I drink too much...water!

[Fate Flyer]

I was curious if anyone else here was like this, because as far as I'm aware, I'm the only weird one.

As of fairly recently in my life, I'd say within the past year or so, I've started to drink a lot of water. Water is basically the only thing I drink, though I also may have juice. I never drink pop, not because it's bad for you, but simply because I don't really care for it at all. However, I do drink flavored bottled water. Regular water is too plain for me to be drinking all the time.

So, I have a bottle of flavored water with me at all times. Whenever I finish with that bottle, I start a new one. I drink so much water each day, that I seriously cannot go without drinking for more than an hour. This is not just my mind thinking I need to drink either -- I literally get thirsty and my mouth becomes extremely dry and nasty. I imagine that because I worked myself up to eventually drinking as much as I do now, my body has adapted to it, and since drinking a lot of water everyday is good for you, it demands it now. I can't sit in class without a bottle of water with me, and if I can't bring one (if I'm in a computer lab), then I must take a long drink from the drinking fountain on our breaks.

I never counted how many bottles I drink a day, but I'm guessing it's probably around 5, along with 2 or 3 glasses of juice. I drink so much water, that I HAVE to have a bottle on my nightstand even when I go to bed, because I drink overnight. I wake up in my sleep to drink water. LOL.

Lol so does anyone else here have this same "problem" or know anyone else that has a drinking problem...in terms of non-alcoholic beverages? XD

[Lara]

No, I don't drink nearly that much water. o: Not anymore, at least.

For a good while after I came back from Europe, all I'd drink was water, and I drank a lot of it (still probably not as much as you're describing... that amount's reserved for while I was actually in Europe). That was because I got used to only having water (and a single, small glass of soda during meals, since we had to share a bottle or two with our entire table), and having to drink a lot of it due to the amount of walking we did.

I always bring a bottle of water with me to class, though, and I refill it once it's empty (which tends to be after class). Occasionally I put flavoring in it, but if I run out, I run out. I drank a lot of water during school, though. Over the summer, not so much.

[Dio the Awesome]

The flavored water may actually be your problem. I am no expert, but the sugar in the water may not be as quenching as regular water.

I have heard that anywhere from 2 to 5 liters of water needs to be drank everyday. I assume the modest amount of 4 liter to be correct.

So it looks to me like you're drinking about 6 liters a day, depending on the bottle size. That may be a little excessive, but not majorly over.

If you think it's adversely affecting you, I would suggest try drinking regular tap water, for maybe a day or two, and see if that causes you to drink less.

And everyone's body is different. I probably drink two liters a day, but it's usually just plain water.


EDIT: Do you eat a lot of salty foods, or work out, or do anything that may make you dehydrated. That may be why your drinking so much, and if so, keep drinking that amount.

[Fate Flyer]

Gah, sorry I don't have time to fully reply (I have to leave for class right now!), but I just wanted to state that the water that I drink is Target brand, and it has 0 calories and 0 grams of sugar in it, so it can't be that. Also I know it can't be just the water, since I'm really "addicted" to drinking in general. I need to have a drink with me at all times. XD

I ride my exercise bike usually once a day for 10-20 minutes, but that's it at the moment. And no, I really don't eat very salty foods at all. Onenitedrive may be able to describe me better while I'm away, lol.

[Adrius Frostglare]

I theorize that it could be psychological. Can you pinpoint an exact event that made you decide to drink more water? You may have simply been influenced by outside sources, probably subconsciously (if you knew WHY you did this, you wouldn't be making such a deal of it anyway )

Your body reacts to your mentality and water has become similar to a habit: your body has learned to have it often and when it doesn't have it, it complains by drying your mouth even if it is perfectly fine.

[Renisca]

"Water" you talking about? You sound totally washed up! <.< (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

Well, I guess if you've developed such a taste for water, whether it's psychosomatic or not, at least it's a positive thing and something to encourage yourself to do. It's just one of those things that happens over time - all of the self-help books will tell you that if you keep creating a mental illusion, soon it will become a reality. (Not saying your water intake indicates that you're delusional. xD) Having a nicely flushed-out system probably helps out the body a lot and it's something that people don't often think about. But hopefully there's always a bathroom close by. ;D

I think I drink more [water] than the average person (or when I look around the table at a restaurant, my glass is always at least marginally less full than everyone else's). And flavored water (white grape and cherry for the win!) is nice as well, although I've only just started on that kick.

This discussion has made me thirsty and more conscious of my water intake. *goes off have my white grape powder in a bottled water - shaken, not stirred*

[Fate Flyer]

I'm glad I'm not alone, or at least originally, you had joined me in this drinking-ness, Lara. Lol.


