Apparently I’m one of the ten percent of Americans who drink no water at all. Until lately, I had assumed that 8 glasses of water meant 8 glasses of * fluid *, meaning that the glasses of iced tea, cans of soda, and juice that I quaff in coipious quantities had me covered.
My hubby naggs at me to drink water, but I just don’t like it. Tap water smells swampy to me and has a bit of a metallic taste that makes me want to gag, and bottled water tastes like plastic. Frankly, I just don’t like plain water. Lately, I’ve been quickly chugging a glass every now and then because I’m getting a little worried about the health aspects. What can happen to me if I continue not drinking water? I’ve heard that it can actually lead to cancer, and cosidering my other bad habits that already put me at risk, I’m getting a bit worried. Any suggestions to help me choke down the requisite water allotment?
Soda water with a dash of lemon. Or, buy a Brita water filter. Or, if you really want to invest, buy a water distiller and refrigerate the clean water. It’ll take out everything including minerals, bugs, etc., but it does taste like, well, water.
My father didn’t drink water. He was in the Navy for 20 years, the FAA for 22 years, and just got into the habit of drinking coffee all of the time. He’d drink coffee from the time he woke up until he went to bed. It didn’t seem to have any deleterious effects on him.
From everything I’ve read (which is admittedly not that much on this subject) the lack of enough water has some effect on your kidneys. From the sounds of it you are drinking things like juice, which have a high content of water in them, so you’ll prolly be fine.
The problem with drinking caffeinated beverages instead of water is that the caffeine is a diuretic and further dehydrates you. Doctor recommend that for every cup of coffee/tea/cola you drink an equal amount of water to stave off the dehydrating effects.
Juice is a better option, but is basically empty calories, a lot of sugar and almost no fiber. Eating the fruit or vegetables themselves is probably better.
That said, I’m a water junkie. I used to drink a gallon a day, but now it’s about 2.5 to 3 quarts. I rarely get sick, have a good complexion and skin tone, and feel pretty good.
I do drink coffee and beer too, and no, I don’t spend the whole day in the bathroom. After a while, your bladder gets used to the amount of fluids and you don’t go any more often, just more when you do go. Sorry if that’s too much information .
The Brita filters are good. Also, if water is very cold the smell/taste might be less too.
I used to drink hardly any water at all. Most of what I drank was coffee, iced tea, beer and occasionally juice.
In the last month it’s just been too hot and my body has been starving for water. Also, for no particular reason I haven’t had much coffee in the last month and a half. About 5 cups total over that period of time, I did have some this morning though, but drinking water I type.
Every morning, I drink about 40 ounces of water and throughout during the day, but still have my iced tea (occasionally) and beer. Since I started drinking more water my body seems a little healthier. My skin is not as dry. My cuticles aren’t cracking and my eyes aren’t as red when I get up in the morning – beer or no my eyes used to look and feel horrible when I get up. I have fewer headaches and in general I feel better.
Some people get over the taste (or lack there of) of water by adding a slight lemon squeeze. Personally we have excellent water out of the tap here in my city – reportedly one of the best public water systems in the country. Water filters help a lot if you have a lot of minerals and such in your local water system.
What you might do to get used to drinking water is, when you are thirsty, drink half the amount of the other beverage you normally would and follow that with water, or vice vera. Sometimes water following something like oj is gross so you may want to drink the water first.
That’s my experience from someone that recently started drinking a lot more water.
Here’s a link that may help you with your decision:
Me, for one. There are plenty of good things to drink, but if you’re really thirsty none of them beat a glass of ice water. Of course, I’m in a place with good water–many people aren’t as fortunate. If I had to put up with skanky hyper-chlorinated water, I’d be less enthusiastic about the stuff.
I’m with Techchick – I noticed some physical improvements when I started drinking more water – wish I had started sooner, I might not be such an old hag now.
Something else you might do –
When we moved back to Iowa in 1990, we rented a house in the country for about six months. Country living is great, except for the water. (And the snakes, but I digress.)
We rented a water cooler, the kind you see in offices, and had drinking water delivered in five gallon jugs. It was cheap, tasted great, and there was something about the act of flipping that little tap that made drinking water more appealing.
The well water was okay for showers, laundry and dishwashing, but even after the softening process, you wouldn’t want to drink it or cook with it. And what it did to my daughter’s dyed (well, highlighted) hair was a hoot. The minerals turned her hair several shades of yellow, orange, even a bit of green.
We kept the cooler when we moved to town, even though we didn’t need it. They’re available in smaller versions too.
“I never drink water. Fish piss in it.” – W. C. Fields.
That sums up my feelings. I don’t like the taste and it does nothing to quench my thirst. I’ll drink it in a restaurant if it has plenty of ice to kill any flavor. I’ll also drink it at work, since the water cooler has Vermont Spring brand, which is pretty good. But give me soda or fruit juice whenever I have the choice.
BTW, you can live just fine without drinking water. Most drinks are water anyway. The problems come from caffien and the sugar in them (and potential problems with artificial sweetners).
I do not like water either. For some reason the tap water in my town tastes to much like chlorine and is just plain nasty. I usually drink sodas, tea, or anything else other than water. I am trying to get into the habit though and drink bottled water, usually ozarka because it tastes decent.
I’m one of the people who used to not drink water much… I only got into the habit when I went to summer camp and we went on a 5 day hike (we obviously couldn’t carry juice… we had a filter to pump our water from the rivers and lakes and we had juice crystals but not a whole lot) I still don’t drink water too much prefering juice but the brita filter is a really good thing.
I’ve always liked water from the fridge but the brita water is better… though we’re lucky the tap water we have here isn’t that bad on its own either… when we lived in a small town the water was bad and we would look forward to Dad bringing water straight from the well/spring where he worked… it was always cool and the best water I’ve ever had.
I used to hate drinking plain water, but as I started drinking more, i got used to the taste. I haven’t noticed any physical benefits, but it sure is easier to pour myself a glass of tap water than to go out and buy juice.
Halfway through this thread, and I had to go fill up my water bottle.
I drink water because I feel healthier; specifically, I get fewer headaches and I have more energy. Also, I exercise a lot, and I live in a very dry climate and at altitude. Good hydration is key up here, and juice and soda just don’t cut it for me. [Actually, I’m so unused to soda that when I do drink it, it seems like I can feel my tooth enamel degrading.] I’ve noticed that I’m less thirsty in more humid climes. Up here, I’m always thirsty.
I can understand that if your tap water tastes awful, you might not be motivated to drink it. We get ours from a well, so it’s good and cheap.
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