hi i thought that any fluid is counted as hydration....also food as this contains fluids as well...eg salads
hydration: hi i thought that any fluid... - Atrial Fibrillati...
hydration
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Charles1967
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BobDVolunteer
Some animals like cats get most of their hydration from food but the human animal needs water and lots of it. Remember that tea, coffee and alcohol in particular have the reverse affect and actually de hydrate.
Tea and coffee do indeed provide hydration. It’s a commonly held myth that they are dehydrating. Coffee is approximately 90% as hydrating as water, wine is about 80% and regular cow’s milk is about 140% more hydrating than water. But it doesn’t make sense to overdo the coffee and too much alcohol is never that smart.
Not the cats we had. Nearly all of them would stand next to the kitchen sink and chirrup until we turned the tap on and let them drink running water and lots of it!
We alwasy leave water down for ours as we also leave dry food out.
Same diet as ours but they liked the running tap.
Depends what you mean by “counts” as dehydration. Are you logging your fluid intake for medical reasons? In which case salads etc wouldn’t count as fluids.
If you just want to keep well hydrated in general then salad type vegetables, water melon, soft fruits etc can help a bit. Water is the obvious one but you can add some juice or cordial if you find drinking plain water a bit of a chore. Tea and coffee will add to your daily total but no more than 3-4 cups of coffee at most. Milk is more hydrating than water - strange but true. You could try making a milkshake if you don’t like drinking plain milk. Just mind the sugar as too much is not that good for you.
...3 or 4 cups of coffee? with AFib, I was lucky to get a half cup/day without setting it off! 
Yes, the usual caveats apply. I had one cup in the coffee shop after a recent hospital appointment, didn’t think to order a decaf. No AF or any impact on ectopics but couldn’t get to sleep and then only slept for 2-3 hours. We all know if it affects us or not.
There is lots of research into fluid intake and the 2 litres of water a day has been debunked in various academic papers, indeed one paper I read suggested that adult males needed to drink 3.4 litres of fluid a day....I guess its how you feel about your intake that's what works for you
..if you want to lose weight, focus on water and vegetables definitely assists in shedding fat!
You judge whether you’re dehydrated by the colour of your pee, so the advice goes. Should be pale or “light straw”.
'Healthy pee is 1-3, 4-8 must hydrate' is the saying I always remember from NHS Scotland.
nhsinform.scot/campaigns/hy...
Nice one ☝️
It's a myth that you need to drink lots of water a day. See this New Scientist article: newscientist.com/article/mg...
We get a lot of fluid out of food. It is not necessary to drink pure water, it all gets mixed up in the stomach anyway. Salads have a high % of water so they hydrate you as well. As the article says "if you are not sweating buckets you need only about a litre a day – and 1.2 litres is what you will get from the eight 150-millilitre glasses recommended by the UK’s health service."
The fluids that people drink anyway, including tea and coffee, can provide all the water we need. Even one or two mildly alcoholic drinks will hydrate you rather than dehydrating you.
Well all that says is there is no scientific data - and we get fluid from food. So I wonder why there is no scientific data?
I was part of a study conducted at our local hospital on hydration. We were given a pee colour chart which we had to match with the colour of our pee and had to enter info on every drink, quantity and food type we consumed. It was a very useful exercise and designed to educate patients on exactly how we could best hydrate. What amused me was that custard (old hospital favourite food) was considered very hydrating but I guess that would be the milk content.
The usefulness of the exercise was that it increased awareness of hydration, especially for older people who very often do not eat nor drink enough to keep hydrated causing many sorts of dysfunctions. Needless to say it was a nurse led project - they always come up with the practical options and are hands on to identify where and when problems with hydration occur.
“Salads have a high % of water” - fresh from the allotment maybe, but those dried up salad bags from the supermarket? Really? 😊
Yes, that's broadly correct. Take into account though that high caffeine and high sugar drinks will counteract beneficial effects of hydration. Lots of studies you can read on PubMed and similar to check this out in more detail
Think it is really individual. I have low BP so am conscious I need to drink a lot more than my husband. I think there may also be a gender component and certainly nursing mothers would need more than average as would anyone who sweats a lot or in hot weather or exercises with vigour. I always struggle to drink my 8 glasses of pure water a day but I count my herbal teas, water melon, milks which will include my coffee.
My pee colour used to be my gauge but now the meds I take and VitB supplement and beetroot tend to completely hijack that method! I now use routine as if I get thirsty, I know I’ve left it too late.
