Water is life. There is no better statement that can summarize the importance of good H2O in every living organism that eats, sleeps and breathes. The mothers told their children to put down the soda and drink more water. Most adults who adhere to drinking water regularly cultivated this habit as adults. Whatever the cause of the epiphany of the importance of drinking water in their lives, I suspect it had to do with the ingrained belief of drinking 8 glasses of water every day.
In case you are scratching your head; eight glasses of water is equivalent to 1.9 liters to maintain a well-hydrated body. You would have to be very thirsty every day to consume that much water. And considering that most people lead sedentary lifestyles, they are unlikely to drink that much. Does this mean they are close to dehydration? Or is the long held belief wrong?
The only way to know if the drinking water theory is well supported is to trace it back to its original origin. According to Dr. Valtin, a kidney specialist, states that there are no scientific studies to support the belief of drinking 8 x 8 ounce glasses of water as a daily requirement. Dr. Valtin goes on to say that a recommendation given by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council might have been taken out of context. The council recommended “1 milliliter of water for every calorie of food,” which is roughly 64 to 80 fluid ounces.
The misinformation took place when the last part of the recommendation that reads: “most of this amount is contained in prepared foods”, – somehow lost to people. This gave way to the birth of the urban legend of drinking eight glasses a day. A convenient truth for water bottling companies, and according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, water bottling companies earned $ 7.7 billion from thirsty Americans in 2002.
Are you aware that you can die from drinking too much water? Jennifer Strange, a former California resident, died in January 2007 of a water overdose. Jennifer was participating in a contest organized by radio station KDND 107.9 called “Hold your dick for a Wii.” The contestants, including Jennifer Strange, drank copious amounts of water during the contest. He left the study for his home complaining of severe headaches.
The next day they found her dead. A preliminary coroner’s report listed the death as “consistent with water intoxication.” Jennifer died of what is called hyponatremia. This is a condition caused by drinking excessive amounts of water that causes the blood to thin and lose sodium. Its symptoms are vomiting and headaches.
Although this is an extreme case of water poisoning, Dr. Valtin states that drinking eight glasses of water can cause water poisoning, if the kidneys cannot remove water quickly enough through the urination process. Jennifer Strange did not use the bathroom when she entered the contest.
