[bmxhacksaw]

From the time I get up in the morning until I get off of work I drink around 64 oz. of water. Plus I drink during after work rides and then I drink a 24 oz bottle of water mixed with Accelerade (for recovery) but my wife (and some yahoo in a bicycling magazine) says I need to drink more.

Around 4pm-5pm I start having to pee about every 20 minutes and it is usually completely clear. Is this a sign that I have enough water in me or do I really need to be drinking more?

 

[Pablo]

You're drinking at least 64oz more water than I ever drink in a single day. I do have some coffee though. As a disclaimer, I'm pretty fit and ride a lot.

Why are you drinking so much?

 

[Kawboy8]

Same here...

I drink a lot of water on a daily basis, yet my wife is always on me for not drinking enough. I don't drink so much while riding though. I will drink 2 bottle for a 2 1/2 hour ride...then some more when we get home. I still pee while on a ride, and after...which tells me I am hydrated. Am I wrong?

 

[Dwayne Barry]

I'm pretty sure the idea that drinking a lot of water has any health benefits was recently debunked by some actual research. Don't ask me where the "health" idea came from that people should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, etc.

I just googled it. Here you go:

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=36931

 

[android]

Drinking at least 8 gallons of water a day does have health benefits. It makes the fat cats at the bottled water companies fatter!!!

 

[Kawboy8]

Drinking at least 8 gallons of water a day does have health benefits. It makes the fat cats at the bottled water companies fatter!!!

lol....8 gallons?

 

[pretender]

Tell your wife to know her role. She's your wife, not your mother.

 

[bmxhacksaw]

SMBU - Prodigy

 

[allison]

Drink less at work and more at home?

If it's clear and you are still going ever 20 mins, almost sounds like over hydration.

Most people shoot for somewhere *around* 64 oz total a day, and that isn't exact. You may need to drink more if you're exercising, but doesn't mean you need specifically like 100oz a day or not.

 

[Sashana]

I live in a desert. In the winter I probably drink ~7 glasses water a day. In the summer heat I may drink 2 gallons and it's not enough. It's all about your environment which includes weather and activity level. It even depends on what you've eaten.

I really get a laugh about that 8 glasses of water a day. Where? When?

It's said that if your urine is clear you are well hydrated. If it's yellow/brown you're dehydrated.

Sashana

 

[kbiker3111]

SMBU - Prodigy

plus one

 

[leon2982]

hyponatremia

Search Google. You'll find lots of informaton. One site is:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec12/ch158/ch158c.html

 

[outtashapeguy]

I would think that in addition to drinking at least 3 or 4 16oz bottles of water a day you would receive the rest of your hydration from the food you eat. Unless you eat saltine crackers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[dr pabst]

Sounds like you're maybe overdoing the hydration-thing. As said above, you can make yourself hyponatremic by drinking too much plain water and not replacing lost electrolytes. This is a bad thing. If you really feel the need to drink that much liquid (which I doubt is neccessary), it might be agood idea to look into a sugarless electrolyte drink, which will allow you to hydrate with a lesser risk of hyponatremia and withiut packing in a bunch of calories.

That having been said, some good gauges of your hydration status are urine color (which I use) and pre- and post- ride weight (which I dont do, but should).

 

[bill]

I read somewhere (and anecdotally I believe it myself) that if you become dehydrated and then drink a lot in the short term to make up the deficit, peeing clear doesn't necessarily mean you're good. the color of your pee derives from relative blood concentrations, but dehydration occurs in the tissues. Your blood balance returns before your tissue balance returns, which can take days.

 

[saccycling]

We had a radio promotion here about 2 years ago. They had people drink a lot of water and the last person to pee won a wii console. A lady died from drinking to much water. Drinking so much water caused her sodium to drop and her brain swelled and she dropped dead. No joke. I asked my doctor about drinking 8 glasses a water a day and he told me thats bullshit. He also told me you get a lot of your hydration from the food you eat. The 8 glasses a water a day didn't come from the medical community. It came from the water bottle association. Thats the truth. I was also told if your urine is the color of straw, you got it right. But being a athlete, I don't think theres to much wrong drinking maybe a couple of extra glasses of water a day. But thats my opinion.

 

[Pablo]

Didn't the New York Times do a story a few years ago on runners dieing from over hydration?

 

[Kawboy8]

Tell your wife to know her role. She's your wife, not your mother.

lol...she hits me too. j/k.