Hydration Puzzle

[nyuanshin]

According to the Merck manual, the average adult loses a little less than a liter of water per day through the parts of their body that come into contact with the air, assuming they haven't been sweating a lot. Your typical bladder also holds up to half a liter of fluid, and presumably needs to be emptied once per day just to get rid of necessary

Comments

[soulchanger]

My fitness regimen (Crossfit-recommended) includes a great deal of water - significantly more than 2L/day - but then, I sweat a lot during workouts and eat a diet (something close to the Paleo diet) naturally high in potassium. Also, since I stopped eating most grains (specifically those with gluten) I haven't had any of the digestive tract problems that I used to

[nyuanshin]

In general I'm increasingly against the idea of quotas and think the correct focus is on setting up conditions so that your body regulates itself properly automatically, and then just paying attention to it. If you're thirsty you should probably drink, stop when you stop feeling thirsty, and probably shouldn't ever drink things that send your body mixed signals (e.g. artificially sweetened drinks). I actually don't drink anything other than water, tea, and the odd glass of wine or liquor anymore.

[soulchanger]

I agree about not drinking sweetened drinks. However, there are certain contexts in which a person drinking only when thirsty has waited too long - a person who is thirsty sitting at their computer is probably fine. A person who is thirsty at Burning Man probably needs a doctor.

But yes, quotas are bound to be unrealistic. I never measure out water to drink, but what I have done is trained myself to recognize signs of immediate or impending dehydration other than thirst - dry skin, headaches, sweating, etc. - and deal with them accordingly.

[missdemeanor]

but don't forget that people also mix up thirst and hunger. many people mistake thirst for hunger and end up eating an extra meal. that's why whenever i feel hungry shortly after eating, i try drinking a glass of water and waiting to see how i feel afterwards.

most people aren't really aware of their bodies like you appear to be, so it isn't easy for people to just eat and drink whenever they feel like they need it. why else would we have an overwhelmingly obsese population? people aren't really conscious. it's easier for them to follow guidelines.

[airstrip]

I don't know.

I see the distinct possibility that the water recommendations predate the article on water loss and might be based on less accurate methods of accounting or utterly different samples (for example, the manual might be recommending 2 liters per day on assumptions that held true when fewer people had air conditioning or more people performed manual labor). The recommendations might also assume some things about "healthy" and hence might be higher because they presume that some part of being healthy implies a lot more sweat.

I think this is an important point, actually: "healthy" isn't really a hard concept and I believe there is an entire philosophical journal devoted to articles stemming from the question "just what does 'being healthy' actually mean?".

[nyuanshin]

This is true: it seems to be quite primitive and nobody really knows what it means. Seems to have the same root as "whole", suggesting may parts functioning harmoniously.

[airstrip]

This does not surprise in the least. Every major medical tradition on Earth prior to the scientific revolution stresses absolutely the concept of internal balance and harmony. What I think we're missing with "healthy" in the modern period is the need to separate disease and expectation. We should emphasize disease as being external and unwanted. Various questions, usually centering around body morphology, should be shuffled off onto the realm of "modifications" since these are choice-based issues.

Obesity is instructive: it's a disease when someone does not want it but cannot help it. It's more in line with what we consider a choice when someone is obese because they like to eat... a lot.

here via colinmarshall

[ideealisme]

this is cool! I always thought that waterlogging yourself in the name of Eternal Youth and Desirability was a load of bullshit. May I link to this in my own blog?

Re: here via colinmarshall

[nyuanshin]

Absolutely. :)

Re: here via colinmarshall

[ideealisme]

ta!