How hard is it for you to drink EIGHT glasses of water a day?
By Wendy
@jerzgirl (9234)
United States
July 28, 2008 10:53pm CST
I have often found that consciously drinking eight glasses of water a day as recommended by so many doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, etc, isn't easy. One gets thinking about so many things and to stop and count glasses of water seems so much extra work at times.
Plus, it sounds like so much water to drink, doesn't it?
Well, guess what? I found a way to do it and I don't even think about it - in fact, it didn't hit me until last night that I WAS drinking at least eight glasses a day when I took a look at the bottle I was drinking from.
A while ago, I had bought a couple of bottles of Glaceau smart water (R), but kept the empties because I also have some drink mixes (like Crystal Light) I make flavored water out of. It isn't hard to finish one of those off. Last night I noticed that the bottle holds 33.8 fl. oz. (1 Liter)! There's FOUR glasses right there!!! I drink two of those a day, PLUS the coffee I drink in the morning, the water I sip in the kitchen and in the bathroom during the night and any soda I might have during the day, and I've FAR exceeded that eight glass minimum! 
I was shocked! 
I had always assumed that I never quite hit the mark.
I've known people who actually programmed their Outlook scheduler to remind them to drink water. Now I wonder if they were actually already doing it and didn't even know it.
So, do you get your eight glasses per day? Do you get it without even realizing it like I do? Have you ever stopped to consider just how much water you really do take in every day (including water in soups, milk, sauces, fruits - the kind of water we don't even think about)? Think about it and tell me if you discover anything you didn't realize. 
I was shocked! I had always assumed that I never quite hit the mark.
I've known people who actually programmed their Outlook scheduler to remind them to drink water. Now I wonder if they were actually already doing it and didn't even know it.
So, do you get your eight glasses per day? Do you get it without even realizing it like I do? Have you ever stopped to consider just how much water you really do take in every day (including water in soups, milk, sauces, fruits - the kind of water we don't even think about)? Think about it and tell me if you discover anything you didn't realize. 14 people like this
46 responses
@msedge (4011)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Eversince i was not really fun of drinking water.Thats why it made me constipate alot.But now considering other fluid intake i guess i could be able to reach the 8 glasses a day or even more.I drink tea,chocolate drink and soda everyday.And i never constipate anymore
2 people like this
@jaypeemanuel (1005)
• Philippines
29 Jul 08
Some men are not really born water feeders. Yes, we all need that solvent but we have to consider ourselves whether we're use to it or not. I myself don't do a lot of glasses of water. Even if there are probably a million times of reminders from my mom. It is a matter of training and habit. And unless we're trained to do so, we won't be doing it regularly.
@capirani (2745)
• United States
30 Jul 08
I have at least two empty juice bottles, 46 oz each, and I drink at least two of those per day filled with water plus other water during the night which I keep in a bottle by my bed because I breathe through my mouth and I need it sometimes at night. It is easy for me to do this because it is all I drink for the most part. I sometimes drink some milk, or I will make my own artificially sweetened koolade drinks once in awhile. I have a couple of Powerade's each week and maybe one Pepsi or Sierra Mist during the week. The rest is water. I switched from soft drinks to juice to water slowly over several months time years ago by buying lemon juice to add to my water to help it taste better. Gradually I stopped adding the lemon. Now I feel so much better without all those carbonated beverages, and the juice, even 100% juice is so full of sugar that I feel better without that as well. All the soft drinks and juices ever did was make me more thirsty. The water is about the only thing that really quenches my thirst. Also, I do not like bottled water. I like it fresh from the tap. But if I lived somewhere where the water was sulfur or otherwise tasted bad, I would have to use the bottled. Then I would probably make more of the koolade. The hotter it is, the more water I drink over the amount already spoken of.
2 people like this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Sounds like you get even more than recommended, which isn't always a bad thing, as long as you don't drink it all at once. I recently learned of water intoxication where we can actually drink TOO MUCH water and it can kill us! Amazing - the thing we need most can also kill us if we get too much. But, all of our bodies are different and your body's needs may be different from mine which are different from my mother's, etc. Just always be aware of your body and what it's asking for.
Thanks for responding!
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
30 Jul 08
This is a really hard thing to do! I have tried on various occasions, but drinking water gives me heartburn. The most I can manage seems to be about three glasses per day - and then I have to take indigestion tablets. I only usually have one cup of coffee per day, but I drink iced coffee - hopefully there is some water content in that!
2 people like this
@suzu12345 (470)
• India
29 Jul 08
water being a universal solvent is a must,,,u wanna get health drink a lot of water,,,and the 8 glasses its nthing ,,go fore more,,nothng wiilll harm u ever,,,water is a must for our body,,morover it wont kill us ever so go for it
2 people like this
@thefreemind (45)
•
30 Jul 08
Ok I'm going out on a limb here as I'm responding to the first post and I haven't read any of the previous 5 pages, so apologies if what I'm about to say has already been covered.
