what's your typical daily intake of liquids? has this changed over time?
April 1, 2022 3:20 PM Subscribe
Do you primarily drink water/beverages with meals or as stand-alone thirst quenchers separate from food? I know all bodies are different, but I'm curious to what extent culture, climate and other external factors impact how much we drink and when. My relatives in Korea were baffled at how much water I drank during meals, they drank a small cup of water after the meal (as did my classmates in Korea).
In their view, the obligatory soup/stew provided liquids enough during the meal. I'm not a particularly sweaty person nor do I work out, so my need for constant hydration was taken as a symptom of diabetes.
I remain a thirsty person (insert joke here) but now I drink a lot of stand-alone beverages. I attribute this to living in Southern California and having to deal with dry desert air on the regular. I also up my intake of cold beverages during heat waves, so much so that I also up my sodium intake to not throw my body into confusion (I get lightheaded when I stand up in the summer when I drink tons of water, my guess is from low blood pressure).
I recently listened to a Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode about how the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped into North American wellness "conventional wisdom" is silly and that we should just drink when we're thirsty.
What's your water wisdom?
In their view, the obligatory soup/stew provided liquids enough during the meal. I'm not a particularly sweaty person nor do I work out, so my need for constant hydration was taken as a symptom of diabetes.
I remain a thirsty person (insert joke here) but now I drink a lot of stand-alone beverages. I attribute this to living in Southern California and having to deal with dry desert air on the regular. I also up my intake of cold beverages during heat waves, so much so that I also up my sodium intake to not throw my body into confusion (I get lightheaded when I stand up in the summer when I drink tons of water, my guess is from low blood pressure).
I recently listened to a Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode about how the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped into North American wellness "conventional wisdom" is silly and that we should just drink when we're thirsty.
What's your water wisdom?
3-5 liters a day every day. Which is apparently 150ish ounces.
I drink or eat when I am thirsty. Both work. I can go all day without water if I just eat a whole lot. Or, weirdly, if I eat and drink nothing at all. I'm very tall (6'5") and generally large. Also sweaty, I suppose.
When I'm cycling long distance (~100 miles), I drink probably 10 liters. I carry at least 4-6 liters the whole time out of paranoia. But I'm about to bounce to the hardware store by bicycle (~20 miles) and I'll probably not drink a drop.
I'm pretty sure we're adaptable as long as we can eat or drink something eventually. The salt issues and the headaches are the most noticeable part.
posted by Snijglau at 4:02 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink or eat when I am thirsty. Both work. I can go all day without water if I just eat a whole lot. Or, weirdly, if I eat and drink nothing at all. I'm very tall (6'5") and generally large. Also sweaty, I suppose.
When I'm cycling long distance (~100 miles), I drink probably 10 liters. I carry at least 4-6 liters the whole time out of paranoia. But I'm about to bounce to the hardware store by bicycle (~20 miles) and I'll probably not drink a drop.
I'm pretty sure we're adaptable as long as we can eat or drink something eventually. The salt issues and the headaches are the most noticeable part.
posted by Snijglau at 4:02 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
After getting bad heartburn, I make some effort to stagger consuming quantities of liquids and solids by 30 minutes, following a doctor's advice. "You don't want the food to swim."
That, and I was told to make sure to wait 2 hours after solids and 1 hour after liquids to do planks and bringing exercises.
This advice worked extremely well to prevent heartburn.
> I recently listened to a Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode about how the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped into North American wellness "conventional wisdom" is silly and that we should just drink when we're thirsty.
That, and I think you'll want to keep an eye on how clear/dark your urine is.
> I drink smoothies/boba/milkshakes/etc at least once a week for a treat.
One summer in my mid-twenties I was getting a daily Frappuccino. 10-15 pounds later, it suddenly clicked for me that Frappuccinos are milkshakes, not coffee.
> but I'm curious to what extent culture, climate and other external factors impact how much we drink and when.
https://www.thecut.com/2016/06/if-youre-way-too-sweaty-blame-your-early-childhood.html
That, and I was told to make sure to wait 2 hours after solids and 1 hour after liquids to do planks and bringing exercises.
This advice worked extremely well to prevent heartburn.
> I recently listened to a Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode about how the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped into North American wellness "conventional wisdom" is silly and that we should just drink when we're thirsty.
That, and I think you'll want to keep an eye on how clear/dark your urine is.
> I drink smoothies/boba/milkshakes/etc at least once a week for a treat.
One summer in my mid-twenties I was getting a daily Frappuccino. 10-15 pounds later, it suddenly clicked for me that Frappuccinos are milkshakes, not coffee.