There really wasn't any one thing that I did to make me drink more. In all honesty, I think it may be due to the fact that Tony and I grocery shop for ourselves now. So, we buy lots of bottles of flavored water for me each week, and I think over the span of living on our own together and buying water for me to drink, I've just gradually gotten used to drinking more and more water, until I got to the point that I'm at right now, which is that I need water with me always. I never used to drink very much at all when I lived at home with my parents, but then my mom grocery shopped for our family, and she'd buy pop and a little juice and maybe some regular water every now and then, so I never really conditioned myself to drink anything.

I really don't think it's a psychological thing at all. I just don't feel that way. I can't explain it, and I mean, obviously I can't prove it, and I can't know for certain, but I just feel as if, over the course of the 2 years now that I've been living with Tony on my own and we've been buying flavored water for me to drink, I've just progressively grown to drink more and more, and my body got used to drinking more and more.


I remember someone saying once a long time ago, when a guy that I worked with was interested in working out and exercising, that he should drink a lot of water. So, he started to, and he drank a ton, but he had to run to the bathroom every few minutes, and it was crazy. (I know, because, like I said, I worked with him.) But the man that was our boss, essentially, told him that his body would eventually get used to it, so that, in time, he wouldn't need to go to the bathroom as much.

I think that may be similar to what I've experienced. I worked myself up to drinking as much as I do today, and it wasn't an overnight thing or anything, so I never really noticed having to go to the bathroom any more than usual, and one might think with the amount of water I drink, I would have to go a lot, but I'm pretty average, I'd say.

I just was kind of wondering if perhaps there were other people out there who drank a lot and whose bodies demanded a lot in time, like mine apparently has.

Lol Renisca! XD

That's true that drinking a lot of water is usually pretty healthy for you, so at least it's not a terrible thing to be doing throughout the day, lol.

[Loki]

I usually have a bottle of water next to me while I'm on the computer (especially while at work.) During the course of the day I will just be subconsciously drinking and refilling in the drinking fountain. Over the course of an 8 hour work day I might have polished off five 20oz bottles.

I made the same mistake with beer once my freshmen year while playing a RTS computer game with my friend at the other end of the room. After we wrapped up the 3 hour long match I looked over and realized that there was around 12 empty beer cans. That was when I also realized that I had a very good buzz going. XD

[Adrius Frostglare]

There was this one night I went and drank an entire gallon of water at one time. I was also 12, so that was really a LOT of water.

Never gone to the bathroom more times in one day in my life...

[Thunder Daddy]

Water is good for you, lay off the flavored ones if you can help it though.

[Adrius Frostglare]

Water is good for you, lay off the flavored ones if you can help it though.

She said those had zero calories and zero sugar. There must be something else in there, though, that alters the flavor, and you seem to know it.

*prods for curiosity*

[Fate Flyer]

I'm not sure what's in it that makes the flavor... XD

It says:

Total Fat 0g
Sodium 5mg
Total Carb 0g
Sugars 0g
Protein 0g

That's all it says. So, I guess it just has some sodium in it.

[Adrius Frostglare]

Well, but 5 grams of sodium is ridiculously low. Diluted in a 455ml bottle? Pathetically low.

We'll have to find out SOME secret to it... methinks that it's not really water with an additive but rather super-diluted juice.

[Fate Flyer]

5 MILLIgrams, too. That's good, at least.

I'm curious now too. Lol!

[Thunder Daddy]

I don't know what's in there, but I know that if it ain't water classic, it ain't good for you.

[Dio the Awesome]

I would be willing to bet its aspertaime, or however its spelled. That fake sugar crap. It's a by-product of lead smelting. Check the ingredients.

It's scary reading the ingredients of stuff when you have a chemistry background.

[Kalon Ordona II]

...try drinking regular tap water...

DON'T drink regular tap water if you can at all help it--unless the tap water is exceptionally good for some reason. Bottled water is better, but it's still not good enough. Some kind of natural spring water is best, I suppose--though I'm no expert. Avoid as much of the human water processing as you can--we either put chemicals in it to make it "safe to drink" (anybody else think that's ridiculous?) or we put it through the distillation process, which just makes it kinda dead--safe but not all that helpful beyond simple hydration.

Also, all the water nowadays is acidic. Find some way to get PH positive water, or at least more alkaline than normal.

Water is good for you, lay off the flavored ones if you can help it though.

She said those had zero calories and zero sugar. There must be something else in there, though, that alters the flavor, and you seem to know it.

Yeah, you'd better believe there's something in there. Can anybody say "aspartame"? (Edit: Aha, looks like someone did. ^^) There are others, too, but that one seems to be the most popular right now. Horrible stuff for you.

The whole "sugar-free", "diet" movement is complete garbage. It's actually a lot worse for you than the sugary stuff. (I won't even bother saying anything about soda.)

