Which parts are true and which parts are false?

[jonas]

Got this as an email. Just curious how much of it is true. Tried searching the archives but it kept timing out on me.

>WATER
>
>75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
>
>In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak
>that it is often mistaken for hunger.
>
>Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism
>as much as 3%.
>
>One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for
>almost 100% of the dieters studied in a U-Washington
>study.
>
>Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
>
>Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of
>water a day could significantly ease back and joint
>pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
>
>A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy
>short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and
>difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a
>printed page.
>
>Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk
>of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of
>breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to
>develop bladder cancer.
>
>Are you drinking the amount of water you should every
>day?
>
>=================================================
>COKE
>
>No wonder coke tastes soooo good:
>
>1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol
>carries two gallons of Coke in the truck to remove
>blood from the highway after a car accident.
>
>2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it
>will be gone in two days.
>
>3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the
>toilet bowl and let the “real thing” sit for one hour,
>then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes
>stains from vitreous china.
>
>4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub
>the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap
>aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
>
>5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour
>a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away
>the corrosion.
>
>6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in
>Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
>
>7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into
>the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and
>bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished,
>remove
>the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke
>for a sumptuous brown gravy.
>
>8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke
>into greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a
>regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease
>stains. It will also clean road haze from your
>windshield.
>
>FYI: 1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric
>acid. Its Ph is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about
>4 days.
>
>2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the
>commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place
>cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.
>
>3. The distributors of coke have been using it to
>clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!
>
>Still Want To Drink Up?

[samclem]

this site can answer your Coke questions. Familiarize yourself with it.

[JeffB]

To answer the Coke, no. Snopes has this exact list debunked here.

I can’t really address the specific numbers in the water one. They sound somewhat over-hyped, but drinking lots of water is good for you.

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Compared to what? Drinking 4 glasses of water? Drinking 1 glass of water?

[evilhanz]

We touched upon this topict a couple of weeks ago: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=52340

You really should dismiss unsubstantiated claims, particularly when they’re liberally peppered with percentages. It’s a no-brainer. Where’s the cite?

The eight (or five) 8-oz glass of water claim is largely a myth. If you practice proper nutrition, your food will contain a majority of the water your body requires. Obviously, the more physically active you are, the greater your intake requirements will be. Ask your doctor, he/she will tell you the same thing mine did (if the medical degree didn’t come from Upstairs Hollywood Medical School ) Unfortunately, the myth persists as any search engine will demonstrate.

[JeffB]

Um, evilhanz, I don’t see a consensus in that thread you linked to that “The eight (or five) 8-oz glass of water claim is largely a myth.” It seemed more toward the opposite view.

*Originally posted by Dr_Paprika *
I said in an earlier column that one method of calculating daily fluids is giving yourself 4cc/kg/h (for the first 10kg of weight), 2cc/kg/h (for the 10kg between 10-20kg of weight) and 1cc/kg/h for each kg over 20kg. For a 70kg male, this is 40+20+50=110cc/h, or about 2.6L/day. Is this what you need? No. Nephrologists say that you can get by (i.e. not cause kidney damage) on just over 1L/day. This doesn’t provide optimum skin hydration, though. But no harm is done by peeing out the extra; better too much than too little.

Dr_Paprika’s quote says that “you can get by…on just over 1L[34 ounces]/day.” His formula says 2.6 liters (about 88 ounces) for a 70kg (154 lb) male. So, you need somewhere between 4 and 11 8-ounces of fluids per day. According to kinoons in the other thread, 60% of fluid intake comes from beverages, so you need to drink a minimum of 20 ounces (to avoid kidney damage), with optimal being about 53 ounces.

So drinking water is good for you. Otherwise, I agree with you on not accepting unsubstantiated percentages.

[DJScherr]

To put it bluntly this is what we were taught in high school. If you piss is yellow, that means you are not getting enough water, if it is clear you are getting enough. Does that sound right?

[Chas.E]

I just saw a story on CNN last night, they asserted that 1 glass of water is equivalent to 6 or 7 times its volume in antioxidant-rich foods. The researcher said that water will lubricate the intestines and reduce the time that carcinogenic compounds were in contact with the intestinal lining. One of the interesting suggestions they made was to always drink a glass of water after drinking a cup of coffee.

[Sattua]

It’s true that the pH of a freshly-opened can of Coke is quite low… something like 2.3, my brain is thinking? But it’s also true that your insides are designed to handle acidic substances.