> but I'm curious to what extent culture, climate and other external factors impact how much we drink and when.
https://www.thecut.com/2016/06/if-youre-way-too-sweaty-blame-your-early-childhood.html
...posted by sebastienbailard at 4:02 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
2. A lot of your sweatiness comes down to stuff you can’t control, and was partially “set” when you were really young. Explaining why some people sweat more than others, Rittié said that “[w]e think this is because of the following interesting fact. Everyone is born with virtually the same number of sweat glands, but sweat glands mature during the first 2 years of life. Not all sweat glands become able to produce sweat (it depends on the need during that time). So people who grew up in warm climates tend to have more active sweat glands than people who grew up in a climate-controlled environment or in cold climates. As adults, we keep all our sweat glands but only a portion of them are able to produce sweat. This percentage varies between individuals.”
I asked her if she was aware of any genetic factors contributing to this, and she said no. So that leaves the environment you spend your early years in as a major contributing factor to how sweaty you are later in life. And parts of the developed world are so carefully and obsessively climate-controlled that it’s easy to imagine that many of today’s adults grew up in situations where their “climate” indoors had little connection to the part of the world they were from. All things being equal, one might expect people who grow up in hot parts of Africa without air conditioning to be much more sweaty than those who grow up in, say, the American Southwest with access to AC.
I drink at least one 12 oz seltzer with each meal (I have 4 small meals a day, so that's 4 seltzers, plus a smoothie with about 8 oz of water in it). Plus I usually drink 3 to 5 17 oz bottles of water.
I also salt my food way more heavily than the average person, fwiw.
But I think I'm definitely on the extreme end. I'm not particularly a sweaty person, either. I do workout, but not to the extent that really justifies this. I do think I'm on the higher end of water consumption.
It's not that I push myself to drink this much. I don't know really. I just like to drink a lot of water, I guess.
Although as it turns out, I also have a condition for which one of the treatments is high intake of fluids and salt. (I only very recently got diagnosed, but have likely had it all my life.) So in my case, this may be my body's way of naturally compensating for this condition.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I also salt my food way more heavily than the average person, fwiw.
But I think I'm definitely on the extreme end. I'm not particularly a sweaty person, either. I do workout, but not to the extent that really justifies this. I do think I'm on the higher end of water consumption.
It's not that I push myself to drink this much. I don't know really. I just like to drink a lot of water, I guess.
Although as it turns out, I also have a condition for which one of the treatments is high intake of fluids and salt. (I only very recently got diagnosed, but have likely had it all my life.) So in my case, this may be my body's way of naturally compensating for this condition.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink water or tea (both hot and cold) all day during work, with meals, and while I'm just sitting on the couch reading. To me this is just normal. This also means I have to pee fairly frequently.
I'm not doing this for the "8 glasses of water" thing, I just like to have something to drink while I'm sitting and working or reading. I think that I use refilling my glass as my excuse to get up and move around a little, because otherwise I'd just sit still all day.
But I recently had a sibling staying with me and they only seemed to drink liquids while eating meals, and when they did they repeatedly emptied their glass and needed refills. But after or between meals I don't recall ever seeing them drink. To my mind they must be thirsty all the time, but they never mention it or get anything to drink. To my recollection they only peed a few times a day.
We grew up in the same house (although I'm almost 15 years older), same culture, same parents. But our liquid consumption habits are just really different.
posted by ralan at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'm not doing this for the "8 glasses of water" thing, I just like to have something to drink while I'm sitting and working or reading. I think that I use refilling my glass as my excuse to get up and move around a little, because otherwise I'd just sit still all day.
But I recently had a sibling staying with me and they only seemed to drink liquids while eating meals, and when they did they repeatedly emptied their glass and needed refills. But after or between meals I don't recall ever seeing them drink. To my mind they must be thirsty all the time, but they never mention it or get anything to drink. To my recollection they only peed a few times a day.
We grew up in the same house (although I'm almost 15 years older), same culture, same parents. But our liquid consumption habits are just really different.
posted by ralan at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
I drink about 2 litres a day. Most of this is outside mealtimes, but I will nearly always have a soft drink with my meal, typically this will be about 300ml of liquid. How much you need to drink varies, and when you want to drink depends a lot of when you usually drink. I've had a drink with my meal since I was a child, and so it's normal / my body is expecting me to do that now. Other people I know don't really drink with meals, but drink after meals.
Excessive thirst can be a symptom of diabetes, but I bet there's a wide variation in what individuals consider is normal in quantity and timing, and also a wife range of consumption that's medically unremarkable.
posted by plonkee at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Excessive thirst can be a symptom of diabetes, but I bet there's a wide variation in what individuals consider is normal in quantity and timing, and also a wife range of consumption that's medically unremarkable.
posted by plonkee at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink 2.5 gallons of water a day. This is a lot. It's normal for me. My brother drinks a lot of water, too, though I don't know his metrics. Maybe I'm just from a thirsty family.
