The myth states that the average fairly active person needs to drink eight glasses of water per day. http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp
The current thinking is that maybe eight is over the top in view of the fact that we get water from sources other than drinks. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/06/08/water-eight-glasses-myth.html?cmp=rss
This assumes that we are eating food which already has a high water content and that we are preparing the food in a way that preserves the water content.
Raw vegetables or those cooked in water (boiled) will retain their water content. This does NOT include microwaved vegetables where the recommended amount of water to add does not ever cover all of the vegetables. In fact, the added water invariably ends up as condensation on the inner sides of the microwave. There will still be some, but wrinkled vegetables are a sign of dehydration, and dehydrated vegetables are hardly going to hydrate the person consuming them.
Fruit is an excellent source of water too UNLESS it is used to make preserves and only eaten in processed ‘preserve’ form or where alcohol, a known dehydrator, is added.
Modern day living is all about ‘fast’, and while raw fruit is fast, it tends not to feature too high in the diet of many people and is expensive in countries or regions where it does not grow on local trees.
Vegetables are traditionally disliked by many children, and the dislike can continue throughout a lifetime. In the old days when I was a kid, vegetables were boiled, and baked potatoes were wrapped in foil which preserved some of the moisture. Grilled and microwaved vegetables are not the same and do not deliver the moisture of their boiled counterparts.
So, should we drink eight glasses of water per day? Is the myth really the truth?
My advice… Always try to have a glass of water handy when you eat. Drinks with caffeine are ok but caffeine dehydrates to some degree, so back it up with water at some point. Alcohol dehydrates for sure, especially if you drink enough to the point of being sick, and you will definitely have to back it up with water.
Drink when you are thirsty and if your preferred drink is not cutting it, get some water because that always will. There is no good alternative to a glass of clean, plain water.
Oh, and one last thing, only drink eight glasses of water if there is no food available, and try to get something to eat as soon as you can because water alone will flush out the sodium in you, and despite claims that salt is bad, we all need some in our diet..
Enjoy..
