Training & Nutrition - Water Habits

How much water do you guys drink per day? I find that I drink 60-80 oz when it's a work day, almost twice that if I'm riding at all. Whenever I stop drinking, I feel thirsty. Pain in the neck, but I've been telling myself that it could be worse, haha. Oh I should throw in that I used to *never* drink water, coffee only. I know, terrible. I've cut back from 60oz coffee per morning to only 16oz per day.

Do you drink a lot of water everyday?

I drink about a gallon a day, maybe 1 1/2 gallons some days. Not because I'm thirsty, it's just a habit that I'm always drinking. If I don't drink, I don't feel particularly thirsty, like when I'm traveling or working on the weekends.

Constant thirst can be a sign of a medical condition (diabetes comes to mind). Wouldn't hurt to get checked out.

I drink at least 80 oz. of home distilled water a day. We use a distiller because the tap water in the Southeast will sooner or later give males especially, kidney stones. If you've ever had one, you'll do anything to not have another one. In the Southeast, the limestone aquifers are one of the major causes of stones. Also, once you distill a gallon of tap water and see the crud left in the bottom of the pot, you won't drink tap water again. I live in a city where the water tests better than most places....per the govt. Therefore, it means nothing.

^^ Sounds like an old wives tale. Do you have any supporting evidence?

The OP should also check the amount of sodium in their diet also. It has an effect on how thirsty you feel throughout the day.

^^ Sounds like an old wives tale. Do you have any supporting evidence?

Yes. Ever had a kidney stone, consulted with urologists in the Southeast, done your own research, then drawn conclusions based on existing fact? I didn't think so.

It used to be that sites everywhere said 'drink more water' but that has been turned around since this Canadian study.

Drinking too much water called latest threat to health (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=378f85de-27de-4046-815e-293b772666e5)

Now there are quite a few pages saying not to drink more than 6 glasses a day. Here is one from the kidney foundation. http://www.aakp.org/newsletters/KB--Electronic-Newsletter/February-2008/Too-Much-Water/

And a quote from it,


A study found drinking too much water may cause loss of kidney function and increase the risk of developing kidney disease.

Researchers found individuals who drank more than an average of four liters per day had a condition called proteinuria, or abnormal amounts of protein in the urine. Proteinuria causes progressive loss of kidney function. When the study participants lowered their drinking to less than eight large glasses per day for one week, the kidney abnormality was corrected.

Researchers suggest drinking less than six glasses of fluid per day to lower the risk of proteinuria or kidney disease.

I'm with the op, and drank mostly coffee for years. It led to the discovery of the handyman's theory of evolution (http://mainlytext.com/). But have switched mostly to tea and water.

It used to be that sites everywhere said 'drink more water' but that has been turned around since this Canadian study.

That's interesting and definitely something I'll have to look into.

The closing sentence leaves me with some doubts about the study though:



What's not known is "whether the proteinuria associated with excessive fluid intake in these otherwise healthy people will affect their kidney function in the long term," the researchers wrote in this week's journal article.


The other part that concerns me about the validity of the study is that if I read it correctly, only the population of Walkerton, Ont. was observed. Since their water supply had been contaminated, it makes me wonder if that contributed to kidney damage or some other metabolic damage that contributed to the proteinuria.

Editted to add:

I missed the pat about E. coli being known to cause kidney damage:



Clark's team has been screening the population of Walkerton to track for health syndromes associated with E. coli damage. The big, silent problem is kidney damage.


So the fact that they're drawing conclusions about water intake from 56 individuals who likely have kidney damage doesn't lead me to give much credibility to the study.

The other part that concerns me about the validity of the study is that if I read it correctly, only the population of Walkerton, Ont. was observed. Since their water supply had been contaminated, it makes me wonder if that contributed to kidney damage or some other metabolic damage that contributed to the proteinuria.They found the proteinuria was reversible in most cases. This would rule out E Coli as the source of the proteinuria.

