Gallon a day water drinkers, got a question

[CT207]

On 8/22/2017 at 9:20 PM, dennyjones said:

I don't drink enough water but I do drink 2 quarts of tea per day.   Before I was retired though I drank that much Pepsi per day.   

This is something that I can learn from you, I don't have to experience it myself.   I'll start drinking more water to help prevent kidney stones.   I've heard they are extremely painful.   

The pain, at least for me, is excruciating. I'm no wimp when it comes to pain and it's extremely rare for me to go to the hospital but when that stone came on like "gangbusters" at around 2 am. I was glad I lived a mile from the hospital and for the 2 "pushes" of morphine gave me. That was only temporary since I still had to pass the stone. For that they gave me Oxycontin.

The pain (for me) started in lower right back. It felt like someone was pushing a sharpened stick through me. I shrugged it off thinking I pulled a muscle. Then a few hours later it began to move into the urethra and all hell broke loose.. Screaming in pain and the subsequent ride to the hospital.

Oh, and speaking of tea.. Before the attacks I was drinking A LOT Arizona's Arnold Palmer iced tea. I always had at least 2 cases of it in the second refrigerator. Haven't bought any of that in roughly 5 years. I don't drink soda either.

 

[Dan Vesma]

On 22/08/2017 at 2:54 PM, TN94z said:

I am trying to lose some weight and I know that drinking around a gallon of water a day plays a big role in that process. I have trouble getting a gallon down in a day and was wondering what you guys do? I was thinking maybe a flavored mix or something to help. I normally buy the gallon jugs of drinking water and just carry it around with me. I thought about the Crystal lite mix but do not really care much for the aspartame in it.

Any tips or mixes that you guys use?

a boring suggestion, but I find getting the water really cold makes it taste less like 'water' and go down much more easily

[TN94z]

6 hours ago, Dan Vesma said:

a boring suggestion, but I find getting the water really cold makes it taste less like 'water' and go down much more easily

I agree. I can drink ice water like it's nothing. That's what I have been trying to do lately and it seems to be working better. it's just hard for me to keep a full glass of ice where I work

[Patch]

Thought I would bump this topic.

It that time of year again where staying hydrated is a big deal. We have already dealt with some 108*f days in direct sunlight. I have found myself a little dehydrated, which is pretty dumb on my part. I know better

One should know the symtoms of dehydration. The internet is full of information on heat postration, and heat stroke. Knowing the early symtoms can save your life. 

I like golfing in the afternoons because the cooler, morning crowds are gone. When I plan to golf, I start my hydration process the day before, and continue on through the day I golf. Water, and eating right does the trick for me. Less caffeine, and sugars helps too. 

Diabetics, and older folks especially need to be careful of dehydration. 

Do some home work on the subject. You just might be glad you did. 

 

 

[JCrane]

40 minutes ago, Patch said:

Thought I would bump this topic.

It that time of year again where staying hydrated is a big deal. We have already dealt with some 108*f days in direct sunlight. I have found myself a little dehydrated, which is pretty dumb on my part. I know better

One should know the symtoms of dehydration. The internet is full of information on heat postration, and heat stroke. Knowing the early symtoms can save your life. 

I like golfing in the afternoons because the cooler, morning crowds are gone. When I plan to golf, I start my hydration process the day before, and continue on through the day I golf. Water, and eating right does the trick for me. Less caffeine, and sugars helps too. 

Diabetics, and older folks especially need to be careful of dehydration. 

Do some home work on the subject. You just might be glad you did. 

 

 

Good topic. Let me add to it. Pre hydration. This is something I have been doing for years. I got into it because of the hot Yoga that I started doing many years ago. I would lose so much moisture in such a short amount of time, I had a hard time replacing it. 

Once I got into the habit of hydrating all day long, it became second nature.  I keep a canister of tea in my car and sip it all day if I am driving,  I drink kombucha while I am at home, but water would work. 

The result was  that I no longer go into thirst mode. I do not need to bring any water to hot yoga. Of course this may mean more trips to the bathroom, but that is a small price to pay

[Shindig]

Do the "low-calorie mix this powder with 2L water" things (like, 50 calories per 2L) count towards water intake?  Because I've gotten the lemonade and fruit punch low-calorie no-sugar things from Wal-Mart and go through quite a bit more water now.

I've had a thing for iced tea for a while, and now that I have instant hot water in my sink, it's much more convenient to brew a pitcher too.

[Righty to Lefty]

I golf in Kuwait in the summer when the temps reach 130 degrees and I used to wonder why I would be drinking liters and liters of water and still be cramping up at the end of a good practice session.  Then there was an article that was triggered by Lebron James cramping up in the playoffs in San Antonio when the A/C went out.  The key is salt...without salt it is very very difficult to hydrate as the fluid will in most cases just be sent straight out the body and never have a chance to be absorbed.  

Sodium in the Body. Sodium is an essential nutrient but is something that the body cannot produce itself. It plays a vital role in the regulation of many bodily functions and is contained in body fluids that transport oxygen and nutrients. It is also essential in maintaining the body's overall fluid balance.

