I’m not sure if this belongs here or in IMHO, so I won’t be offended if it gets moved…
I used to drink soda all day long (Mountain Dew in the daytime, root beer in the evenings) and recently started drinking more water in an effort to lose weight. I still drink Mountain Dew on the weekends, but during the week it’s just bottled water.
Now, I know that Mountain Dew has caffeine, which is a diuretic. However, I also find it to be a wonderful thirst quencher. When I drink bottled water, however, I find that I am constantly thirsty. No matter how much I drink, my throat still feels dry. I keep a bottle by my desk that I refill from the company water cooler, and I must go through 8 or 9 bottles a day.
I’d worry that I’m becoming diabetic (I’ve heard that increased thirst is a symptom), but when I switch back to Mountain Dew on the weekends the constant thirst disappears. I also find that I tend to go to the bathroom a lot more often during the week which may simply have to with the amount of water I’m drinking, but which surprised me nonetheless given the fact that I’m switching from a caffeinated beverage.
Any ideas why this is happening? Why would drinking water be LESS thirst quenching than a drink loaded with caffeine?
Am I logging my consumption? No, but all I can say for sure is that I’m sitting here with a bottle of water, I’ve been drinking from it all morning (I’m on my third or fourth refill) and my throat still feels dry.
I’ve heard that salt makes one thirsty, but I’m wondering whether the LACK of salt (or some other electrolyte) could be causing the same problem.
I drink lots and lots of water. I’ve got a 32 ounce bottle, and I’ll probably have about 6-7 of them a day.
I notice the same phenomenon, which is that I’m constantly thirsty. I always just assumed that my body adapted to the great amount of water I drank, and if I slipped and fell behind, the thirst mechanism would kick in.
Could it be perhaps your body has gotten used to it, and now craves it? That’s what I always figured was going on with me.
Now, hopefully someone who knows a bit about science can help us sort this out.
Your “thirst” actually manifests itself with a “dry” feeling throat? It seems to me that when I’m truly “thirsty,” I don’t know how to describe it, I guess I just feel sort of wilted or weak. In other words, it’s a feeling that I actually need more fluid in my system. Not that I need to wet down the back of my throat again.
Is it possible that the habit of drinking soda all day convinced you that soda was quenching some “thirst,” and now water just doesn’t do it (because the soda wasn’t exactly quenching “thirst,” but some other desire)? It seems to me that sugary beverages often seem to soothingly coat my throat (even thought they’re carbonated), so could it be that this effect is what your throat is requesting? A soothing sugary coating? BTW, Mountain Dew does seem to provide this effect on my throat more than other sodas.
Not scientific, but maybe something to think about?
Gee, scout1222, that’s a lot of water. Ever heard of hyponatremia?
I’d love to know just who started the myth that you need to drink x litres of water a day to “flush out toxins”, or put it about that x% of people are “chronically dehydrated”. Almost everybody gets most of their body’s requirement of water from food.
I have to admit to being amazed by the capacity of Americans for fluid when I visited. Even the “small” sodas in restaurants were at least 16oz, and some places offered sizes up to 40oz or something ridiculous. I don’t think I drink 40oz of liquid in a day, let alone a single serving. You guys must be in the bathroom ten times a day!
Yeah, I do go to the bathroom a lot. For some reason (yes, I’m diabetic) I have to drink at least a glass of water an hour or I get so dehydrated that my lips start puckering up.
So - I drink a lot of water, too. I notice that often my mouth and throat are dry, even after or while drinking water. The coating idea was a good one, troub. If I drink diet soda or something, I don’t have that dryness. Back before I was diagnosed, Mountain Dew was my favorite soda.
Hm. I wonder if it is the sugar, or something else.
Yep, I’ve heard of hyponatremia. As a marathoner, and a slower one at that, it’s definitely a concern. Which is why, on marathon training runs, it’s important to drink fluids that contain electrolytes.
But I figure when I’m sitting at my desk, not exerting myself, and eating meals regularly, that’s really not an issue.
wow how do you survive on that? i have a 64oz (about 2 litters) cup. i empty it about twice a day and feel thirsty if i don’t. however i hear (but have not experance that) the water is terrible over there.
as for peeing, well i go about every four hours. when i do go, i go alot.
godzillatemple, I’d really recommend going in for a glucose tolerance test. If you develop blurred vision and have rapid weight loss, get in there quickly.
Its possible that merely having water near you makes you thirstier. When I started taking a water bottle to class, I found the urge to drink every 5 mins and could usually go thorugh about a litre and hour. When I stopped taking the bottle, I didn’t get less thirsty and my consumption dropped to about 1 litre per day.
Thirst, frequent urination, headache, blurry vision or trouble focusing are all signs of diabetes.
I am a type 2 diabetic. I started becoming markedly thirsty and drinking more liquids than usual. I started urinating more frequently. I chalked that up to the fact that I was drinking more liquids. I started having trouble focusing while reading and chalked that up to needing new glasses. Headache? Take advil.
I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia about 2 years ago and was diagnosed with diabetes. Surprise, surprise. Even knowing the symptoms, I don’t think I would have ever suspected it.
A simple blood test will tell if your sugar levels are abnormal. If you are overweight, sedentary and over 40, definitely get yourself tested. If you get headaches and feel extremely sluggish after a heavy meal, get yourself tested.
Well, I’ve recently had a glucose tolerance test and passed, so I don’t think diabetes is my problem. The frequency of my urination seems to be directly related to the amount of water I drink, but I don’t suffer from headaches or blurry vision.
As I said, the constant thirst seems to occur only when I drink water, and it’s mostly manifested by a dry throat. I’m sure I am well hydrated, but that dry feeling in my throat just doesn’t go away with water. When I drink Mountain Dew, however, my thirst is slaked and I don’t have the urge to drink anything else for hours. In fact, I can go a whole day just drinking one or two cans of Mountain Dew, whereas when I am drinking water I tend to drink eight or nine 20 oz. bottles a day.
The water’s fine, on the whole. Like America, the taste varies from place to place. Certainly I’ve seen more than one “taste-test” type experiment where people were unable to tell the difference between bottled water and tap water.
I think that 64oz is stretching the definition of the word “cup”, though. I would be more inclined to call that a “bucket”.
I don’t know what it is about soda, but I’ve experienced the same thing. If I don’t drink a soda and drink water instead, I seem to be much thirstier the whole day. Weird, weird, weird. My guess is that we’re getting the symptoms of thirst but what our bodies are really craving is either the sugar or the caffeine in the soda.
There was a thread that was basically, “What’s up with Americans and their giant iced drinks?”
The answer basically was, “You Europeans don’t have places like Texas and Oklahoma”. Or the San Joaquin Valley in California, I might add, where eveyone in mid-June right now is really glad that the highs are in the high 80s Farenheit.
add me to the list of the water thirst people. the more i drink the thirstier i get . i guess my mouth and throat just feel wrong . a coke or a beer seem to get rid of the problem. a few beers seem to get rid of a whole lot of other problems.
Barring undiagnosed diabetes, this seems most likely to me. I got thirsty just reading this thread! BTW, my mother told me a person should drink enough water that their urine comes out clear. Any opinions on that?
