Strange that so many people report sodas quenching thirst better than water. I find that soda does almost nothing for my thirst. I’m another water-drinker, mass amounts per day. This may have something to do with the fact that I live in dry, arid Southern California and I take meds that affect the kidneys.
I don’t drink soda, and try to avoid it at all costs. I agree with whoever started calling it sugar water, because that’s exactly what it is. I don’t even drink tea with sugar.
Water is au naturel. Water all the way. 
I wonder if caffeine addiction has anything to do with the sense that sodas quench thirst better than water.
I don’t drink coffee much, but I’ve noticed if I don’t have tea or coke in the morning, I start getting headaches in the afternoon. (Not a sugar issue, since I drink unsweetened tea and diet soda.) I too have noticed that these other drinks quench thirst better, but I’ve wondered if what I experience as “thirst” isn’t really a craving for caffeine.
The diuretic properties of caffeinated beverages have been greatly exaggerated. From the same article as quoted by Eegba
Off the top of my head, the dry feeling in the throat probably has two sources:
First, and most important, Mountain Dew and similar soft drinks have a small amount of emulsifier in them; glyceryl monostearate or some such. These materials do indeed coat the mouth and throat, and are an important element in the distinctive “mouthfeel” of one’s favorite beverage. Clear sodas contains little or no emulsifier, but diet sodas have some to make up for the lost syrupy feeling from the sugar.
Second, drinking pure water may cause the throat’s tissues to osmotically or interstitially take up excess water; this causes swelling and an inflamed feeling, which is temporarily soothed by more water. Mineral water may reduce this effect, but if you’d just wait, it would probably go away – it’s not thirst.
You miss carbonation.
Toss some mint leaves or lemon juice into some soda water.
Bubonic plague is au naturel. Bubonic plague all the way. Famines are au naturel. Famines all the way. Infected wounds are au naturel. Infection all the way.
Just saw this article on hyponatremia in Runner’s World yesterday. Interesting tidbit:
Your daily water supply comes from three sources, and you lose water in four prinicipal ways. The percentages shown here are averages for nonexercisers. People that exerciser regularly sweat more, and need to drink more, than nonexercisers.
Water Intake / Percent
Fluids – 60%
Food – 30%
Metabolism – 10%*
Water Loss / Percent
Urine – 50%
Sweat – 35%
Respiraton – 10%
Feces – 5%
Actual percentages will vary considerably, depending on the weather, your diet, the amount you exercise, and other factors.
*Approximately 10 percent of your daily water supply comes from metabolic water, which is water that’s “liberated” within the body when you burn fats and carbohydrates.
I drink a gallon of water per day, and I am not thirsty all the time.
if you are drinking as much as you say and still feel thirsty, due to dry throat, maybe if you were to get some kind of hard candy to suck on it would eliminate the dry throat.
Zombies don’t need water. Just brains.
Wow, what a blast from the past!
As it turns out, the mystery is solved. A couple of years after my original post I was diagnosed with diabetes. Go figure. Now that I have my blood sugar under control, I don’t find myself as thirsty all the time.
I see you figured it out, wishing you luck.
But brains are juicy.
Dude, what a follow-up! The outcome sucks but it was cool to see it nonetheless.
I am with you, iced water is my swill of choice, sodas are both too sweet and do not quench my thirst. Although I am diabetic, it is well controlled, but I also take several meds that all have thirst as a side effect :rolleyes: I think I do on average 3 to 4 liters of water a day, and one cup coffee in the morning [12 oz] and a cup of tea at night [same size]
I’m very curious about this because.. I also feel extremely thirsty all the time, especially when I drink water. I usually drink 3lt. a day. Could drink more, but once I reach 4lt or more, I get headaches and my doctor said too much water isn’t good either. Thing is, I’ve checked for diabetes of both types and the tests were negative. What I’m curious about is whether your diabetes just recently appeared (you tested several years ago and it was negative, and only is positive now), or you never testes yourself for diabetes before.
Ty!
The person you’re addressing last posted here more than a year ago.
I SO wish there was a “like” button on this thing! Because during the spring/summer, it’s not unusual for me to go through two or three refills of my aluminum water bottle a day as well as at least one 12 oz soda AND half a dozen glasses of iced tea. It just gets HOT dammit.
It’s entirely possible. Many moons ago, I spent about 3 years working for a fast food joint where the owner/gen. mgr had the standing rule that as long as you brought your own container, cup, what have you you were allowed to drink as much cokes as you wanted. By the time I quit working there, I was drinking around 3 LITERS of Dr. Pepper a day. After I quit, I no longer had access to massive amounts of cokes and went through caffiene withdrawals–I had headaches, I was really freaking grouchy and the first day or two I had a bad case of the shakes.
Now my drug of choice is Folger’s Choice Half-Caff but I don’t drink more than 4-6 cups over the course of the day, mostly in the morning while I’m waiting for my thyroid meds to kick in so I can eat something.