Yes. Ever had a kidney stone, consulted with urologists in the Southeast, done your own research, then drawn conclusions based on existing fact? I didn't think so.I did some research and every thing I read indicated harder water did not cause kidney stones, that's why I asked the question. Here is one example: Can Tap Water High in Calcium Cause Kidney Stones? (http://www.livestrong.com/article/543374-can-tap-water-high-in-calcium-cause-kidney-stones/) The conclusion:
Higher dietary calcium intake is associated with a lower risk for kidney stones, presumably because intestinal calcium absorption is limited by other substances -- oxalates and phytates, mainly -- from foods. Conversely, the calcium in food prevents the absorption of other necessary stone-forming ingredients, specifically oxalates. When you drink it with food, hard water is simply another source of dietary calcium, but its calcium is similar to that found in supplements when you drink it on its own. Even then, high-calcium tap water’s contribution to kidney stone formation appears to be negligible.

Here's a chart from one study showing a negative correlation between water hardness and kidney stones:
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Other studies confirmed that there is definitely a higher incidence of kidney stones in the Southeast relative to the Northwest but it's not due to a higher level of water hardness. So again, I'll ask if you have any supporting evidence?

They found the proteinuria was reversible in most cases. This would rule out E Coli as the source of the proteinuria.

I didn't see where they had the people increase their water consumption and see if it came back. I'm not sure how it could be called reversed if they didn't do this. To me that kind of like stopping the bleeding by putting on a tourniquet. Yes, you stopped the bleeding but you didn't fix the real cause of the bleeding.

I didn't see where they had the people increase their water consumption and see if it came back. I'm not sure how it could be called reversed if they didn't do this. To me that kind of like stopping the bleeding by putting on a tourniquet. Yes, you stopped the bleeding but you didn't fix the real cause of the bleeding.They reversed the condition by reducing water consumption from excessive to normal levels. Why would they need to repeat that process. They fixed the cause of the proteinuria which was excessive water consumption.

They reversed the condition by reducing water consumption from excessive to normal levels. Why would they need to repeat that process. They fixed the cause of the proteinuria which was excessive water consumption.

I guess you and I just have different ideas of what disease reversal is.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate the details about the study to examine the methodology, so the only thing I have to go off of is the news article. The news article either reports incomplete data or the study was really lacking.

All that I'm seeing is that they showed that people with likely kidney dysfunction due to damage from E. Coli experienced proteinuria when drinking large amounts of water, and it went away when the water was reduced.

To prove that excessive water consumption causes proteinuria, they would need to show that they could cause it by testing people, having them drink excessive water, and showing that the excessive water caused proteinuria. I don't see that they did that. If I'm missing that, I'd be glad to concede that I'm wrong about the study and immediately decrease my water consumption.

I guess you and I just have different ideas of what disease reversal is.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate the details about the study to examine the methodology, so the only thing I have to go off of is the news article. The news article either reports incomplete data or the study was really lacking. You can read it here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2175005/


All that I'm seeing is that they showed that people with likely kidney dysfunction due to damage from E. Coli experienced proteinuria when drinking large amounts of water, and it went away when the water was reduced.As you'll see in the article, the subjects had normal kidney functions.


To prove that excessive water consumption causes proteinuria, they would need to show that they could cause it by testing people, having them drink excessive water, and showing that the excessive water caused proteinuria. I don't see that they did that. If I'm missing that, I'd be glad to concede that I'm wrong about the study and immediately decrease my water consumption.That might be a better way to conduct a test although this wasn't the original purpose of their study. In any case they also aren't sure yet whether this proteinuria would cause permanent kidney damage but recommend people may be advised to not consume large amounts of water.

You can read it here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2175005/

Thank you.


As you'll see in the article, the subjects had normal kidney functions.

According to their measurements, I would agree. However I'm becoming increasingly convinced we don't know as much about the human body as we think we know, which will make me skeptical about most studies, especially when they include the words "may" and "seemingly" more than a few times.



That might be a better way to conduct a test although this wasn't the original purpose of their study. In any case they also aren't sure yet whether this proteinuria would cause permanent kidney damage but recommend people may be advised to not consume large amounts of water.

I think further research is necessary to reach a conclusion. However, after reading the actual study, I'm considering reducing my overall fluid intake based on the possibility that I may be doing harm and I have no valid reason for my level of fluid intake other than it's what I've become accustomed to.

You can read it here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2175005/

Just to add another thank you. Hadn't seen the actual study.

Riding hard yesterday I slammed back too much water, had to puke on the side of the road, clear and some odd as **** BANANA YELLOW phlegm.... gnarly

I drink no less than 3 liters per day, often 4+. I take 2 diuretics and that affects my fluid levels constantly.