Hydration Myths And Truths

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Considering how important hydration is, it’s astounding how much misinformation is out there about it. Have you noticed the uptick in humans lugging around enormous jugs of water—jugs half the size of their body—that they force themselves to consume every day? Yeah, they don’t really need to do that. Have you noticed how often, if someone has a headache, a stomachache, or any sort of symptom, friends will tell them “You’re probably just dehydrated?” Somewhere along the lines, all of these myths started to spread about hydration, and they wound up spreading like wildfire. Of course, nobody would come around with jugs of water to put the wildfire out because they were too busy guzzling all of it. Here are myths and truths about hydration you should know.

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Myth: Eight glasses a day is essential

This is actually a myth started by mega food company Danone a long time ago, to get people to purchase more of their products. They own Evian and Volvic water, to name a couple. So, from there, people started pouring themselves eight glasses of H2O a day—whether they felt thirsty or not.

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Truth: There is no exact number

The amount of water you need every day will depend on a lot of things, including your age, weight, activity level, medications, health conditions, and other factors. Eight glasses can be too many for some, and far too little for others. Your doctor can help you land upon an accurate number for you.

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Myth: Death by dehydration is a real risk

One reason people got on board with the eight-glasses-a-day myth was stories of people who have died from dehydration. There’s nothing like little scare tactics to get people running to the store to clear water jugs off of the shelves.

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Truth: It’s extremely rare

Death by dehydration is extremely rare and only happens in extreme cases like when people are stranded in the desert for weeks on end. It isn’t going to happen because you forgot to drink water by 12pm today.

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Myth: You don’t know if you’re dehydrated

There’s this other terrifying concept in the ether: that we don’t know when we’re dehydrated. There’s this idea that we could be dangerously dehydrated and have no idea until it’s too late.

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Truth: Yes you do—that’s what thirst is for

So, we have thirst for a reason: it lets us know when our hydration levels are getting low. We do know when we’re dehydrated. We may be unaware for, say, a couple of hours, but our bodies will let us know soon enough.

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Myth: Drinking more improves bowel movements

If you’re backed up, you’re given all sorts of tips, like drink more water. You hear friends saying that they started guzzling water and became extremely regular.

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Truth: It only helps if you were dehydrated

If dehydration is the reason you are constipated, then, yes, adding water will help. But if you are sufficiently hydrated, adding a ton of water to your diet won’t relieve your constipation.

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Myth: Death by over-hydration is a real risk

Here come the scare tactics again: have you heard that you can die from over-hydration? That you can, perhaps, drown yourself from the inside by drinking too much water?

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Truth: That is also very rare

This is also very unlikely and almost never happens. Most normal individuals don’t have enough time in the day to drink the amount of water it would take to drown via over-hydration.

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Myth: Only water is hydrating

You’re told to lay off the tea and soda, as it further dehydrates you. You’re told that if you want to hydrate your body, all you can drink is water, and that no other fluids count towards your hydrating efforts.

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Truth: Most fluids other than alcohol are hydrating

Actually soda, juice, tea, and even coffee can be hydrating. It is slightly less hydrating than water, but it is still hydrating.

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Myth: Yellow pee means you should drink more

If you look in the toilet and see yellow, you may run to the fridge and drink everything in your water jug. You’ve heard, after all, that yellow pee is an indicator of dehydration.

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Truth: Other factors could be at play

If you drink plenty of water and don’t feel thirsty, then your yellow pee is probably nothing to worry about. It’s actually very rare to have clear pee, all of the time. And things like vitamins can contribute to yellow urine.

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Myth: Adding water=weight loss

If you want to lose weight, perhaps friends tell you to drink tons of water. So you have been doing that, but nothing is changing. You’re still seeing the same number on the scale.

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Truth: Replacing food with water=weight loss

Simply adding water to your diet will not cause you to lose weight. The idea is to replace some food with water. Drinking enough water can minimize snack cravings—that’s where the weight loss comes into play.