Drinking a gallon of water is doing you no good if your body can't hold onto it long enough for it to enter your cells.  My go to mixture is lemonade crystal light with salt in it.  Every person is different so the amount that you will need daily will differ from me so you will have to experiment with the amount depending on if you are a person who sweats a lot which I am.  I also monitor how dry my lips are and by that I mean if my lips are dry I know I am not hydrated and need to up my intake.  Also salt will help with energy levels throughout a round because your fluid levels will be in better balance throughout the round. I hope this helps as it helped me tremendously in dealing with the very high temps in the middle east.   

[TN94z]

6 hours ago, Righty to Lefty said:

I golf in Kuwait in the summer when the temps reach 130 degrees and I used to wonder why I would be drinking liters and liters of water and still be cramping up at the end of a good practice session.  Then there was an article that was triggered by Lebron James cramping up in the playoffs in San Antonio when the A/C went out.  The key is salt...without salt it is very very difficult to hydrate as the fluid will in most cases just be sent straight out the body and never have a chance to be absorbed.  

Sodium in the Body. Sodium is an essential nutrient but is something that the body cannot produce itself. It plays a vital role in the regulation of many bodily functions and is contained in body fluids that transport oxygen and nutrients. It is also essential in maintaining the body's overall fluid balance.

Drinking a gallon of water is doing you no good if your body can't hold onto it long enough for it to enter your cells.  My go to mixture is lemonade crystal light with salt in it.  Every person is different so the amount that you will need daily will differ from me so you will have to experiment with the amount depending on if you are a person who sweats a lot which I am.  I also monitor how dry my lips are and by that I mean if my lips are dry I know I am not hydrated and need to up my intake.  Also salt will help with energy levels throughout a round because your fluid levels will be in better balance throughout the round. I hope this helps as it helped me tremendously in dealing with the very high temps in the middle east.   

I would venture to say that unless someone is on a strict low sodium diet, sodium in the body is not an issue. You have to really watch what you eat to get much less that 1500mg a day. I know when I was counting macros and running a strict diet, it was hard for me to keep the sodium level down where it should be on some days. It's very easy to eat a lot of sodium without adding salt in your drinks (especially in the south where I live..haha).  Of course, I'm not speaking from being in Kuwait or anything, but I can't really see LeBron having low sodium

Edited June 12, 2018 by TN94z

[Pretzel]

The good news is that with my french fry intake I never have to worry about low sodium! 🍟

The big problem I see most people doing that makes them think they hate water or not drink enough is that they drink it room temperature. Put some ice in there! It becomes 10x more appetizing when cold.

[Righty to Lefty]

20 hours ago, TN94z said:

I would venture to say that unless someone is on a strict low sodium diet, sodium in the body is not an issue. You have to really watch what you eat to get much less that 1500mg a day. I know when I was counting macros and running a strict diet, it was hard for me to keep the sodium level down where it should be on some days. It's very easy to eat a lot of sodium without adding salt in your drinks (especially in the south where I live..haha).  Of course, I'm not speaking from being in Kuwait or anything, but I can't really see LeBron having low sodium

He wasn't just low...he was dangerously low.  Salt gets a bad reputation but it is very very necessary to the body and it proper function.  If you drink a gallon of water I promise you are flushing off electrolytes at a rapid pace and those have to be put back or performance will suffer. If you sweat alot you need way more sodium than you probably think you do.  Too much sodium is only a problem if you aren't active and fluid is held in your system and not being cycled.  However there is a balance that must be maintained depending on the individual.  The Dr. said that Lebron likely needed 10,000 mg of sodium the night prior to have avoided cramping up. The whole purpose of gatorade before it became a sugar based drink was to prevent the Florida Gators athletes from cramping in the hot and muggy conditions in the south and it used to be salt based.  You can literally stop a cramp in its tracks with a few salt packets and a some water.  But the best way is to prevent them from happening by upping your intake the night prior and then supplementing during activity.  Drinking water by itself simply isn't enough. You can drink a gallon of water out here and still be a heat casualty if you don't get enough sodium for any of it to be taken into your cells to actually hydrate you as it is otherwise just passing through you. 

Here is the article: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/science-lebrons-cramping/story?id=24047849  

[TN94z]

4 hours ago, Righty to Lefty said:

He wasn't just low...he was dangerously low.  Salt gets a bad reputation but it is very very necessary to the body and it proper function.  If you drink a gallon of water I promise you are flushing off electrolytes at a rapid pace and those have to be put back or performance will suffer. If you sweat alot you need way more sodium than you probably think you do.  Too much sodium is only a problem if you aren't active and fluid is held in your system and not being cycled.  However there is a balance that must be maintained depending on the individual.  The Dr. said that Lebron likely needed 10,000 mg of sodium the night prior to have avoided cramping up. The whole purpose of gatorade before it became a sugar based drink was to prevent the Florida Gators athletes from cramping in the hot and muggy conditions in the south and it used to be salt based.  You can literally stop a cramp in its tracks with a few salt packets and a some water.  But the best way is to prevent them from happening by upping your intake the night prior and then supplementing during activity.  Drinking water by itself simply isn't enough. You can drink a gallon of water out here and still be a heat casualty if you don't get enough sodium for any of it to be taken into your cells to actually hydrate you as it is otherwise just passing through you. 