Edited to add: I don't have diabetes and my blood sugar is just fine.
posted by phunniemee at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Edited to add: I don't have diabetes and my blood sugar is just fine.
posted by phunniemee at 4:06 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Two 32-oz bottles for me. (Some of it is morning tea.) That said, i wake up very thirsty every three or four hours each night. I try to scale back my water intake before bedtime (I'm old and getting up three or four times a night to piss is, well, a thing to be expected.) It's strange because I used to sleep through the night with nothing more than a foul taste in my mouth. Being old sucks.
posted by SPrintF at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 4:15 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm from the USA, but I never believed in the "eight glasses of water a day" thing because that type of health advice generally strikes me as bullshit.
I drink when I'm thirsty, which is more when it's hot or when I'm doing something physically demanding, and less when it's cold or I'm just sitting on my butt. I generally don't drink during meals unless I'm eating something really spicy or like, dry crackers.
I sip coffee throughout the morning, probably ending up downing about 20oz or so between when I start work and have lunch. In the afternoon, I switch to seltzer, tea, soda, or ice water with a dash of lime juice - but I might go hours before I feel like I need a drink if I'm just sitting around. If I'm working outside, I'll usually drink ice water I've brought in a thermos.
I can only estimate my coffee intake because I know the size of my pot. Everything else, I don't know. I've never felt the need to track it, and it probably varies tremendously day by day. Multiple liters sounds like SO MUCH to me, though.
Never had any problem with dehydration.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink when I'm thirsty, which is more when it's hot or when I'm doing something physically demanding, and less when it's cold or I'm just sitting on my butt. I generally don't drink during meals unless I'm eating something really spicy or like, dry crackers.
I sip coffee throughout the morning, probably ending up downing about 20oz or so between when I start work and have lunch. In the afternoon, I switch to seltzer, tea, soda, or ice water with a dash of lime juice - but I might go hours before I feel like I need a drink if I'm just sitting around. If I'm working outside, I'll usually drink ice water I've brought in a thermos.
I can only estimate my coffee intake because I know the size of my pot. Everything else, I don't know. I've never felt the need to track it, and it probably varies tremendously day by day. Multiple liters sounds like SO MUCH to me, though.
Never had any problem with dehydration.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
During the week I drink a large mug of coffee in the morning and have 2-3 mugs of herbal tea/hot water during the day. At night time I will have 1-2 small glasses of milk/juice/water. I usually bike to work so in the summer I will drink a bit more - maybe an extra mug's worth of tea or gatorade. On weekends I probably drink less unless I'm eating out or actively exercising. My pee is almost always dark yellow and I always tell myself I should drink more but I can rarely bring myself to do it.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:26 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:26 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, and I've always been like this.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:27 PM on April 1, 2022
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 4:27 PM on April 1, 2022
I don’t really like to drink beverages with my meals, unless it’s wine with dinner. Beer is something that is consumed before dinner. Coffee is typically before or just after breakfast. If there’s water on the table, I will sip it.
I don’t try to drink a specific amount of fluids a day. I drink when I am thirsty, which is often during or after a bike ride or at the end of the day (which very likely contributes to my having to pee once or twice a night). My pee is very light colored so I am not concerned about dehydration.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 4:33 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don’t try to drink a specific amount of fluids a day. I drink when I am thirsty, which is often during or after a bike ride or at the end of the day (which very likely contributes to my having to pee once or twice a night). My pee is very light colored so I am not concerned about dehydration.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 4:33 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I like to drink a lot of water with meals, and during several trips to China, this was the subject of much wonderment for the same reason as it is with your Korean relatives.
Overall, though, I think this is just a habit of mine. I don't need this much water, but I enjoy it. I'll drink water even when I'm not particularly thirsty. And why not?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:04 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Overall, though, I think this is just a habit of mine. I don't need this much water, but I enjoy it. I'll drink water even when I'm not particularly thirsty. And why not?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:04 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I drink mostly water during meals, and water, tea, flavored water, etc constantly all day long.
I didn’t feel any thirstier when I moved to dry Southern California from swampy Philadelpha, but my skin did get extremely dry. I deliberately upped my water intake throughout the day and that helped a lot.
Then, I started taking a couple dehydrating medications, upped my water intake even more, and added some electrolyte drinks as well. Now, I try to hit 200 oz of liquids each day. I basically never feel thirsty, but if I drink less than this the skin on my face gets dry/inflamed and my gums start to get that tacky dry mouth feeling.
Oh, and my A1C levels are normal.
My only water wisdom is: every body is different. It seems totally reasonable that individual people have totally different water needs, and that natural environment, built environment, diet, medications, and personal preferences will exaggerate those differences even further.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 7:00 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I didn’t feel any thirstier when I moved to dry Southern California from swampy Philadelpha, but my skin did get extremely dry. I deliberately upped my water intake throughout the day and that helped a lot.