The '8 glasses of water a day' philosophy is actually a bit confusing as it causes people to assume they need to drink 8 glasses of water on top of their daily fluid intake. This isn't the case.
All drinks, whether it be fizzy drinks, juices or milk (and so on) contain H2O as well as their other ingredients. The actual reccomendation is just that you consume 8 glasses of H2O a day. This doesn't have to be in its pure form, as water.
So if you're drinking lots of juices or milk or whatever, just add the odd glass of water on top in order to make a total of 8. Under normal circumstances there's no need to exceed this amount.
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Absolutely! It's OK to not read everything before responding. You still get credit for it! But, you are correct and that was my point. We hear it said how much water we should have, but we don't often realize just how much we already take in and how easy it can be to have more than enough! Yes! Thank you very much!
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Thi suggested 8 glasses does not mean just plain water. Juice, cooffee, tea, etc all have water and are considered in that daily does. I get more than my share of water each and every day easily. I drink lots of water, plus the amount of coffee I drink covers this easily.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
I know - I really hadn't realized how well I was meeting it until it hit me last night! The other that we take in is harder to quantify (like - how much water in watermelon or canteloupe or apples, etc), but I can count two 1-liter bottles easily. And, flavored with tropical fruit, fruit punch, black raspberry, etc, I can enjoy it as well!!
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
I know what you mean about the elderly and their water intake. My mother insists she drinks water, but I don't see it often. She rarely has anything to drink with a meal, just her coffee in the morning. She does like iced tap water, so I have seen her with that maybe once or twice a day this summer. But, even when I give her medicine to her with a half glass of water, she doesn't drink all of it - she just takes enough to swallow the pills and won't finish even the half glass. The doctors haven't had a problem seeing any hydration problems, but I still would like to see her have a little more in the day.
@34momma (13882)
• United States
7 Aug 08
man that is hard for me. i don't like to drink a lot of water of at work because i hate to have to get up and go to the bathroom all the time! so i try to get in to glasses before i leave the house and two at work, then i try to get the rest in me when i get home from work. it doesn't always get it done that way, but i try
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
7 Aug 08
You might be surprised to find out just how much you drink in a day if you look at everything you drink that has water in it. There's plain water, there are flavored waters, carbonated waters, tea, coffee, milk (yes - milk is mostly water), soups, stews, broths, fruits and fruit juices. Maybe you can't measure the water in many of those things, but I'll bet if you guessed at it, you'd find you're getting a lot more water than you think!
Because I am on diuretics from a doctor, I have to make sure I get water or I could easily get dehydrated. But, we do take in a lot more water than we think - that's what surprised me when I began to calculate it.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Well, on a bad day, I know I don't get 8 glasses of water/soda/etc. I'm lucky to do 6. Other days I can down 6 to 8 - 12 oz cans of soda and do it, not counting what else I might drink.
I've always had a near problem with dehydration, and trouble with the heat, but I've never been any where near passing out because I've always stopped when I realized I was having a problem and intake fluids. I have had a few bladder infections tho, and that relates back to the low fluid intake according to the doctor.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
There's a lot of carbolic acid in soda - and as much as I like Diet Pepsi, too much of it wreaks havoc on my gut. But, you do get water in soda, too. That's why Crystal Light, Wylers and Hawaiian Punch single drink mixes are so great - they add flavor to the water so it doesn't seem like it's JUST water.
1 person likes this
@tyc415 (5706)
• United States
29 Jul 08
I'm pretty sure I don't get 8 glasses a day but I do drink a lot more water now than I have in the past. I used to drink Dr.Pepper's all day now I drink a fanta strawberry and the rest of the day I have a insulated mug of ice water that I drink out of. I keep filling it with ice so it melts down and makes really cold water. I thought they changed the recommended water intake to 6 glasses recently. It does sound like you are taking in a bunch of water.
2 people like this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
I don't know - they change things so often after they use overkill. I'm not drinking so much I'll die of water poisoning (something I learned about only recently), but it does appear I'm meeting and exceeding the eight glasses. Surprised myself! It is the recommendation of the nutrition site I've been using recently. Didn't think I could pull it off until I saw just how much was in the bottle I was drinking. Very surprising just how easy it is to do. Silly me - making a mountain out of that mole hill like that! 
@ella1bella (839)
•
29 Jul 08
Eight glasses of water for me is too much,and eight in one day is far toom uch,I think it may make me feel sick too,I know that is the amount that they recommend,but it is a lot to hvae to get through,you can see the point of it,it cleanses your body and helps the body organs run smoothly,but whatever they recommend it is still an awful lot to get through in one day
@bakhino7 (8)
• South Africa
29 Jul 08
Most of the food that we consume and the beverages that we drink contain water, this what most people dont realise. The 8 glasses of water a day requirement is not limited to pure water drinking with an actual glass,I believe that the body is smart enough to absorb the water that we take in in our food, coffee, juice etc. So at the end of the day, we get out daily requirement. I have never been an 8 glasses a day type of girl, but I've never been hospitalised for dehidration.
