Drink less fluid - another theory

It has been fashionable to tell us to drink two to three litres of water a day, which I don't think is necessary. Apparently tea and coffee act as diuretics so didn't count towards the fluid intake.
Now 'they' say that that is not correct, tea and coffee count and so does our food, much of which contains a lot of water.

I don't think thirst necessarily tells us how much we should be drinking, and I know I probably don't drink enough water. However, too much water can flush too many essential minerals out of the system imo.

Must go and make a cuppa (decaffeinated in the evening)!

I did feel really good when I followed a regime of drinking plenty of water [albeit not litres of the stuff].

If thirst hadn't told us for millennia when we needed to drink, we African (hot tropical) mammals who need to keep our body fluids in homeostasis, would never have survived to be talking about it now. We feel thirst because we need to drink. We drink because we're thirsty. It's a survival mechanism. The idea really is that simple. Why complicate it with bullshit?

As if we needed to invent things to worry about.

Good post thatbags.I find the theory very odd that we often don't recognise thirst but confuse it with hunger ie we think we are hungry but actually we are thirsty. Weird !

A lot of food contains a fair bit of water. That's where we get some of our fluids from. There, puzzle solved. Thirst can be assuaged by eating. Think juicy orange, or mango, or cucumber.

I've heard that the thirst mechanism doesn't always work so efficiently on the elderly.

I've never understood the idea that tea, because it has a slight diuretic effect, can't be counted as fluid intake. When I lived in Thailand I still found tea to be the most thirst-quenching drink (hot tea too; it's also cooling as it helps you to sweat–the body's natural cooling system). One doesn't piss out all the water in it.

Coffee ditto.

I agree, thatbags - it's also a rubbish theory IMO that by the time we feel thirsty we're already dehydrated.

Yes, I've heard that too, petallus. I don't know any more about that. I've also heard that quite a few other things don't always work so well in the very elderly.

Actually I very rarely feel thirsty. I am a "social drinker". I have a cup of tea with others or because I have just got up. If I am on my own I rarely have a drink and I never drink with meals apart from the odd glass of wine.

Greenfinch, I'm the same, and it does worry me a bit that I'm not drinking enough - I used to drink gallons of tea yet I only want one occasionally these days...

But I still have to get up twice in the night for the loo. Most annoying !

Yes - me too!

If I don't drink enough I get cramp in my legs at night. I don't think you can rely on feeling thirsty, because we drink tea and coffee at intervals during the day for the uplifting effects. So we don't get thirsty. And then you can easily take in less fluid than you need.

If you drink too much you just pee it out. Not harmful at all.

You don't have to get thirsty to know when to drink, you just do it....sort of 'I fancy a cup of tea'. By the time you feel thirsty you are probably getting dehydrated.
Bags mentioned homeostasis and your body should normally tell you when to drink before you exoerience thirst.

This doesn't always work as we get old and some very old women I knew deliberately didn't drink much because of increasing in continence. This made them prone to repeated urinary track infections which made them very mentally confused.

Are you sure the "I fancy a cup of tea" isn't a craving for caffeine?

I have heard you should drink enough to ensure you pee is straw yellow, if it's darker you are not getting enough liquid.

Being dehydrated can contribute to being constipated. The digestive system needs the liquid to keep the food moving.

As you get older downstairs loos are a godsend. When it's easier to walk to the loo and you don't have to climb the stairs you will probably not be so likely to restrict your intake of liquid.

Dehydration when you are older is really bad for all sorts of your bodies workings.

DH and I don't always take much notice of what 'they' are telling us.
It appears to change from week to week.

I've thought about this and yes I do only drink when thirsty. if I make a tea or coffee when I wasn't thirsty I often find I leave half of it. I seem to need a drink about every two hours any more makes me feel awash. If I golf I drink about two small bottles of water per round but I have a raging thirst on the course. I do think the body is designed to regulate itself - that is of course unless one of the systems is going wrong!

Oh yes I forgot I agree - urine is meant to be the colour of straw its a good indicator of your fluid requirements- doesn't have to be plain water most drinks are in excess of 90% water anyway.

I think the "drink more" fad came from the fact that it temporarily fills your stomach and might reduce the desire to eat stuff.

I agree with Nellie. I only drink too much when I go to the gym as it just seems like the right thing to do but when I get home I seem to spend the rest of the day running to the loo!

Bags can we therefore assume that when out body tells us we need chocolate we should listen to it and pig out?