Then, I started taking a couple dehydrating medications, upped my water intake even more, and added some electrolyte drinks as well. Now, I try to hit 200 oz of liquids each day. I basically never feel thirsty, but if I drink less than this the skin on my face gets dry/inflamed and my gums start to get that tacky dry mouth feeling.
Oh, and my A1C levels are normal.
My only water wisdom is: every body is different. It seems totally reasonable that individual people have totally different water needs, and that natural environment, built environment, diet, medications, and personal preferences will exaggerate those differences even further.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 7:00 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I drink a lot of water through the day, but mostly in an absentminded sort of way related to having a glass to hand. A waiter refilling my glass at dinner might as well just leave the whole pitcher, and I can easily drink a whole pot of tea. But if I eat a meal somewhere without water I don't notice myself being thirsty afterwards. It's more about something to do and, between meals, to lessen the stale taste in my mouth. Brushing my teeth after meals would probably also help with that.
Or, often a glass of water helps me feel better when I'm grouchy or tired after a long day (a desert hiking guide I had told me once that being grouchy is the first sign of dehydration, and I know I don't really notice the signals my body is sending unless I'm actively paying attention, so that was a useful pointer for me even if it's not really "dehydration" in a medical sense). So I'll drink a bit when I get home and if the whole glass just suddenly vanishes down my throat, I'll have another. Otherwise I don't feel like I "need" it when I'm out unless it's a hot day or I've been unusually exercising/sweaty.
posted by Lady Li at 7:01 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Or, often a glass of water helps me feel better when I'm grouchy or tired after a long day (a desert hiking guide I had told me once that being grouchy is the first sign of dehydration, and I know I don't really notice the signals my body is sending unless I'm actively paying attention, so that was a useful pointer for me even if it's not really "dehydration" in a medical sense). So I'll drink a bit when I get home and if the whole glass just suddenly vanishes down my throat, I'll have another. Otherwise I don't feel like I "need" it when I'm out unless it's a hot day or I've been unusually exercising/sweaty.
posted by Lady Li at 7:01 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Do you primarily drink water/beverages with meals or as stand-alone thirst quenchers separate from food?
Hmmm. If I'm not doing much physical labor on the job, it's primarily with meals. Minimum would be something like 2 mugs of coffee in the morning, 12-16 oz of water at lunch, another mug of coffee late afternoon, and 12 oz of seltzer mixed with 4 oz of fruit juice with dinner. Adding another cup of coffee after I get home and/or another seltzer + juice is not uncommon.
If I'm eating lunch or dinner in a restaurant, I'll take advantage of free refills, and add 2-4 glasses of water or unsweetened iced tea to those meals.
If I'm doing a lot of physical labor on the job I'm far more likely to get thirsty enough to notice and drink water outside of meal times. How much is hard to say, because (unfortunately) I have a tendency to open a bottle of water, take a few chugs - enough to satisfy my thirst - and then set the bottle down and forget where I put it or which one was mine. Figure maybe add another 16-64 oz of water on heavy labor days.
(My pee, if you care, tends to be darkish in the morning but very light to virtually clear later in the day, even with the minimum beverage consumption.)
Most of my heavy labor days tend to be outside in the NE Ohio summer sun - 70-90 degrees F, 70-80% humidity - but I can't say that I've noticed any real correlation, some days one extra bottle of water is fine, others I'm chugging a bottle every few hours. Beats the heck outta me.
Interestingly enough, as I just remembered today, which was a pretty heavy labor day, when it's colder and drier (today was 37 degrees, maybe 60% humidity), I feel thirstier sooner and stronger, but at the same time drinking water just doesn't seem . . . appetizing? So I'll kinda grit my teeth until I really can't stand it anymore, and then I'll drink like 8 oz.
the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped
(Ha! I see what you did there . . .) My own half-assed remembrance of the "8 glasses of water debunking" was that the study that originated it looked at any and all sources of liquid, including coffee, teas, soda, soups, even foods like lettuce that have a high water content and figured out what the sort of base good practice amount of total liquids consumed in all forms was, and then added the "equivalent to 8 glasses of water" thing as a way to make it layperson comprehensible. So of course the media in general and a bunch of health/wellness "experts" just grabbed the "EIGHT GLASES A DAY!!" part and ignored the actual context and results of the study.
So it doesn't seem totally incredible that people whose diet includes a lot of soups or stews might not need or want to drink a lot with or between meals, since they are getting a chunk of their "minimum liquid" directly from the meal.
Of course, that also doesn't mean that someone who hydrates throughout the day is diabetic and ignoring it, either.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:13 PM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Hmmm. If I'm not doing much physical labor on the job, it's primarily with meals. Minimum would be something like 2 mugs of coffee in the morning, 12-16 oz of water at lunch, another mug of coffee late afternoon, and 12 oz of seltzer mixed with 4 oz of fruit juice with dinner. Adding another cup of coffee after I get home and/or another seltzer + juice is not uncommon.
