Drinking Our Way To Dehydration

DRINKING OUR WAY TO DEHYDRATION

(In July 6, 1998 Issue of Virginia Pilot)

Article Written by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
New York Times News Service

We may think we are drinking plenty, but the fluids we take often keep us running on half empty

Americans may be literally drinking themselves into a state of dehydration. While we drink an average of eight cups of water and other hydrating beverages each day, we counter the positive effects by drinking five servings of caffeinated or alcoholic beverages, which dehydrate the body, according to a recent survey of the drinking habits of 3,000 people.

The result, said Dr. Barbara Levine, director of the Nutrition Information Center at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, is a dehydrated nation.

Alcohol and caffeine in beverages are diuretics, which cause a person to urinate more, resulting in a net loss of water.

Americans average about 8.5 cups of hydrating beverages daily - including milk, juice and caffeine-free carbonated drinks and water - and 4.5 cups of caffeinated or alcoholic beverages a day. For water alone, the national average is 4.6.

The survey, sponsored by the International Bottled Water Association and Nutrition Information Center, interviewed 200 adults in each of 15 cities.

Lack of knowledge is not the problem. Most people said they were aware that experts recommend drinking eight glasses of water a day and that some beverages, like coffee, are dehydrating.

The reasons for not keeping hydrated varied from not having enough time to just not liking water.

"If there's something with flavor to it, I'll drink it instead", said Vic Rodriguez, an accountant from Long Island, whose preferred drinks are cola and iced tea. "I'm not going to stop to think, 'Let me have a glass of water because it's going to be more hydrating' I'll just have the soda."

Not drinking enough water can have costs. People who drank three or fewer glasses a day were more likely to suffer symptoms like grogginess upon waking and dry skin, experts said. The benefits of adequate hydration are many.

Water is something of an appetite suppressant. It's also economical, aids digestion and helps prevent headaches.

Levine said people should drink the equivalent of eight glasses of water a day. If they drink coffee or other dehydrating beverages, they should offset the loss of drinking an additional glass of water.

People should not wait until they are thirsty to drink, Levine said, because by then the body is dehydrated, in a deficit of perhaps two cups of fluids.

BODIES OF WATER

The average adult body is 50 to 65 % water - that's roughly 45 quarts.

Men are more watery than women. A man's body is 60 to 65 percent water, compared to 50 to 60 percent for a woman. Men have more water in their bodies because they generally have more muscle mass than women, says Felicia Busch, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Fat doesn't contain water, and women generally have a higher percentage of body fat than men, she says.

Infants are 70 percent water, according to statistics compiled by the International Bottled Water Association. "That's mostly for cushioning", Busch says. "Because of the birth process, they need a lot of cushioning."

Water content differs throughout the body. Blood is made up of 83 percent water, bones are 22 percent and muscle is 75 percent water.

Water plays several crucial roles in the body. It helps regulate temperature, carries nutrients and oxygen and removes waste. It also cushions joints and organs. "Water is the most important nutrient", says Busch. "It really is the basis of a healthy diet."

When asleep, the human body loses as much water as it does during waking hours, so it's helpful to start and end the day with a glass of water, according to the Nutrition Information Center at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

The body needs as much water in cold weather as it does in hot weather, the center reports.

When it's warm outside, cool water is the best thirst quencher. It's absorbed more readily than warm fluids and helps cool the body.

Fluids also are lost during exercise. The average person needs two cups of water for each pound lost working out.