Those are great links!! Thanks so much for posting them, I always love reading these sorts of things. And I grew up on Toastmasters (a debating club) so I love debating these sorts of topics <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> So I really did read all of those articles you posted, and thought they were great food for thought. You posted 5 links but really they were all about the same group of scientists and their thoughts. So they all said the same thing (as one might hope). Here are my thoughts.
Yes, we need 8 glasses of water in total, from our total diet. But just like we take vitamin supplements to ensure we do get enough vitamins, drinking water ensures we get enough water. And just like you *could* take too many vitamins and overdose, you *could* drink too much water if you went crazy with it. But most of us don't even come close to that <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> So I find it's better to drink your 8 glasses of water, especially since on some days I do eat "moist" food but on other days all the food I eat is rather "dry".
Next, many people I know don't drink ANY water during the day. I really doubt they get 8 glasses worth in the foods they are eating. So even if the papers claim people don't need "8 glasses" of additional water, most people aren't getting much of ANY. At least if they aim for 8 glasses they might get SOME water into them. It's the same thing with exercise. If you aim for daily exercise you might at least exercise once or twice a week.
I know that I personally thought 8 glasses was a lot back when I literally drank none. But now that I *do* keep a glass of water near me all the time, I *easily* drink 8 a day and I feel so, so much better.
They researchers say that "drinking coffee gives you water". But I have read many studies that talk about how bad caffeine is for you. People literally get addicted to coffee just like they get addicted to sugar. Neither is really good for you. So in the same way they could say "drinking sugary cola gives women water". But since cola is bad for womens' bones, and sugar is bad in many ways, the water you get out of it is offset by the bad health. Why would you choose cola over water? So yes you COULD drink coffee and get some water from it. But it's much more healthy to choose the water.
I also don't agree when they said your need to urinate as a result was a "bad thing". If your body needs water, regardless of whether you get it in coffee, cola, food, etc., it is going to come back out of you. So if you are drinking/eating adequate water, no matter *how* you get it, you'll have to urinate.
Scientists always love to research things <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And yes, most people don't need to drink 8 additional glasses of water a day. They might need to drink 5 or 6. But in the same way, people might only have to take 400mg of Vitamin C and not 500mg depending on their diet. Me, I'd rather just take that 500mg vitamin each day so even if I did eat something else with Vitamin C in it, I'd be sure to get my full 500mg each day, no matter what else my life happened to be doing on that day <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Just my view!