If I'm eating lunch or dinner in a restaurant, I'll take advantage of free refills, and add 2-4 glasses of water or unsweetened iced tea to those meals.
If I'm doing a lot of physical labor on the job I'm far more likely to get thirsty enough to notice and drink water outside of meal times. How much is hard to say, because (unfortunately) I have a tendency to open a bottle of water, take a few chugs - enough to satisfy my thirst - and then set the bottle down and forget where I put it or which one was mine. Figure maybe add another 16-64 oz of water on heavy labor days.
(My pee, if you care, tends to be darkish in the morning but very light to virtually clear later in the day, even with the minimum beverage consumption.)
Most of my heavy labor days tend to be outside in the NE Ohio summer sun - 70-90 degrees F, 70-80% humidity - but I can't say that I've noticed any real correlation, some days one extra bottle of water is fine, others I'm chugging a bottle every few hours. Beats the heck outta me.
Interestingly enough, as I just remembered today, which was a pretty heavy labor day, when it's colder and drier (today was 37 degrees, maybe 60% humidity), I feel thirstier sooner and stronger, but at the same time drinking water just doesn't seem . . . appetizing? So I'll kinda grit my teeth until I really can't stand it anymore, and then I'll drink like 8 oz.
the 8 glasses of water a day that has seeped
(Ha! I see what you did there . . .) My own half-assed remembrance of the "8 glasses of water debunking" was that the study that originated it looked at any and all sources of liquid, including coffee, teas, soda, soups, even foods like lettuce that have a high water content and figured out what the sort of base good practice amount of total liquids consumed in all forms was, and then added the "equivalent to 8 glasses of water" thing as a way to make it layperson comprehensible. So of course the media in general and a bunch of health/wellness "experts" just grabbed the "EIGHT GLASES A DAY!!" part and ignored the actual context and results of the study.
So it doesn't seem totally incredible that people whose diet includes a lot of soups or stews might not need or want to drink a lot with or between meals, since they are getting a chunk of their "minimum liquid" directly from the meal.
Of course, that also doesn't mean that someone who hydrates throughout the day is diabetic and ignoring it, either.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:13 PM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
I drink somewhere between one and two gallons a day of liquids - occasionally more - and even during humid weather, I still struggle to stay sufficiently hydrated despite living in the PNW.
And no, I'm not diabetic. It's due to a medication I take, though as long I can remember, it's been a minimum of half a gallon a day.
posted by stormyteal at 9:43 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
And no, I'm not diabetic. It's due to a medication I take, though as long I can remember, it's been a minimum of half a gallon a day.
posted by stormyteal at 9:43 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink about a litre, or about .25 gallons a day total of liquid drinkables. I don't understand how people can consume 1+(!) gallons of anything a day. Canada if that makes any difference. Also I don't like drinking water. I have like half a small glass after brushing my teeth/taking my meds. With meals, only during supper with wine or beer, never water. Daily consumption is orange juice for breakfast, then 1 coffee, then 1 tea, then wine with supper+ evening relaxation. My pee ranges from clear to noticeably yellow. And I am rarely thirsty.
posted by mephisjo at 9:54 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mephisjo at 9:54 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have no idea how much I drink per day, but I hardly ever drink plain water. Unless it's carbonated, which is also hardly ever because it's expensive and results in plastic bottles.
Or if I'm cycling or hiking. Then I have a bottle of water with me.
I do drink a lot of rooibos tea, because I'm in South Africa where it's an everyday drink.
At a guess, I drink about 4 or 5 cups a day, more in winter than summer because without central heating it's a way to stay warm.
I can't eat a sweet treat like chocolate or cake without drinking something, usually tea, to dilute the sweetness.
I don't drink anything with a hot meal, as I have a vague and probably unfounded idea that it interferes with digestion.
I often don't know that I'm thirsty until I start drinking. I keep an eye on the colour of my pee to make sure I don't get dehydrated.
I'm not sweaty at all, I only sweat in unusually hot conditions like spending time in a very hot car.
By the way, anecdotally, I don't think the idea upthread about environment influencing sweaty or non sweating can be accurate. Both my husband and myself grew up in places with no climate control, that get very hot. Hot and dry for me, very hot and very humid for him. Neither of us sweat easily.
I always thought that had more to do with body type, we're both skinny and lanky with olive skin.
posted by Zumbador at 10:24 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Or if I'm cycling or hiking. Then I have a bottle of water with me.
I do drink a lot of rooibos tea, because I'm in South Africa where it's an everyday drink.
At a guess, I drink about 4 or 5 cups a day, more in winter than summer because without central heating it's a way to stay warm.
