# 6-8, 8oz glasses a day... UGH! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589 "2004-06-22T06:00:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/21 "2004-06-22T14:44:11Z")
Just squirt a little bit (a little bit!) of lemon juice into the water before you freeze it. Ever notice when you get a glass of water in a restaurant that has a slice of lemon in it, that the water tastes better when you squeeze that slice into it before drinking? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/22 "2004-06-22T16:20:29Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Another vote for you don’t have to drink that much water. (I was recently converted from my rabid pro-water stance by some excellent arguments in GQ; however, since I run about 6 miles a day, I still drink a LOT of the stuff :D.) You really don’t need to force down that much water. But if you’re determined to drink it, adding a little bit of fruit juice or drinking something like Crystal Lite if you’re dieting, or regular lemonade if you’re not, should work. Another way to determine if you’re hydrated enough is the pee test. If your pee is pale, that’s a good sign. If it’s bright yellow or darker, you may be dehydrated. > > On another note, though, 90% of your daily fluid intake is coffee?? I like coffee a lot, but doesn’t that make you jittery, or have you just gotten used to it? If you were a vampire who never had coffee, you’d probably get pretty jittery after feasting on me. But it doesn’t bothermeabit. Nope. Notabit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/23 "2004-06-22T17:13:22Z")
I don’t like drinking water, either, because it tastes really boring to me. I manage to get the 6-8 glasses I try to drink in by using Crystal Light. No sugar, no calories, and lots of flavours. Unless, of course, you don’t like artificial sweetener. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/24 "2004-06-22T18:47:47Z")
There was a rather lengthy story on this subject that I found about a year ago on Yahoo News. I search for it every time this subject comes up, but have no luck finding it. Perhaps someone with access to a better search database, or more Google kung-fu than I can find it. [This WebMD article](http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/14/1668_51096) from 2001 is the best link I can find, but I seem to recall the study I read was published in 2002. Basically, a doctor (in Italy, if I recall correctly) conducted some research into the “6-8 glasses per day” standard, looking for its origins and any data to support it. He found nothing. Apparently, the 6-8 glasses per day was just folk wisdom adopted by nutritionists and other medical professionals. He found that it was especially popular with laypeople and fad nutrition authors. But there were no cites to be found, and no experimentation to back it up. So he did some experiments and found that most people who don’t drink that much water get their water in other means. Even beer, wine and caffeinated beverages, after the first few, balance out their diuretic effects, and habitual consumption leads to tolerance of the diruetic. So, in other words, the 6-8 glasses per day standard is a wive’s tale, there is at least one published study to support that conclusion, and the 6-8 glasses per day proponents apparently have paid no attention. I really, really would appreciate someone finding that report, since I know I didn’t imagine it. But Yahoo News is notorious for not indexing their news stories older than a couple of months. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/25 "2004-06-22T20:08:33Z")
I like drinking water, but it has to be very very cold. I put bottles of water in the freezer, breaking the ice up every so often as it forms, until it becomes quite slushy. I also like to chew ice though, so if you don’t enjoy that, this method might not be for you. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/26 "2004-06-23T00:27:30Z")
Eight glasses of water a day?! That’s like a fuckin’ homework assignment! They want us to drink 56 glasses of water a week, I’m gonna need a god damn burro to carry all this shit around with me! All credit to Lewis Black. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/27 "2004-06-23T00:43:32Z")
I don’t like drinking water either, but here’s a few of the things I do: -add a few squirts of lime or lemon juice–it helps more than I thought with the flavor, especially if I’m having to drink tap water (which I can only take w/liberal amounts of ice) -add a drop or two of vanilla flavoring; no sugar used with either method, btw, so it’s still pretty healthy. -try to drink bottled water when I can. -weak juice; that is, take about a teaspoon or two of frozen concentrate in a container, then when I get to work I add liberal amounts of ice and a bit of water, shake vigorously, then guzzle away. 😃 Juices I’ve been using lately: orange/peach/mango and pineapple. By the time the ice melts, it’s pretty watered down, to the point of beig flavored water almost, but I still can drink it. This method probably isn’t as healthy as the others I use, but it seems to work for me. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/28 "2004-06-23T01:15:48Z")
You might also try some of the flavored fizzy waters they have around, like Mendota Springs. I like their lime flavored soda water. Oh yeah, and if I see a vampire that acts like its on speed, I’ll know he recently **Cinnamon Girl** a visit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/29 "2004-06-23T02:22:38Z")
I don’t drink coffee but I do drink tea. I get bored with tea though. I guess I’ll try the lemon in the water trick. I’m just not into diet soda, tried all kinds and ICK! I can’t stand the aftertaste. I’m thinking of weight loss, better skin, and whiter teeth (tea stains) as the reasons I want to drink more water. I do wonder about milk consumption since I drink a ton of milk, btw. 2% or else it’s kinda… umm, yucky. My SO drinks 1% and is always trying to get me to try it. Ew, ew, ew. And for everyone who ever wanted to know, my urine is pale. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/30 "2004-06-23T02:33:20Z")
I wish I had a link, but I don’t. However, I heard on NPR that a study was done that proved what I have always pretty-much believed: You don’t need to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. Indeed, you body knows what it needs and tells you. Drink when you are thirsty. More: Water is no more magical by itself than if you drink it as a mixture, e.g. tea or soda or whatever. The only caveate is to understand that some drink contain cafeine and that can be a diuretic. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/31 "2004-06-23T04:02:24Z")
Just drink water when you feel thirsty. No more, no less. Try not to drink soda, it just makes you thirstier. BTW…if you drank too much water, does it make you dehydrated? Once I drank over 200 oz. of water in one night, but I felt dehydrated. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/32 "2004-06-23T16:58:30Z")
I am just the opposite of most folks here, I am “strung out” on water, I carry a 64 oz. insulated glass with me everywhere I go (my glass has rusted a spot on the filing cabinet next to my bed and worn a ring on the truck seat where it rides) and I have a “standard” program: In the morning I top off the glass with ice and fill with water, I normally refill with water once or twice a day (basically depending on temperature/exertion). My best guess is that I drink 80 - 100 ounces of water a day. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589/33 "2004-06-23T17:15:59Z")
> [@unclviny](#): > > I am just the opposite of most folks here, I am “strung out” on water, I carry a 64 oz. insulated glass with me everywhere I go (my glass has rusted a spot on the filing cabinet next to my bed and worn a ring on the truck seat where it rides) and I have a “standard” program: > In the morning I top off the glass with ice and fill with water, I normally refill with water once or twice a day (basically depending on temperature/exertion). > > My best guess is that I drink 80 - 100 ounces of water a day. > > Unclviny Yeah, I do the same thing. I get nervous if I don’t have a water bottle with me. I probably drink around 5 or 6 liters a day (around 200 onces) plus four cups of tea and at least two Diet Cokes. I’ve been trying to break my habit since I’ve read you don’t actually need so much water. I figure all it’s doing is forcing me to pee a billion times a day. I got into this habit as a teenager. I used to force myself to drink cups and cups of water in order to lose weight. (I did but it probaby had more to do with my all Lucky Charms and sangria diet) Eventually, I got used to the taste and now I really prefer the taste of room temperature tap water. So **Sanguine Spider** , if you really feel you need to up your water consumption, just keep at it and I bet you’ll eventually get used to it. But you probalby don’t need to. If you want to lose weight, I’d just phase out the milk. It’s pretty high in calories and liquid calories don’t make you feel satiated and trigger the “stop eating” cues like solid food does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-8-8oz-glasses-a-day-ugh/251589.md?page=1)