Anyway, water is definitely a good thing to be drinking. I don't think it's very easy to drink too much of it--either the body uses it or it gets wasted. Drinking too much water usually means you're drowning.

[Dio the Awesome]

This:

[Thunder Daddy]

Yeah totally, most people don't realize that it's not sugar or fat that makes you fat It's eating too much calories that make you fat.

[Fate Flyer]

XD This all sounds like any type of water - tap & bottled - is bad for you.

If I was just drinking regular, unflavored water, I would drink tap, however... I enjoyed our tap water back home, but the tap water here in the Chicagoland area is absolutely disgusting. It tastes like fishes. So, I couldn't do that. xD We're only going to live here for another year though, so hopefully where we move to next will have a little better tasting tap water.

That sucks though that even bottled water standards are not as great as they say they are. Lol that was hilarious that people enjoyed the hose water.

[Dio the Awesome]

Tastes like fishes huh? You mean like fish eggs?

My parents like is the country, and have well water. It's the best damn water on the planet. But it does taste of fish eggs. If I'm not at home for a long time, I begin to notice the smell. But if I'm there all the time, I get used to it.

Our water has traces of fluoride, which I believe contributes to the smell. It's good for your teeth. Well water is the best you can get. Natural filtration from ground water.

[Kalon Ordona II]

I guess, look at it this way: before chlorine and fluoride, people had springs, streams and wells, and they pretty much got along just fine. That's pretty much not an option today, however, so...
Safest: get the best water you can, and then pray over it. ^^

Even if you're not religious, positive energy does affect water. (obviously not just water, but you get the idea.)

Great clip about bottled water, Diodri! The stuff in there doesn't surprise me in the least, even though I never knew that before.

[Weiss]

Positive energy affects water? I'm skeptical...

Anyway, back when I first went on my health-kick and was doing all kinds of exercise, I was told to start drinking excessive amounts of water for two reasons:

1. When you exercise, you obviously need more liquids to keep from dehydrating. People think Gatorade is Wonder Juice no matter when you drink it, but the fact is that the only benefit to Gatorade is when you're in the middle of exercising.

2. When you first stop drinking other beverages and pick up the habit of drinking near-only water, your body might notice that something is missing. Up until that point, you've been drinking things with high sugar content and moderate sodium content, and now you're just putting pure water through your system. You might notice that you go to the bathroom more frequently when drinking nothing but water as opposed to juices, soda, etc. Supposedly that's because your body was so used to filtering out large amounts of sugar and sodium that it starts looking for those things even when you're not providing them.

Eh, to cut this short: apparently, when you first start drinking nothing but water, your body is going to keep asking you for more and more, and it will feel like you simply can't get enough. As your body adjusts to the change, you'll start noticing that more water is retained by the body and you don't need to drink as much to keep your body happy. At that point, make sure you start drinking a bit less so you don't get waterlogged.

Edit: Ah, I remember how this went, now! Something like, if you don't drink a lot of water for an extensive period of time, your body adjusts to the lower amount of water you're providing. However, when you start providing adequate amounts, your body realizes that it can start using the water in your system more freely, and it will keep asking for more and more water until it's satisfied. Something like that... Keh, biology confuses the Hell out of me.

Long story short, don't worry, it's perfectly okay that you can't seem to get enough water. When you start getting enough of it, your body will let you know. Turns out those things are pretty smart.

Note: This is mainly stuff I heard from my coach back at the time, so I don't know how much of it's actually scientifically sound, but it seemed to work out that way for me, so I figured I'd pass it on here.

[Fate Flyer]

*nods* Ah, yeah. That seems to make sense and was pretty much what I had assumed. Thanks a lot, Weiss! I hoped that that would be the case -- that my body would "talk to me" and let me know if I was drinking to much.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Yeah, that's what bodies do. It's amazing, really. ^_^
Thing to remember, I guess, is that they adapt. You can get them to adapt back or to something else, but it might take a little while.

That's probably why we aren't dead from eating fast food.

[Ragter the junior greeter]

I feel a bit pathetic for not having much to say, but here goes.

I saw on the show '1000 Ways to Die' that it is very possible to die from drinking too much water, something about one of your organs rupturing or something along those lines. I think it's the same principle with food, since on the same show, it explained that if you ate too much food, one of your organs would rupture..again, I'm not sure which one. That's probably why you feel so full when you're...well, full, so you don't go and hurt yourself.

[Kaito]

I don't drink water: fish are sexxin' in there.

[Dio the Awesome]

D:

[Kalon Ordona II]

omg, Kaito

[Ragter the junior greeter]

I don't think I'll ever look at water the same again, thanks a lot. x.x

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