I can't eat a sweet treat like chocolate or cake without drinking something, usually tea, to dilute the sweetness.
I don't drink anything with a hot meal, as I have a vague and probably unfounded idea that it interferes with digestion.
I often don't know that I'm thirsty until I start drinking. I keep an eye on the colour of my pee to make sure I don't get dehydrated.
I'm not sweaty at all, I only sweat in unusually hot conditions like spending time in a very hot car.
By the way, anecdotally, I don't think the idea upthread about environment influencing sweaty or non sweating can be accurate. Both my husband and myself grew up in places with no climate control, that get very hot. Hot and dry for me, very hot and very humid for him. Neither of us sweat easily.
I always thought that had more to do with body type, we're both skinny and lanky with olive skin.
posted by Zumbador at 10:24 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
At least four litres a day, some days a little more, some days less. When I'm working from home I keep a one-litre water bottle near me at all time and sip from it throughout the day. When I'm working from the office or out and about, I tend to drink a bit less, and I'm more likely to drink things that aren't water like sugar-free soda. On those days I definitely notice later on that I'm more dried out than I'd like to be, which usually manifests as a headache.
I definitely wasn't always this way; as a kid my mother was perpetually disappointed that I didn't drink more water spontaneously (she'd send me to school from the age of 6 or so with a 500ml bottle and most days I'd pour it out in the bathroom so as not to get yelled at when I got home for not finishing it; this level of control and deception from that early an age is 100% indicative of the family culture I grew up in, rather than an outlier). When I was a teenager and had an eating disorder I would restrict my water intake even though I knew it was dumb to do so at the time because I was convinced that drinking water was changing what the scale told me when I was weighing myself far too frequently.
The big thing that changed water intake for me was spending three years in my mid-20s taking lithium. It's a big extra dose of a salt and I found it made me thirsty as hell, and the habit & preference for constantly drinking stuck around even after I stopped taking the medication. When I was on lithium I'd get super anxious about running out of water and getting thirsty (I'd take two pints of water into longer meetings at work and get comments about how virtuous I was for drinking so much water, which made me feel weird because I knew I couldn't just drop "it's cause I'm taking lithium, not 'cause I'm trying to signal that I'm a better person than you" into casual work conversations) and that anxiety also remains even though the intense physical thirst is not so much a thing these days.
I'm pretty sure at least some of the volume I drink is based on psychological rather than physical need, since there comes a point most days when I'm pissing clear, but I still prefer to keep drinking after that point for some reason. I definitely don't have diabetes; I get checked every few years because of the volume I drink and some family history of adult-onset type 1, and it's not that.
In terms of meals, I don't like having no access to liquids while I'm eating as I'm definitely not the world's best chewer or swallower and it helps everything go down, but I don't drink a ton during meals and most of my water consumption happens outside of mealtimes.
posted by terretu at 3:07 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I definitely wasn't always this way; as a kid my mother was perpetually disappointed that I didn't drink more water spontaneously (she'd send me to school from the age of 6 or so with a 500ml bottle and most days I'd pour it out in the bathroom so as not to get yelled at when I got home for not finishing it; this level of control and deception from that early an age is 100% indicative of the family culture I grew up in, rather than an outlier). When I was a teenager and had an eating disorder I would restrict my water intake even though I knew it was dumb to do so at the time because I was convinced that drinking water was changing what the scale told me when I was weighing myself far too frequently.
The big thing that changed water intake for me was spending three years in my mid-20s taking lithium. It's a big extra dose of a salt and I found it made me thirsty as hell, and the habit & preference for constantly drinking stuck around even after I stopped taking the medication. When I was on lithium I'd get super anxious about running out of water and getting thirsty (I'd take two pints of water into longer meetings at work and get comments about how virtuous I was for drinking so much water, which made me feel weird because I knew I couldn't just drop "it's cause I'm taking lithium, not 'cause I'm trying to signal that I'm a better person than you" into casual work conversations) and that anxiety also remains even though the intense physical thirst is not so much a thing these days.
I'm pretty sure at least some of the volume I drink is based on psychological rather than physical need, since there comes a point most days when I'm pissing clear, but I still prefer to keep drinking after that point for some reason. I definitely don't have diabetes; I get checked every few years because of the volume I drink and some family history of adult-onset type 1, and it's not that.
In terms of meals, I don't like having no access to liquids while I'm eating as I'm definitely not the world's best chewer or swallower and it helps everything go down, but I don't drink a ton during meals and most of my water consumption happens outside of mealtimes.
posted by terretu at 3:07 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm in the Southern U.S. I drink at least 80 ounces of water+herbal tea+seltzer water a day (88 day streak!) I tried a goal of 100 and I sloshed (though I do often go over 100), and 60 and I was thirsty some days. In addition, I drink another 24 to 36 ounces of coffee a day, and I'll drink a diet soda during the day and sometimes a caffeine free diet soda in the evening, so let's call it... 116 to 185 oz a day, or 3.5 to 5.5 liters a day? That's both meal and non-meal time consumption, though I dislike eating without a beverage.
