough water can be a problem. However, I believe the thirst

response mechanism is probably working for most of us or we would probably

be dead already.

While our body needs water to float it's boat, we manage to get quite a bit

from the food we eat and actively regulate what we release. The healthier

your food choices (veggies, fruit, etc) the more water you're already

getting.

Don't do something silly like drinking 10 glasses in addition to your normal

diet. I'm not really worried because most people's bodies will prevent them

from doing that.... the unlucky few who don't regulate intake can actually

be harmed by too much water. That's called hyponatremia (literally low

sodium). Eating a little extra salt won't kill you either, unless you're in

the minority of hypertensives who react poorly to salt. We all need adequate

salt to manage our water balance. Of course it is good advice if your

working outdoors in the heat (especially if you're not used to it) to drink

some extra water.

The simpler way is to monitor the density of your discharge when you

urinate. If it's very dense, dark, strong... you may not be drinking enough

fluids, drink more. If it's almost clear you're getting more than enough. I

realize this is not a very scientific approach but there's more than enough

real issues (like calories) to really worry about.

Perhaps we could modify the classic advice to something like 10 servings a

day of fruit, " or " vegetable, " or " water... that's a little more

realistic.... and IMO beer should count as a serving of water.

JR

PS: I'm increasing my hydration right now....

-----Original Message-----

From: Carol, getting conscious [mailto:12steplists@...]

Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 5:12 PM

Subject: [ ] Facts? on Water

someone forwarded me this..I don't know how true it is...but more

motivation to fill that hole with water and fake the belly out... Also

Discovery Channel had show about obesity last night that was pretty

good, esp. talking about role of genes in saving fat and role of dieting

in making you get fatter and fatter. noting on CR however. Carol...

WATER: 1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 2. In 37% of

Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for

hunger. 3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much

as 3%. 4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for

almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. 6. Preliminary

research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly

ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. 7. A mere 2% drop

in body water can trigger fuzz short-term memory, trouble with basic

math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed

page. 8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon

cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and

one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. * * *

[Guest guest]

My husband is a runner too. Sorry, beer doesn't count. Alcohol is a

dehydrator, and a lot of hangover symptoms are actually due to

dehydration.

Some of the posts recently seem to come from a book

Your Body's Many Cries for Water

by Fereydoon Batmanghelidj

See his website at http://www.watercure.com/

I suspect a great deal of it is valid, but some of the claims are

pretty far out there.

Dehydration is implicated in some heart attacks - reduced blood

volume makes everything in the blood stickier. I believe this was

part of the issue with the news correspondent that died in Iraq of a

heart attack.

I was waiting for someone to bring up hyponatremia. This is actually

very rare and you really have to work at getting too much water.

There are guidelines for how much water to drink when exercising

vigorously in hot weather. See

http://www.spinalhealth.net/hyponatremia.html near the bottom of the

page. Also try http://www.runnersworld.com/ and put hyponatremia in

the search window. For vigorous exercise lasting longer than 60-90

minutes in hot weather, use sports drinks.

The color of your urine is a good indicator regarding your overall

hydration state in general, but it is not immediate enough to help

while exercising. Also, if you're really dehydrated, you won't be

urinating.

Iris

[Guest guest]

My husband (also a marathoner) would say that if it's taking you 60-

90 minutes (see below with regard to sports drinks) then you're not a

runner, you're a jogger. Five miles does not a marathon make, and

running 5 miles in the morning, and drinking coffee, won't be enough

to seriously dehydrate you, depending on what else you're drinking

overall. But if you're feeling kind of fatigued afterwards, or your

running performance is not what you'd like it to be, you should

consider water before and after your run. Coffee is entertainment,

water is a necessity.

Oh, unless you're from New Orleans, where I think coffee is

considered one of the food groups. ;-)

Your experience in the marathon points up the fact that it is

exertion for an extended period of time without proper hydration that

is the issue. I don't think your 5 miles falls in that category.

