Out of the hundreds of nutrients we need, water stands above all others. Unlike vitamins and minerals, there is no such thing as a "water deficiency". If you become dehydrated for a long enough period of time, the primary symptom of "water deficiency" is death.
The idea that water is vital to health is not new. The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, was so enamored with the healing effects of water that he invented a crude instrument (known as a “Hippocrates Sleeve”) to purify water for his patients.
With hundreds of thousands of research studies investigating human health, one would think that there would be mountains of research on the effect of hydration and health. Not so. The number of research papers is actually somewhere around 50.
Perhaps this astonishingly low amount of scientific data is the reason behind the giant amount of misinformation regarding health and hydration.
So sit down, grab a cold glass of H20, and prepare to finally learn the truth about hydration.
Hydration Fact or Fiction: "78% of Americans Are Chronically Dehydrated"
FICTION
This fiction comes first not only because this "statistic" is ALL OVER the internet, but because it is the most baseless.
Obtaining a representative sample of an entire country is no small feat. Adding to this difficulty is the fact that measuring hydration status requires at least a urine sample. Think of the millions of taxpayer dollars that go into the U.S. Census-and that they only obtain basic information like income and family size. I’ve yet to be asked by a Census employee to pee in a cup.
We may never know how many people are dehydrated-mostly because assessing hydration status is not quite as easy as assessing body weight. Unlike weight, which tends to be stable (except around the holidays), hydration status can change within minutes. This makes hydration a moving target which is hard to get conclusive information from.
Hydration Fact or Fiction: "Even Being A Little Dehydrated Can Cause Problems"
FACT
For years, scientists used to look at hydration in two ways: either you were horribly dehydrated (think stranded on a desert island) or you were over-hydrated (think underwater). Recently, that mindset has changed as mild dehydration has been linked to a variety of health problems. Everything from hypertension to urinary tract infections (UTIs) to heart disease has been linked to not drinking enough water.
For some conditions, like UTIs and kidney stones, the connection to hydration is quite strong. For other conditions, such as bladder cancer, more
research needs to be done.
Either way, drinking enough water will definitely not harm your health -and it will definitely help.
Hydration Fact or Fiction: "You Should Drink 8, 8oz. Glasses of Water Everyday"
FICTION
This is another "statistic”" that was pulled out of thin air.
Broad, catch-all nutrition advice for everyone on Earth doesn’t make sense. Does it seem right that both a 90 year old grandmother and a 25 year old tri-athlete should drink exactly the same amount of water?
Coming up with an ideal amount of water that reduces the risk of chronic disease may not ever happen. Currently, the Institute of Medicine recommends that women consume around 9 cups of total fluid a day and men consume roughly 13 cups of total fluid a day. Another method is to assess urine color. Clear urine indicates good hydration while dark urine indicates mild dehydration.
The best method is to follow the Institute of Medicine recommendations, check your urine and thirst, and adjust as necessary.
As you can see, hydration research is still in its infancy. However, there is enough research now for us to make decent guesses about how much water is just right. In the meantime-drink up!
Brian Dean MS, RD is a registered dietitian and researcher. After years of research, Brian has set his sights on helping those with lower back pain. He serves on the Medical Nutrition Committee for The American Society for Nutrition and is a professional member of numerous research organizations including the International Association for The Study of Pain, American Chronic Pain Society, and The American Dietetic Association. He recently created a research-based lower back pain treatment program called The Back Pain Diet which is available from his website Stop Lower Back Pain.
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