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
It is true that we get a lot of water in our daily diets, as I also mentioned. The problem there is that we don't really know how much we get - we can't measure it - so we also need to be sure we get sufficient straight liquid as well. Thirst is a good indicator, but excess thirst could indicate another problem, like diabetes, which I have.
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
Well, juice and energy drinks do have water (fruits are MOSTLY water, after all), but be careful on the energy drinks because they can elevate your heart rate and blood pressure if you drink too many. If you have milk on your cereal, water is the basis of milk, so there's some, too. You might be OK. That's also why I add those little single-serve drink mixes to my water. I'm more likely to drink more of it because I prefer flavor to my drink.
1 person likes this
@phatelara (243)
• Malaysia
29 Jul 08
For me, drinking at least 8 glasses of water comes easily as I am used to it. I'm talking about plain water here, no sugar, no taste, nothing! :) It's always warm and humid here in my country, so one cannot afford to go all day without water.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
29 Jul 08
It's very humid here this summer and, even though we need lots of water in dry climates, we need to stay hydrated in humid climates also. I sweat more in humidity, so I'm losing water that way. I do drink plain water, but I also like to drink something with flavor, so I like the little flavor packets I can add to my bottle so it's not like I'm only drinking water, even though I am.
@phatelara (243)
• Malaysia
29 Jul 08
I guess adding flavours to your water makes you drink more, without realising it. That's a good thing. :) Keep it up!
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
29 Jul 08
The 8 glasses rule is not that you physically have to down 8 glasses,but that your total fluid intake from all foods,salads,fruits,juices,teas,coffee,milk,etc adds up to 8 glasses..It's true,most of us would equal or beat 8 glasses in this way,and it's also why some have a problem trying to drink another 8 on top of their food-their body is telling them "Enough,Already!" I think you meant to say that THIS stuff is in sodas...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonic_acid
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
30 Jul 08
Big time mea culpa! All this time I thought it was carbolic!!! I just looked up carbolic acid - nasty stuff! So, I stand corrected - in a major way! :::bowing::: thank you, thank you, thank you. I shall venture out to correct the error of my ways!! (And, thanks for reading enough of this to know I did that! Heavens!!)
@bdugas (3578)
• United States
7 Aug 08
Thank you for the information, I just can't bring myself to drink the water, but I do believe if we did drink the amount they say each day, it would cease a lot of the illnesses we have. I also use the Crystal Light and find it is easier to drink it if it is flavored. Maybe I do get my portion for the day, naa I don't do it everyday. I like iced tea, but was told that it is not the same as just drinking water. I try I really do but there is nothing but water, I hate water.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
7 Aug 08
Hi! Actually, drinking any water based drink is almost the same as drinking water, so if you think about all the drinks you have in a day plus all the water that's in either fruit or fruit juices you might drink, I think you'll be surprised to find how much you've had each day.
Caffeine is a diuretic, but it doesn't cause you to lose as much water as you've taken in with tea or coffee, so you still get some of the water benefit from it. If you're concerned about the caffeine, then go with decaf. I've been mostly drinking Wyler's and Hawaiian Punch singles drink mixes as well as various glasses of water in a day, but I'd like to have some of Crystal Light's tea because it's actually pretty good. Sometimes I buy Diet Green Tea with ginseng from one of our local convenience store chains - now THAT is VERY good - and I have no doubt that I'm still benefitting from the water, but also from the antioxidents in the green tea.
@youless (112134)
• Guangzhou, China
7 Aug 08
Water is a very healthy drink. Although it doesn't have a taste, but I still try to drink it more although I don't really like it. When I am in the office, I use a very big glass and therefore I can drink more water. This is my trick:)
I love China
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
7 Aug 08
Hi Youless. Your very big glass is probably a lot like my very big bottle. It lets you have it right there to drink and you don't even have to think about it. That's a good thing to do. What kind of office do you work in? I'm curious about what kind of office work is done in China.
@snowy22315 (170699)
• United States
30 Jul 08
I dont think they are actually recommending that so much any more. But I dont think I wcould necessarily drink that much easily. I tend ot drink other liquids rather than water. I wish I could drink eight glasses of water just to fill e up. I like to
drink water but not that much.
1 person likes this
@jerzgirl (9234)
• United States
2 Aug 08
Many still are, but I think it's because we can't quantify how much water is in what we eat during a day. Of course, there can be too much, as described by the previous responder, but it'd be difficult to have that much in a normal day with 8 actual glasses plus all other regular meals. Either way, I was surprised and how much easier it was to achieve than I had thought.
@alkurishy (2068)
• Iraq
29 Jul 08
I get used to drink that much of water, at first it was hard but it is ok now, i drink 2 glasses before taking breakfast for 30 minutes then I take 2 galsses more after 30 minutes after taking breakfast, then I take more than 4 glasses all they day.
1 person likes this