Here is the article: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/science-lebrons-cramping/story?id=24047849  

I didn't even know about the LeBron thing when I replied. it's just hard for me to believe that an athlete at that level would be low in sodium. Not because he doesn't sweat alot or whatever, but because it's something that he should know by now. He has probably worked with nutritionists like crazy. Having said that, maybe his diet changed the week of or something. Either way, my main point to my response was just pointing out that most people out there are not going to have an issue with sodium with the exception of the people you mentioned that are afraid of sodium. Myself, I understand the importance of sodium so I don't really worry about it that much. I wasn't disagreeing with anything you had stated.

[JCrane]

3 hours ago, TN94z said:

I didn't even know about the LeBron thing when I replied. it's just hard for me to believe that an athlete at that level would be low in sodium. Not because he doesn't sweat alot or whatever, but because it's something that he should know by now. He has probably worked with nutritionists like crazy. Having said that, maybe his diet changed the week of or something. Either way, my main point to my response was just pointing out that most people out there are not going to have an issue with sodium with the exception of the people you mentioned that are afraid of sodium. Myself, I understand the importance of sodium so I don't really worry about it that much. I wasn't disagreeing with anything you had stated.

Great article after reading it and reading both posts, I think you both have made good points. The key in that article to me was not the low sodium, but that James was an exception as the article pointed out. Most of us would never come near that stage.

Even the other athletes did not experience that degree of cramping. 

I would have to agree that most of us are getting plenty of sodium in our food to the point where it has become addictive like sugar and fat. We call it taste and manufactures take advantage of that.

Myself, I will wait until I start experiencing cramps to increase my salt intake, but I will be on the lookout. Thanks for some great  information

[iacas]

On 6/12/2018 at 1:00 AM, Shindig said:

Do the "low-calorie mix this powder with 2L water" things (like, 50 calories per 2L) count towards water intake? 

Yes.

Even coffee, tea, pop, etc. count toward water. Maybe not 100%, but… 98% or whatever.

A friend was in the hospital and they counted everything as water. Even milk, for example… is mostly water, and counted.

Though I still don't recommend caffeine if you're going to be outside.

[Shindig]

7 hours ago, iacas said:

Though I still don't recommend caffeine if you're going to be outside.

Good point.  I brought a bottle of Arnold Palmer (brewed iced tea at home + the powdered lemonade, not the store-bought pre-made mixed Palmer) to the range the other day and debated if I want to bring it to a round.  I think I'll stick to water and Powerade Zero during rounds.

[Righty to Lefty]

10 hours ago, JCrane said:

Great article after reading it and reading both posts, I think you both have made good points. The key in that article to me was not the low sodium, but that James was an exception as the article pointed out. Most of us would never come near that stage.

Even the other athletes did not experience that degree of cramping. 

I would have to agree that most of us are getting plenty of sodium in our food to the point where it has become addictive like sugar and fat. We call it taste and manufactures take advantage of that.

Myself, I will wait until I start experiencing cramps to increase my salt intake, but I will be on the lookout. Thanks for some great  information

Come to Kuwait in August and do ANYTHING remotely resembling a physical activity outside during the day and you will find out just how quickly things and get pretty bad!! You really have to be diligent finding the right mix of water and salt here or you will become a victim in no time. In less than and hour you can go from fine to in the hospital!  I have to drink some sort of nasty mixture with a bunch of salt in it if you want to make it through and outside activity here.  I hate it...but it works! 

[JCrane]

9 hours ago, Righty to Lefty said:

Come to Kuwait in August and do ANYTHING remotely resembling a physical activity outside during the day and you will find out just how quickly things and get pretty bad!! You really have to be diligent finding the right mix of water and salt here or you will become a victim in no time. In less than and hour you can go from fine to in the hospital!  I have to drink some sort of nasty mixture with a bunch of salt in it if you want to make it through and outside activity here.  I hate it...but it works! 

I can not imagine what that is like.  I think I will pass on  Kuwait, too many sand traps LOL

[Righty to Lefty]

On 6/14/2018 at 7:30 PM, JCrane said:

I can not imagine what that is like.  I think I will pass on  Kuwait, too many sand traps LOL

Kuwait is not that exciting of a place but they do love their golf out here in the middle east. Just don't come out out here in June, July, or August unless you have been in this type of climate before. Dubai and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates or Muscat, Oman or Doha, Qatar in the winter months have great weather and really good golf.  Playing golf in 130 degrees is not recommended (I still play in it cause the course is empty!!) but I don't have any issues so long as I get the hydration/salt intake right the night prior and use SPF 100 sunscreen and cover up as much skin as possible !! 

[JCrane]

it sounds like you got it figured out and have learned to work with that system