It seems common sense that drinking lots of water can "cleanse" the system, but two studies contradict this. In one of the studies, drinking more than 2 litres a day caused a 2.4 times greater decline in kidney function compared with those drinking 1-1.5 L/d. It would appear that moderation in consumption applies to water as well as everything else we eat and drink!
My urologist has said the same. When I told him how much water I drank, he said that was too much. Apparently it doesn't matter if it's water, tea or whatever, it all gets mixed up in the stomach, and we get most of our liquid from food anyway. I have to say, cutting down a bit has led to better sleep as I only have to get up once in the night!
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MarkS
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I remember a piece about Nigel Havers being admitted to hospital because he had drunk too much water a few years ago now. I believe you can get ‘drunk’ on water if you drink enough of it.
A few years ago our hospital had a pee guide shade card which they dolled out to people during a heat wave so you could match the colour of your pee with your hydration levels. I think that’s a reasonably good monitor - ‘straw’ colour was considered exactly right.
I worked for many years in pharmaceutical marketing, and the sale of bottled water was seen back then one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever. It is a fad that is supported by no science. The two buzz words "hydration" and "dehydration" entered the vernacular and were adopted by many with gusto as they handed over up to a pound for a bottle of liquid gold.
Too much water washes out water soluble vitamins and minerals; too little water makes you thirsty. The design of the body in this regard is near perfect.
Another idea that marketers re-invented to help them sell diet pills and drinks was "metabolism", pushing the idea that we could alter it to speed it up or, if we were overweight, to give us something to blame as our metabolism was clearly "too sluggish". What scientific nonsense that is, too: the metabolic rate is beyond our control, fixed throughout adult life, faster when very young, a little slower when very old.
The only caveat to that is that very elderly people tend to lose the ‘thirst’ signal, may be nature’s way of indicating it’s time to go? So a local student invented a cup that sits in a holder with a monitor, used in our hospital to remind patients to drink and to monitor their intake, also on sale I believe.
Makes longevity sense to me. In addition to a cup of green tea & a couple of cups of coffee substitute (Orzo), I normally have 2 pints of very weak warm (better for my digestive system) ribena with a few drops of fresh lemon juice in.
I am particularly interested in what we put in our bodies. For some time, unless you have a particular issue, I have decided moderation and a little of everything that includes sugar & gluten with a bias toward some things. These days alcohol has gone (I'm pretty sure a glass wine would be fine but don't want to rock the AF boat), red meat , gluten & sugar down 75%. Probably spend 50% more on buying organic dairy, meat etc direct from the farm.
Strictly of course some things are not good for you (e.g. a donut) but occasionally and with the right amount of daily exercise unlikely to cause a problem.
A friend of mine who tried the South Beach Diet drank so much water during that diet, that her kidneys were permanently damaged. Wherever we went, she couldn't go more than an hour or two before having to look for a restroom. Moderation in everything!
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Breathlessness and Diuretics 
Too much magnesium?
Too much exercise ??
