The copy of NZ Woman’s Health I purchased (see yesterday’s blog post) had an interesting article about water and some of the myths people believe about it.
Here are some I found particularly interesting.
1. Bottled water is NOT better than tap water. In most cases tap water is safe to drink and contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium and zinc. It’s actually better if we drink tap water because it means fewer plastic bottles in landfills.
2. We should drink 8 glasses of water per day. No one is sure where this came from. The amount of water we require depends on our size and the type of activities we take part in during the day. Quite a few foods contain water as well so it’s not always necessary to drink glasses and glasses of water.
3. Tea and Coffee cause dehydration. Not true. As long as you don’t drink to excess, tea and coffee actually contain water along with the caffeine. Around five cups or less per day is considered okay.
I try to drink extra glasses of water during the day, but mostly it depends on my day and the availability of restrooms. What goes in invariably comes out!
My hubby often wakes in the small hours of the morning. Whenever he does, he has a glass of water and always brings me one too. I’m always thirsty in the morning so a glass of water is very welcome. Isn’t he well trained?
How much water do you drink each day? Do you like drinking water?
I read somewhere once waking up thirsty is a sign of diabetes. I’m always thirsty when I wake up, have been for years, and I don’t have diabetes. Who knows?
Water is my drink of choice and I drink quite a lot during the day – at least 8 glasses but like you say, it depends on what I’m doing that day and what the weather is like. Good news on the tea consumption though :)
I drink a glass of water per day — not the best amount in the world but I’m addicted to carbonated beverages. Especially the new Coke Zero. :blush:
I drink lots of water. It’s my beverage of choice. We’re on well water that is so fresh, clear, and cold. The drawback is when I have someone’s water that comes from a city water supply all I can taste is chlorine. I do use plastic bottles filled up with our water. It is convenient when you are on the go, and I wash them to get multiple uses out of them before recycling them.
Nancy – and I thought it was because I’d gone for 8 hours without a drink. :mrgreen:
Jenyfer – I like to drink tea and find it refreshing, even during the hot weather. We don’t have iced tea in New Zealand. I’ve tried ice tea in the US during visits. In a word – yuck!
Debra – you would definitely taste the difference in the water. We moved from one suburb to another and tasted the difference. At the first place we had a water filter. At our current place I just drink the water straight from the tap.
We reuse our plastic water bottles too. My husband uses them to take water to work.
Jaime – they said that a few carbonated beverages were okay too, but if you drink those you have to be careful of hidden sugar.
I drink water and coffee constantly. I guess I’ll be fine if I get my intake down to 5 cups of coffee a day, huh? grin.
I drink coffee all day long. I make iced tea in the summer and drink that. Our tap water here smells and tasts like chlorine and even though they say there’s nothng wrong with it, it tastes really bad so I don’t drink alot of straight tap water.
No iced tea in New Zealand, Shelley? Surely you jest! LOL Although now that you mention it, I have a friend from NZ who shudders at the idea of iced coffee…
I drink more water when the weather is hot I don’t drink as much water when the weather is cold. I drink more coffee than I do anything else.
Oh yay! that’s so good to know about coffee!!! As for water, we drink bottled water (and reuse our bottles – although I read somewhere you aren’t supposed to reuse them more than a few times?) because we (that would be me – lol) hates the taste of the stuff that comes out of the tap! :eek:
PS in case my last comment doesn’t make sense – we have small bottles we reuse, by filling them up from the larger ones… sorry! Brain has temporarily left the premises!!!
Sandra – I have trouble keeping my coffee intake down. Actually, I don’t try very hard. :mrgreen:
Mary – some water does taste disgusting. I’m thinking that they add the same things to water, but some of the naturally occurring minerals make it taste different. That’s my theory anyway.
Cari – no, ice tea isn’t on the menu at all, although we do have iced coffee and chocolate.
Sherry – yes, I drink more water when it’s hot. Water seems more refreshing when it’s hot.
Christina – My cynical reaction is that it’s the people who manufacture the bottles who say we shouldn’t reuse them. I’ve heard the same thing.
I drink a lot of water. While I’m at work, I usually drink 2 32 oz. bottles (I refill them at home every night and bring them to work. The water at work tastes strange to me.)
I also drink water when I get home and always go to bed with water, too. I don’t want to get up in the middle of the night for a drink of water!
About your item #2, I think the bottled water companies came up with the idea about drinking 8 glasses per day. We never heard that before bottled water!
somedyas ill drink and drink and drink water on other days ill drink even less just depends really i enjoy juice andtea and soda but i do like to drink water
I like bottled water because it comes in many flavors. I drink more that way.
I sometimes will go days without drinking water. I drink a lot of milk: a gallon disappears every 2-3 days. But when I do drink water it is bottled more often than not. We have well water and sometimes there is just something slightly annoying about the taste of the water.
Tracey, I have to agree. I’m sure the 8 glasses a day wasn’t around when I was a kid.
Wilma – I like water flavored with lemon slices. That’s my favorite on a hot day.
Beth – Milk is good for you. I know a lot of women don’t drink milk these days because of the fat content but we need the calcium for our bones.
Shelley – In defense of iced tea, it isn’t all created equal and the stuff you can get in a restaurant is probably the worse (made from powdered mix in general) Stop by my place sometime and I’ll make you some GOOD iced tea :)
Powdered? Yuck, no wonder it tastes horrible. I really enjoyed my visit to Egypt. Jenyfer, I would LOVE to drop in and have iced tea at your place. :mrgreen:
I do drink a lot of water during the day. Since I have severe RA I try to do anything I can that’s healthy.