8 glasses of water a day...

recently i read an article that said drinking 8 glasses of water a day is too much since we get most of our needed water from foods, etc. They said somehow this information was lost when it was found we needed a certain amount of daily water. What do you guys/girls think about it? How many of you try to drink lots of water daily?

Good topic whitney_brett.
I do try to drink 8 glasses of water a day. It is a pain with going to the bathroom every single minute
I think it is rightly said that we get most of our needed water from foods, etc. I personally eat a lot of fruits and veggies and they do have a lot of water, not to mention coffee, juices etc.
But I

Staying hydrated is KEY to feeling good, and that's what we need to focus on here, FEELING good. The fact that it keeps things moving and helps the diet is just a bonus.

I don't believe you can drink too much water, it can't hurt you, because any excess will be eliminated. You may end up waking up too many times at night to pee (my problem!), that's annoying but not harmful.

I think most people don't drink enough water. Eight glasses a day never hurt anyone, IMHO.

Elissa
who doesn't drink enough water
and wakes up 2-3x a night to pee anyway!

Actually, you can drink too much water and it can actually kill you. I have forgotten the medical term for it but it does exist. Kids who take Ecstacy sometimes are so thirsty that they drink too much water and die and there was a case in the news recently where some parents killed their child by punishing her by making her drink too much water.

That said, I think you need to drink enough to stay well hydrated. Living in a hot, humid climate and spending a lot of time outdoors, I have to drink quite a bit of water or I am really thirsty. I just base my water consumption on that.

wow, I had no idea!!!

i personally don't drink all that much water. if i work out or i'm thirsty i do but other than that i just feel so bloated when i drink a large volume of water. Usually i just drink enough to wet my mouth or to cool me down. There's no way i could drink 8 glasses of water a day!

I believe what demodoll is referring to is water intoxication. I think what happens is that people drink so much water that their sodium level drops. From there the brain has to take over and absorb some of this water, causing swelling. It can even fill up in the lungs. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this--this is just my general understanding of what happens). It's common for ecstasy users to suffer from water intoxication and even die. They drink so much water to replace what they've lost while dancing around that they overhydrate. That's kinda of scary to know that something as common and harmless as water can kill someone!