Hydration: Dispelling the Myths About How Much Water You Really Need

[video transcript] Today, let's talk about hydration. It's one of the things I'm always asking about when patients come in – one of the different lifestyle choices they can make to improve their health. And I kind of cringe in two directions behind the scenes. One is if somebody's not getting any water at all, particularly here in Arizona where it is parched, and we have plenty of cues to have some water every time we go outside, practically, especially this time of year. And on the other side of things, where people are walking around with gallons of water, and that's probably not good either. So let's dispel some myths.

Hydration Myth #1: The "Eight Glasses a Day" Rule

Number one: the "eight glasses of water every day" myth. Well, where the heck does that come from? It actually goes back to the early '40s. We had a nutrition board in America; they were trying to figure things out, particularly for the troops as they were going off to World War II, and also how that might portend here in the Homeland.

Well, they came up with a recommendation of 2 and a half liters of water per day, which is about 84 ounces. So, divide that by your average glass of water (I hate public math, so bear with me here!), but we have 84 ounces of water; divide that by a 12-ounce glass, and you get somewhere around seven glasses of water. So, you can make a recommendation: people should get 6 to 8 glasses of water per day.

What they actually meant was that you should get 84 ounces of water, but that can also come from food. So if you think about lettuce, for example, or any kind of fruit, well, those are full of water – very, very little fiber and a ton of water. If you think about just about any food, it's full of water. So those recommendations should be skewed a little bit down when it comes to actually drinking water, which is what most of us do when we say, "Well, we need to be hydrated, let's drink a glass of water."

Also it depends on the size of the person: a woman 5 feet tall is different from a man who is 6'5". The hydration needs of these two are clearly different.

Hydration Myth #2: "Half Your Body Weight in Ounces"

The other myth that's out there, the other rule of thumb that's in the zeitgeist, is "drink about half your body weight in ounces." Well, if we kind of go by where this all started with that 84 ounces, a 160-pound person is probably going to come in around 80 ounces of water a day, and I think that's probably an appropriate amount. Somewhere between 40 and 80 ounces is probably appropriate.

But what happens if you're heavier than 160 pounds? You're 200 pounds; now it's 100 ounces of water. 250 pounds (a lot of my male patients are) – well, now you're at, you know, 120, 125... this just keeps going up and up and up the bigger you are. So this guideline kind of has a ceiling on it that is never really communicated, and I would say that ceiling is somewhere between 80 and 100 ounces.

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Well, that's great; it filters out all the impurities that might come from the city to your tap, right? But it also filters out all the nutrients and minerals that you're getting from those waters too. And minerals – sodium, potassium, calcium, things like that – they are keys that unlock your pores. So if you are filtering all of those out, what ends up happening is that you just have H2O, and it's just sitting there inert. Now your body's got to grab sodium, potassium, other things to help move your water through your pores. So it actually at a certain point can get dehydrating with these gallons of water.

You're drinking too much water. We need those electrolytes. Electrolytes fire our nerves and it fires our heart. So if you are drinking too much water, you are actually diluting the amount of electrolytes in there, and you are stressing your kidneys and stressing your heart. So, a good rule of thumb on that: if your pee is clear and you find yourself going a lot and it's clear, you should probably back off the water.

Your Smart Hydration Strategy

Finally, I want to create a strategy for you to get as much hydration as you need:

Drink when you're thirsty: The body is really, really good at regulating your water. The fact of the matter is that we need water to move our blood cells and everything around, so your body will signal you thirst if you need to. Now, if that thirst is coming on all the time or never, we need to take a look at that, run some labs, and just make sure that you don't have any downstream issues.
Morning Hydration: As far as a rule of thumb on water: you're dehydrated overnight. Most people sleep 7-8 hours; we're not drinking water all night long. So wake up, and instead of a cup of coffee (which can be a little dehydrating), drink an 8-ounce glass of water. Great, now you've got 8 ounces in.
Throughout the Day: Many people take supplements, so do another 8 to 12-ounce glass of water. Now we're up to 20 ounces. And then what I do is I take a bottle of water with me in the car, and I just aim (I have about a 25-minute commute) to kind of get rid of that before I get into work. So by the time I get to work, we've had somewhere around 30 ounces of water, which is fantastic. I also have this bottle on my desk, a Yeti; it's about 32 ounces, and I have a goal that if I can get through one of those a day, I'm happy. If I can get through one of it through lunch, it's even better. So now we've got 30 ounces, I got another 32, I got 64 ounces – it's about 6 glasses of water a day, and that's probably fine. If I get a little more in later because I'm thirsty, then that's a whole 'nother story, and we've topped it up. But at least you've kind of front-loaded your water.

That's my strategy for the day when it comes to hydration: try to front-load it, and then if you get more in later on, fantastic. And also remember those guidelines: again, we do get water from food, and then the body also tightly regulates it, so you will be well hydrated. There are benefits to good hydration, and that's why we say to drink water, but you don't have to overdo it. And on the days you underdo it, just make sure you backfill that on your other days with a little bit extra. Be practical about it.

We have other practical tips on our website. It's DrDanWool.com. In the meantime, "fix your gut, solve your health".