# Who decided we needed 8 glasses of water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097 "2002-06-03T05:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/21 "2002-08-10T13:49:17Z")
I say drink until you make “squish” sounds when you walk. But seriously, I’d been trying the Atkins diet (high protein, low carb) for the last month and it’s working well for me. Drinking water in quantity is recommended and I routinely go through 1.5-2 litres a day, plus a 2-litre bottle of diet root beer. My bladder has become my alarm clock. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/22 "2002-08-10T16:26:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AWB \* > \*\*[No Need to Guzzle All That Water, Expert Says](http://member.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?floc=MM7-FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20020809%2F193800784.htm&sc=rontz) \*\* For those of us who don’t have Compuserve accounts, could you please quote something out of that? ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/23 "2002-08-10T18:10:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\* > > For those of us who don’t have Compuserve accounts, could you please quote something out of that? \*\* Oops! Didn’t realize that would happen. Here it comes: > [@](#): > > **No Need to Guzzle All That Water, Expert Says** > \*By Maggie Fox \* > > But Dr. Heinz Valtin of Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire said there is no scientific evidence to back up this advice, which has helped create a huge market for bottled water. > > “After 10 months of careful searching I have found no scientific evidence that supports ‘8x8’,” Valtin, who has written textbooks on the subject of human water balance, said in a telephone interview. > > Writing in the American Journal of Physiology, Valtin, a kidney specialist, said people forget that the food they eat also contains some water. > > The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has recommended that people take in about one milliliter of water for each calorie of food eaten. > > This adds up to two liters, or 74 fluid ounces on an average 2,000-calorie diet. But the National Research Council also noted that much of this is already contained in food. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/24 "2002-08-10T20:19:38Z")
**AWB** , I’ve edited the copyrighted article to my best guess of a length appropriate to “fair use.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Trari\_de\_Reeson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Count\_Trari\_de\_Reeson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Trari_de_Reeson)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/25 "2002-08-10T23:33:11Z")
Nothing of substance to add to this, I just wanted to say that Dr. Dean rocks. He is the most level headed media person since Cecil. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Koth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@Koth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/26 "2002-08-11T13:26:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\* > > It’s called “drowning”. > > \*\* Heh. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/27 "2002-08-13T17:15:35Z")
Here’s another [article](http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/1668.51096) that agrees with what’s been posted so far. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097/28 "2002-08-13T17:41:32Z")
To Squish: Have your buddy make a doctor’s appointment ASAP. If this is a relatively recent development (you’ve said he’s been doing it about a year now…so I’m assuming he didn’t drink that much before), he could be exhibiting the signs of diabetes. If he is indeed diabetic, the longer the disease goes undetected, the more damage it can do. Diabetes is nothing to fiddle around with. Take him to the doctor TODAY. ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-we-needed-8-glasses-of-water/112097.md?page=1)