Hi,
Back in the day - early 1990's - I started bus driving in Sydney - in the days before air conditioned buses - and regardless I always had a cold soft drink in my work bag. As that got consumed I switched over to diet coke to get me through my shift.
Ever since those days right up to now in Cornwall I have maintained that practice and nowadays I keep a deep chilled bottle of Robinsons Orange and Mango Juice ( diluted at 25:1 ) and as and when the opportunity presents I just keep swigging from the bottle. I've never bothered about the mantra of drinking so much water in a day .... I just drink what's in my bottle which I have prepared. The Aspartame in the juice has never bothered me. Does me just fine. I do drink tea and coffee in my breaks and alchohol when I get home. I have no idea how much I drink but the fact that I do so continuously throughout the day may also impact on why my AF has been so well controlled over time.
John
I remember Stephen Fry saying on QI (UK TV show) that tea and coffee, although they are diuretic, do count toward fluid intake. And I have myself scoffed in the past at the idea that we have evolved to consume 2 litres of water every day. Surely the majority of our ancestors didn't have that luxury?
However I think hydration for sufferers of AF and other arrythmias is much more important than for the general population. I have no medical or scientific basis on which to base that belief, but I've been on this forum long enough to know anecdotally that many people are just like me - if they fail to drink enough water, their heart lets them know.
We know that arrythmia affects us all differently, and what triggers it in one person does not in another - so this may not be the case for some. But whenever a newbie asks about triggers on here, you can be sure most answers will have dehydration near the top of the list.
I wonder if desert dwellers, or those in poor soil and heat ridden climates ( say, Kalahri Desert or Afghanistan) have a problem with consuming water (if there is any) ...... and whether they suffer from AF too or indeed any other 'Western Medical conditions' for that matter.
Absolutely you are correct.
The body system that detects and protects "hydration" levels is very finely tuned indeed. It's called "homeostasis" and, via the kidneys, it measures and maintains the blood volume and concentrations of electrolytes, adjusting as needed by absorbing or preventing loss of water from the large colon or using the massive splanchnic bed reserves.
You could eat only lettuce and be perfectly hydrated; or you could drink tea, coffee, beer or whatever takes your fancy. You would have to drink one heck of a lot of tea or coffee for it to have any significant diuretic effect, whatever you might hear to the contrary.
There's so much stuff and nonsense put out by bottled water companies. The internet is awash with it.
Some science with a light touch is here: bbc.com/future/article/2014...
Steve
If I’m out all day in the heat fishing/ walking etc, i mix at least a litre of water with squeezed lemon juice, teaspoon of cream of tartar powder, a pinch of Himalayan salt, and a cap full of cider vinegar. I actually like the taste but my wife thinks it’s awful.!!! It’s full of electrolytes so I’m replacing what Iv lost but she won’t have it.!!!
Given that dehydration is so often behind episodes of confusion, depression and anxiety in the elderly it may be best to err on the side of caution and be in the habit of drinking plenty water before old age and memory loss overtakes us all! 😀
Also important to prevent the formation of kidney stones in people who have a predisposition or family history. Dehydration is definitely a factor especially in occupations where there is little opportunity to drink or have access to a toilet- so people will often avoid drinking to avoid the need to go.
I am afraid hydration is called water or be like me and spend a few hours in hospital being dehydrated ( hot weather at time)
That must have been pretty bad to end up in hospital with dehydration 😱
Hi
You are certainly correct.
But it's difficult to add those all up together.
It also depends on heat of the day and the amount of exercise.
I was told if you get thirsty then you should have had a drink of water an hour ago.
I have to have a giggle to myself who says 1 shower a week does her because she is 83 now, with MS and does not sweat. I try and tell her although she has a bidet skin is shed throughout the day and so is the germs around her.
She is out on her mobile scooter, goes to keep fit, walks short distances with a walker, strains to get herself up from bed or a chair etc etc. No forgetting shops for stuff at the supermarket.
But nothing changes.
What other reasons can I give. And of course she perspores.
Cheri Joy 74. (NZ)
Only food I can think of that contains a decent amount of water to say is melon and celery.?
Ive enjoyed reading the replies about hydration...i am just interested how ideas about water intake creep into our psyche when lots of it comes from advertising...keep seeing lots of ads about erectile dysfunction ...never heard of it before viagra...used to call it brewers droop...also interested in items that have been discovered by accident...see viagra...sweeteners😁
BobDVolunteer
I was talking natural animals. Of course we all provide water for our loves.
When I was on dialysis tea, coffee, juice, soup and even ice cream were included in my daily intake of rather restricted fluids.
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