Originally Posted by chasm54

Yes, it is interesting. I saw the coverage of the BMJ articles and was smug in the way I get when my uninformed prejudices seem to be confirmed by the data.

Pro cyclists in the old days used to say "driest is fastest". I've even heard some quoted as saying "the more you drink, the thirstier you get". I wouldn't go that far, but the idea that you should drink more than you want seems suspicious to me, as does the notion that water plus food is inferior to the hideously sticky drinks and gels that are constantly peddled to us.

And I once flirted with hyponatremia. When cycling in extreme heat in Tanzania I drank several litres of water with electrolyte tablets in it and still couldn't pee. I thought I must be incredibly dehydrated, but we had a medic with us and he told me to stop drinking until I started to pee normally again. So I did, and it worked. I was fine, never felt ill or anything, but it gave me pause for thought: left to my own devices, and with the warnings about dehydration echoing in my mind, I'd have continued drinking more and more and could have got myself into trouble. So these days I hydrate with plain water and drink when I'm thirsty. It seems to work fine.