Iris

--- In , " john roberts " <johnhrob@n...>

wrote:

> yes, I expected that... that is what they say.... they also say

coffee will

> dehydrate you too, but I drink my pot of coffee in the morning, run

5 miles

> in the Mississippi sun, then come back and guess what I do before I

drink a

> drop of water (maybe it's the beer)?

>

> -----Original Message-----

> For vigorous exercise lasting longer than 60-90

> minutes in hot weather, use sports drinks.

[Guest guest]

You don't know that for sure.

----- Original Message -----

From: john roberts

Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 9:17 PM

Subject: RE: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

Eating a little extra salt won't kill you either, unless you're inthe minority of hypertensives who react poorly to salt. We all need adequatesalt to manage our water balance.

[Guest guest]

I apologize to any I irritated with my contrarian opinions/advice. The one thing I know for sure is that I can't give any other individual arbitrary advice. You need to adjust your behavior based on your personal circumstances.

I'm only suggesting we need to question general advice. For one I expect this group of individuals does not share the eating habits and excess body weight of the general population. Investigate multiple resources and make your best decisions factoring in what you know about yourself.

Extreme behavior, too much or too little of anything can hurt you...yes that includes water. If you have high blood pressure and already have adequate salt, ingesting more salt can be bad for you, I don't mean to suggest otherwise.

JR

-----Original Message-----From: jwwright [mailto:jwwright@...]Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 7:15 AM Subject: Re: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

You don't know that for sure.

----- Original Message -----

From: john roberts

Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 9:17 PM

Subject: RE: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

Eating a little extra salt won't kill you either, unless you're inthe minority of hypertensives who react poorly to salt. We all need adequatesalt to manage our water balance.

[Guest guest]

I'm suggesting that ingesting any salt is not necessary and it's not just for hypertensives. I've found no evidence that we need to add salt unless you're a marine planning to march 8 hrs with a pack wearing full clothing and boots. Then you might use more salt to retain more water at the start. But routine use is for flavor only. foods contain plenty of sodium. You don't need salt to sweat and as you get lower in sodium level you sweat a good deal less sodium out. It can reach less than 100 mg per oz.

The idea that some hypertensives are "salt-sensitive" is coming under fire also. One noted HTN expert thinks ALL hypertensives are salt sensitive and I can find no evidence to disagree with that. And I'm sure that all people get hypertensive sooner or later. It's an aging thing - I'm guessing a mitochondrial transport function. Of course, limiting sodium for hypertensives does not cure the HTN - it restricts the ability of the kidney to retain sodium.

Regards.

----- Original Message -----

From: john roberts

Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 9:07 AM

Subject: RE: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

I apologize to any I irritated with my contrarian opinions/advice. The one thing I know for sure is that I can't give any other individual arbitrary advice. You need to adjust your behavior based on your personal circumstances.

I'm only suggesting we need to question general advice. For one I expect this group of individuals does not share the eating habits and excess body weight of the general population. Investigate multiple resources and make your best decisions factoring in what you know about yourself.

Extreme behavior, too much or too little of anything can hurt you...yes that includes water. If you have high blood pressure and already have adequate salt, ingesting more salt can be bad for you, I don't mean to suggest otherwise.

JR

-----Original Message-----From: jwwright [mailto:jwwright@...]Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2003 7:15 AM Subject: Re: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

You don't know that for sure.

----- Original Message -----

From: john roberts

Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 9:17 PM

Subject: RE: [ ] was..Facts? on Water.. just some opinionated advice

Eating a little extra salt won't kill you either, unless you're inthe minority of hypertensives who react poorly to salt. We all need adequatesalt to manage our water balance.

[Guest guest]

About salt--why do we crave it? Why we enjoy sugar is quite obvious

from an evolutionary perspective, but why the salt? A long time ago I

saw a documentary on the benefits of salt and why we started craving

it but I can't remember any of it. From the little research I've seen,

there isn't really any reason to worry about extra salt unless you're

salt sensitive. Interesting question, though.

-Zulu