You’re supposed to drink water in amounts your body needs. There is no exact amount for everyone, it depends on your physical activity and health.

It’s my understanding that the “water requirements” are vastly overblown.

If I drank that much water every day I’d never be able to leave the bathroom.

The old ”* glasses a day” dictum is over the course of a day, not all at once.

Depending on your own physique, drinking a liter and half all at once can cause hyponatremia, the dilution of your sodium level. This can be dangerous.

@zenvelo wrote what I was going to. I couldn’t drink 2 liters at a sitting, I would burst.

But over the course of a day, I probably drink more than that. One cup at a time.

@zenvelo it can be fatal

@zenvelo Hey, I also drink it over the course of the day, not all at once, I go to the bathroom a lot though lol,

If your pee is bright yellow you probably need more water. If it looks like clear water you probably drink more than necessary.

That 8 glasses a day is an old study done on military men if I remember correctly. They tend to have more muscle than the average person. They were men not women, yet still women think it’s a guide for them too.

Also, all liquid counts not just water. If you’re also driving 16oz of Coke in the same day that’s an addition 2 cups.

There is no medical basis for the 8 glasses a day thing. It originally came from an advertising exec trying to sell bottled water. I imagine he did quite well out of his Christmas bonus that year.

The body is a wonderful thing. Just drink when your thirsty and it’ll sort the rest out for you. 1.5 litres a day is perfectly adequate.

Don’t exclusively substitute wine and you’ll be fine.

I heard that the “8 glasses per day” was supposed to include the water in the foods you ate too (which is a significant amount). For me, I just drink enough to make sure my pee is light yellow. Brown means not enough water, nearly clear means too much.

@cazzie depend how strong the wine is. Over 10% alcohol or so and you’ll lose more water than than you drink. Drinking nothing but beer at 5% for example will keep you perfectly hydrated. Obviously you’ll end up with a whole host of other problems but dehydration won’t be one of them.

Wine tends to be around the 12% or higher mark. Averages around 13.5%. Why would you question a person who not only drinks wine, but also makes medicine and organic chemistry her number one science love?

@cazzie I’m sorry if you felt my observation was in some way a personal attack. I was merely pointing out that if you were to only drink wine that contains less than about 10% alcohol (which as a self confessed drinker of wine I am sure you are aware exist – I can think of a couple of lovely old world wines that come in at about 6% with out even putting much effort in to it) that it wouldn’t leave you dehydrated.

My favourite beer is 9%. I’m screwed.

6% is not wine. It’s cider or some sort of pathetic fruit wine.

@cazzie around here that’s called a “spritzer”

That’s a ‘mixed drink’. and not a wine.

Our family doctor told my dad years ago that it was really 8 cups of water – and that meant teacup size cups. That was after my dad had gone on a campaign to drink at least 2 litres of water a day (in addition to tea and juice etc).

@BellaB A teacup is a cup is eight ounces,

http://www.eliteabar.com/blogs/tea-brewing-guide/6964956-not-all-tea-cups-are-the-same-what-is-the-size-of-a-tea-cup

https://www.teaguardian.com/about/standards/measurements/

When most people refer to a cup of tea, the cup is filled to about 1.5 cm (or about half an inch) below the rim. That is 150 ml (or 5 ounces), to round numbers for easy reference.

A teacup, not a mug.

Our family doctor said most people overestimated the amount of water that was recommended by about 100%.

@Lightlyseared is absolutely correct. The whole “stay hydrated” thing is baseless, a marketing ploy by the bottled water, soft drink, and sports drink industry. In general, all three types of beverages are manufactured by the same companies and distributed through the same channels.

Dehydration is seldom a concern for anyone who lives in a developed country and has access to clean, running water. Our marvelous bodies tell us when it’s time to drink fluids. During a very hot day, or during periods of extra physical activity, we know to increase the volume. The drink-more-drink-more mantra is just another non-problem causing worries and boosting beverage sales.

Please don’t get me started on 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Or, is it 5–10 servings? I’ve also read 13 servings, minimum, or else die tomorrow.

^^I think it’s minimum 5 servings, but a serving is small for most foods in America. A typical American salad is probably 3 servings.

Relevant

We LOVE Adam Ruins Everything.

^ SO MUCH.

@tedibear You deserve every GA you can get for linking to Adam.