What is all this with water?

I was advised by a consultant Urogynaecologist that we should not drink that much water and 1.5 litres daily is the maximum we need. In particular, women's bladders naturally weaken as we age, and cannot cope with the large amounts of liquid some of us drink nowadays.

Antonia no one you know has died of dehydration.
Someone I know was blue lighted to hospital, having collapsed without warning in front of his close family. Diagnosis: dehydration. He had been busy all day and just not bothered to drink anything.
As we get older, our sense of thirst diminishes and it’s easy to become dehydrated without realising it.
So while it may not be necessary to drink 2 litres of water every day, it is important to ensure an adequate fluid intake.

If i remember rightly, this all stems from an incorrect interpretation of a medical recommendation too. Yes, it suggested that about 2.5 litres of water a day were needed, but the following sentence was totally ignored: "Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods."

I have long felt that encouraging people to drink so much could turn out to be harmful, given that we have evolved to drink when thirsty. Our bodies might actually benefit from the regular swing between being fully hydrated and partially hydrated!

And drinking too much water can be dangerous too.

As others say, the 2L of water a day theory has been disproven.

Unless you have a medical need or condition, drinking to thirst is adequate.

janeainsworth surely there was some other medical condition in addition to being dehydrated that caused the collapse? If someone is eating during the day without a drink, I didn't know it could cause collapse.

Not necessarily Antonia - been there, seen that.
Acute dehydration can lead to UTI’s, severe confusion and yes, loss of consciousness. In less severe instances it can also cause leg and abdominal cramps.

I see people in the street ( not in Winter admittedly) carrying a bottle of water, as if they were in the Sahara, it makes me laugh.
Drinking anything with water in it is good, have a mug of tea.
I drink two smallish glasses of water a day, but other drinks as well, so quite a lot of liquid in a day

No antonia there wasn’t.
Blood pressure dropped to 50/30 & intravenous drip was set up before the trip to hospital. Scary stuff.

Perhaps it is just a fashion fad promoted by the Nestle company who are essentially stealing fresh water resources from the poor all over the world?

The advice is fluids not necessarily water - tea, coffee, juice, water melon etc. And 2L is probably too much - include the fluid in meals as well. Better to wander about with water bottles than sugary fizzy drinks which contribute to obesity. And it has been proved that if children have access to water they concentrate better at school/adults in work.

I think people should drink when they're thirsty but perhaps that means they should be more attuned to the needs of their bodies rather than follow strict stipulations about consumption.

My recollection of school is that it was sometimes cold, as were most of the homes I lived in as a child. These days homes are often centrally heated, double glazed, etc., and probably too hot in most cases. Perhaps that is why rehydration has become such an issue.

Some of us would have had milk at school, too, and we always had water at lunchtime. There were also water fountains in the playgrounds - I wonder if schools still have those?

My grandson said there are no water fountains at school - he was very thirsty when I picked him up and said ‘mummy forgot to pack my drink’. He said he’d had no drink all day. Not sure I believe him that he couldn’t access any water anywhere as he knows I keep Evian bottle in car for emergencies and is always wanting it!

I have needed to drink water and carried a bottle in my bag for years before it became fashionable. If I don't I get headaches and feel generally unwell. I don't know how much I drink but do so when I feel dry. Strangely I never need the toilet any more frequently unless I drink tea or coffee.

I remember drinking glasses of water with school dinners, water from the fountain at playtime, milk of course and water from the tap at home. We didn't drink much else except when the pop van came round once a week.

Eloethan I think you might be right about warmer environments these days.

Of course people can become very ill quickly with dehydration but that doesn’t necessitate drinking 2 or more litres The trouble is today everything goes over the top so quickly I have never felt it necessary to carry a bottle of anything around with me I think it has been popularised by the drinks firms and the plastic bottle companies Everything goes over the top so quickly now

I agree BlueBelle and think all the carrying of water is a bit of virtue signalling.Actors started it, always wandering around with a bottle in hand.

Have a look at your wee. If it’s light in colour you are drinking enough. Dark- you aren’t.
My friend brings her bottle to tennis, in all weathers, she starts swigging after the first game, the other 3 of us seem to be able to play for an hour without collapsing. We are not Wimbledon standard.
I’m not doubting for a moment that some people have become dehydrated but I think that the OP was referring to the general population who don’t have health problems.

If someone feels thirsty they're already dehydrated. The elderly have reduced thirst sensation so are especially prone to dehydration. Tea and coffee (as well as some fizzy drinks) contain caffeine which is a diuretic, so affects the physiology of water reabsorption in the kidneys so they put out more water in the urine contributing to dehydration. Tea can contain just as much or more caffeine than coffee.Water doesn't do that. Dehydration can lead to constipation which isn't good for the bowel and can contribute to irritable bowel, diverticular disease and bowel cancer. Not drinking enough water isn't good for the kidneys and in severe cases can lead to acute kidney failure. A lot of people, especially the elderly, are chronically dehydrated and they're lots of contributing factors such as access to drinks (mobility problems, whilst in hospital! or care homes) ,reluctance to drink due to chronic pain or general lethargy because when they drink adequately they have to walk to the loo, or ask somebody to help them to the loo. Dehydration contributes to confusion,mental "fog", sleepiness (which further contributes to reduced drinking) postural drops in BP and falls,especially in the elderly. Somebody mentioned the colour of the urine as a guide to how well hydrated someone is. Other easy tests are whether the tongue looks nice and pink and moist and if you gently pinch the skin on the back of the hand ,when you leave go the skin shouldn't stay raised up but should return to normal immediately. Rather than the fixed amount you can also use the 30mls of water per kg of body weight per day. Not sure if this link will be allowed but it might be useful regarding nutrition and hydration. www.ageuk.org.uk/brandpartnerglobal/westcumbriavpp/documents/target%20wellbeing/nutrition,%20malnutrition%20and%20hydration%20induction.pdf

Researcch shows children concentrate and perform better if they are regularly hydrated. School water fountains were removed some time ago so a bottle of water for each child is needed. I remember queuing for a drink from the school water fountain at playtime. Even nurseries provide water. My GD knows she has to drink regularly to stop her getting "raisin brain" www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk/press/study-shows-water-may-help-support-childrens-performance/

raisin brain

Drinking too much water can be very bad for you too. I remember Antony Andrews (of Brideshead fame) drinking too much - over 8 litres a day -while acting on stage and suffering from hyponatremia which almost killed him. Everything in moderation ....

Sorry, another thing is that people often feel hunger when they're dehydrated

As I'm aging I'm conscious that I don't often feel thirst though, as misswoosie remarks, I do feel hunger when I know I've eaten enough that day. When I think about what I want to eat, nothing appeals. It's then that I realise I'm actually thirsty.

So it's becoming a necessity to think about being thirsty. I worry that it could become a problem later down the line when who knows, I may not be in full control either of thought processes or intake of liquids