I'm not diabetic (my numbers are perfect), I'm just a big bitch lucky enough to live in a place where my water is drinkable and I can afford basically all the seltzer I want (when I quit drinking, my agreement with myself is seltzer water is cheaper and it's working out fine).
posted by joycehealy at 5:24 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm not diabetic (my numbers are perfect), I'm just a big bitch lucky enough to live in a place where my water is drinkable and I can afford basically all the seltzer I want (when I quit drinking, my agreement with myself is seltzer water is cheaper and it's working out fine).
posted by joycehealy at 5:24 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm visiting Southern California from the northeast right now and I'm suddenly thirsty all the time. It happens every time I come, the desert air is a huge factor. My family out here is set up to drink constantly (big sturdy cups to carry around, filters built into the sink) and when they visit me they're definitely still in the habit of drinking a lot of water even when the climate doesn't demand it.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 7:59 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 7:59 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink half a pot of coffee in the morning (about 32 oz) and then 2 or 3 beverages (mix of diet soda, tea, Crystal-lite-esque, and the occasional cocktail) of a 12-16 oz size over the course of the afternoon/evening. It usually aligns with mealtimes because that's when I'm futzing around in the kitchen and it feels like a more efficient routine that way. It averages to about 64 oz/eight 8 oz glasses a day, but I hardly ever drink plain water. If I drink more, the frequency with which I have to pee becomes annoying. This is in a generally moist temperate environment and I don't do any major aerobic activity most days.
posted by drlith at 8:15 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by drlith at 8:15 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I drink water all day every day, and have to make myself stop an hour or two before bed so I don't have to get up to pee at night. I don't measure it, but I've noticed I empty my glass before other people do theirs when we're eating together. I don't do it for any reason other than that I love drinking water.
I have dry eyes, and my eye doctor has told me that being well hydrated will help. I think that's true; if I have a day where I don't drink much, I've noticed my eyes being drier the next day. But maybe there are other days when I don't notice this.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have dry eyes, and my eye doctor has told me that being well hydrated will help. I think that's true; if I have a day where I don't drink much, I've noticed my eyes being drier the next day. But maybe there are other days when I don't notice this.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Me and my partner are on opposite ends of the spectrum here. I drink water/liquids with meals, and rarely at other times unless I am exercising, it's really hot out, or some other reason. I think I just adjusted to this, I have a tiny bladder and if I drink a lot I have to pee ALL THE TIME which is not always convenient. My partner carries a water bottle with him and is drinking constantly and peeing often but not like always. So my total intake in a day is between 1-2 liters and that includes a cup of coffee in the morning and the water I take my pills with (try to wash it down with a full cup of water). I tend to feel better when I'm hydrated but just can't get psyched up to drink more.
posted by jessamyn at 11:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jessamyn at 11:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I feel like I drink a lot, but I do not in fact drink a lot. At all.
I drink all day, and all the way up till bed time. But most of it's just sipping - I drink very slowly. I start with a mug of coffee in the morning, around 18 oz, and it lasts me well into afternoon (I know. Gross. I am heathen.) Then I'll typically sip hot water through the afternoon in the winter, mainly to keep my hands warm, and a coke zero at night. It's unlikely I ever get more than 60 oz a day, and many days I get much less than that. A few mumblety years back I actually had a couple of late-night ER visits for "weird bad feeling like I might die any second" that turned out to be dehydration, but I've gotten better about noticing the signs and just drinking something now.
I think part of my deal is I just don't know when I'm thirsty until I'm REALLY thirsty - mouth-like-a-desert, tongue-like-a-rock thirsty.
posted by invincible summer at 4:10 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
I drink all day, and all the way up till bed time. But most of it's just sipping - I drink very slowly. I start with a mug of coffee in the morning, around 18 oz, and it lasts me well into afternoon (I know. Gross. I am heathen.) Then I'll typically sip hot water through the afternoon in the winter, mainly to keep my hands warm, and a coke zero at night. It's unlikely I ever get more than 60 oz a day, and many days I get much less than that. A few mumblety years back I actually had a couple of late-night ER visits for "weird bad feeling like I might die any second" that turned out to be dehydration, but I've gotten better about noticing the signs and just drinking something now.
I think part of my deal is I just don't know when I'm thirsty until I'm REALLY thirsty - mouth-like-a-desert, tongue-like-a-rock thirsty.
posted by invincible summer at 4:10 PM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
In the wintertime, I drink two large mugs of coffee in the morning, so about 32-40oz, together with breakfast. For mid-day meal I will eat without having a drink. Late evening, I will make a large teapot of herbal tea, so again about 32-40oz.
