Doesn’t it sound weird that we don’t really need 8 glasses of water?
I think it does because from our childhood we are taught or told by someone elderly to drink 8 glasses of water per day to fulfill our H2O requirement of the day. (Note: Here in this post, I am taking the volume of water in 1 glass as 8 ounces or approx. 200 ml)
However, this is just not true and today we are going to discuss just why??
Why no ‘8 glasses of H20’ ?
Ok, so why is the “8 cups of water every day” thing not true?
See, this is true to some extent but not entirely. In this statement, the “8 glasses” doesn’t mean 8 cups/glasses of water, it actually means the amount of water 8 glasses can hold, i.e, 2 liters. But people often misinterpret this.
The thing is that you can get your 2 liters of daily water without actually having 8 glasses of water !!! Want to know how?
Surprisingly, the answer is our FOOD !! But now you may think that how can we get water from our food. Well, various studies and articles by respected organizations have proven the fact that we get at least 20% of the water from our daily food intake. And this 20% of the water that we get from our food actually decreases these 8 glasses of H20 to 5-7 glasses. Isn’t it fascinating that even from as solid as food, we can get a liquid like water !!!
But have you wondered how exactly do we get water from food?
Well, we get water in many ways from our food like –
- Water from our ‘water-rich’ fruits in our salad
- Water is even present in our vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum etc.
- Water in our day-to-day dairy items like yogurt, milk, etc.
Overhydration
I think now you fully understand why we don’t really need to drink many cups of water every day to fulfill our daily H20 needs.
However, many people still tend to misinterpret that statement I explained earlier and sometimes fall into the trap of overhydration which basically means when we drink more water than our bodies can retain !! And I don’t think you may want that if you check out the dangers or after-effects associated with overhydration. Although note that these effects are very rarely seen in one’s body, these effects are seen only when the case is serious like if someone’s kidneys don’t function properly they are unable to excrete the excess water in the form of urine.
Effects of overhydration
These are some worrying effects of overhydration according to msdmanual.com –
- When overhydration occurs quickly, vomiting and trouble with balance develop.
- If overhydration worsens, confusion, seizures, or coma may develop.
- When overhydration occurs and blood volume is normal, the excess water usually moves into the cells, and tissue swelling (edema) does not occur. When excess blood volume occurs, fluid can accumulate in the lungs and lower legs.
You can even check now whether you are in an overhydrated condition or not !! If your urine is colorless, then you are overhydrated and if it’s very dark in color then you are underhydration. Try to be between these two extremes.