In the summer, I will add to all of this one 32oz Nalgene (water, with maybe a sploosh of cranberry juice) because it’s warm outside.
I walk every day, rain or shine, about 8 to 10km in winter, and more in the summertime.
Therefore: 2+ to 3+ litres a day. Sugar levels normal. If I drink less, then I feel “off”.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:01 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
In the summer, I will add to all of this one 32oz Nalgene (water, with maybe a sploosh of cranberry juice) because it’s warm outside.
I walk every day, rain or shine, about 8 to 10km in winter, and more in the summertime.
Therefore: 2+ to 3+ litres a day. Sugar levels normal. If I drink less, then I feel “off”.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:01 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not diabetic. I drink a homemade 10-oz latte or cappuccino most mornings, plus a glass of water or can of seltzer. I usually have another seltzer or infrequently a Coke or some-such with lunch, usually another latte or an Americano in the afternoon, and a seltzer or a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, depending on the day. If I'm gigging with my band, I drink about 3 or 4 16-ounce bottles of water a night.
posted by emelenjr at 7:48 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by emelenjr at 7:48 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have low blood pressure. Some of us have trouble holding on to fluids, which means we need to increase our salt and liquid intake considerably. "Normal" standards - even standards recommended by the medical community, which is far more concerned with high blood pressure - are often wrong for us.
posted by equipoise at 10:52 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by equipoise at 10:52 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I do drink beverages with my meals and absolutely in-between. Breakfast is a cup or two of coffee; lunch is a soda, fizzy water, or iced tea; dinner is water or the occasional beer.
But on a typical day outside of meals I tend to have 4-6 32oz tumblers of water. Ever since I had a kidney stone 20 years ago, I took the advice to drink more water seriously. I also live in a very dry climate so staying hydrated is important.
posted by hijinx at 8:08 PM on April 3, 2022
But on a typical day outside of meals I tend to have 4-6 32oz tumblers of water. Ever since I had a kidney stone 20 years ago, I took the advice to drink more water seriously. I also live in a very dry climate so staying hydrated is important.
posted by hijinx at 8:08 PM on April 3, 2022
I'm in the UK. The humidity in my house ranges from about 30% to about 65%, and the temperature ranges from about 20C to over 30 (68F to over 86; my kingdom for air conditioning during those three weeks of the year).
Drinking during a meal is usually about palate cleansing for me. I want a glass of water with my meal, but I'm unlikely to drink even half of it while I eat. If I'm in a restaurant or otherwise in a situation where I have not been able to set my own portion size, there's a good chance I'm dealing with more food than I really want to eat, and I'll usually drink more water, because perversely it seems to help me eat more. I'm perfectly happy to have wine with my evening meal, but similarly, I'm unlikely to drink much of it while I eat. Wine pairing is wasted on me.
Outside of meals, I usually drink a litre or two (er - about 35-70 US fluid ounces, I think) of water over the course of the day - probably less than that on non-work days, when I'm less likely to have a glass of water to hand, and more likely to put off doing anything about being thirsty. I drink more water if it's hot, if the air's dry, or if I'm nervous or bored.
I don't drink much other than water during the day: black coffee to start, maybe one or two more hot drinks over the course of the day; one of those tiny mixer-size cans of Coke if I've been for a long walk on a hot day. I drink beer or wine most evenings, but that's not about hydration.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:54 AM on April 4, 2022
Drinking during a meal is usually about palate cleansing for me. I want a glass of water with my meal, but I'm unlikely to drink even half of it while I eat. If I'm in a restaurant or otherwise in a situation where I have not been able to set my own portion size, there's a good chance I'm dealing with more food than I really want to eat, and I'll usually drink more water, because perversely it seems to help me eat more. I'm perfectly happy to have wine with my evening meal, but similarly, I'm unlikely to drink much of it while I eat. Wine pairing is wasted on me.
Outside of meals, I usually drink a litre or two (er - about 35-70 US fluid ounces, I think) of water over the course of the day - probably less than that on non-work days, when I'm less likely to have a glass of water to hand, and more likely to put off doing anything about being thirsty. I drink more water if it's hot, if the air's dry, or if I'm nervous or bored.
I don't drink much other than water during the day: black coffee to start, maybe one or two more hot drinks over the course of the day; one of those tiny mixer-size cans of Coke if I've been for a long walk on a hot day. I drink beer or wine most evenings, but that's not about hydration.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:54 AM on April 4, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
I drink soda/tea other stuff with meals - at least a full glass at home. At a restaurant, the best thing about restaurants in the US is free refills! My wife and kids drink water with meals. I like the drinks at least as much as the food, so I'm not into that.
I drink smoothies/boba/milkshakes/etc at least once a week for a treat.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:51 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]