The Water Myth
Why more is less
You’ve probably been told at some point to drink 8 glasses or 2 liters of water per day. Either it was your parents or your PE teacher, who were told by their parents and their PE teachers. Not only is this recommendation not based on science, but it can also be extremely dangerous.
The only benefit of advocating for this myth is to possibly discourage some folks from consuming soft drinks. Other than that, you’ve been fooled, and I’m here to tell you just why.
The origins
The myth of 8 glasses of 8 ounces can be dated back to 1945 (1). The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council recommended 1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food. Even they outlined that “Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.” How did this get so out of hand?
Most nutrition myths originate from industry-sponsored research and whenever some company tries to push their products. The anti-fat propaganda started because the sugar industry wanted to derail the discussions and shift the blame to an easy target (2). The anti-meat bias emerged for similar reasons, plus its high saturated fat content can be vilified with the same false data.
Many people are aware of the enormous amount of pro-soda, Coca-Cola funded studies, but the water industry is arguably just as nefarious. Companies such as Gatorade and Avian don’t hesitate to sponsor sports science research, which is why these superstitions about water are so hard to get rid of (3).
If overhydration wasn’t as big of a problem, I would not be so mad about these false claims. Turns out, it is.
Two nutrition myths walk into a bar
The water myth would not be as scary if the anti-salt sentiment wasn’t as profound. When you combine two false nutrition claims, unfortunately, they do not cancel each other out. Not only are we endangering ourselves by limiting salt, but we are also exponentially increasing the damage by upping our water intake.
First, I’d like to remind you that sodium is an essential micronutrient. If you decided to follow the current dietary guidelines and go below 2 grams per day, your risk of morbidity and mortality would rise to the maximum (4). In addition, salt can help you with muscle contraction, cramps, and hence, your gym performance (5).
Now that we’re all aware of the risks of a low sodium diet, let’s be extra careful and not flush out the salts with our water. Hyponatremia is an abnormally low sodium concentration in the blood that can occur from drinking massive amounts of water. Even though sodium itself is incredibly important, its role as a buffer against other mineral deficiencies may even be more critical.
Are you still hesitant to vindicate salt or accept the fact that we’re not dehydrated? I’m guessing that your view on minerals such as magnesium and potassium is more favorable. If you drink copious amounts of water or have low sodium overall, your body starts pulling all of the electrolytes from bones (6, 7). Magnesium and calcium levels are thereby spiked in the blood, and the depletion of the former can even result in death. If you’re a fan of exercising, then diuresis and hyponatremia from reducing salt/guzzling down water need to be in the back of your mind (8).
The TL;DR of all this is that water should not be blindly worshiped. Instead, we need to rethink the way we look at sodium. A great way to mitigate the consequences of excessive water consumption is to add some salt to it.
Water in 2020
Besides our ways of eating changing considerably with time, our water supply is also not the same. In the hunter-gatherer times, you could’ve safely relied on the spring water to provide you with all the magnesium and other necessary minerals. In this day and age, neither our food nor our water is nourishing us the way it used to.
The majority of bottled water only has trace amounts of a few minerals. If you drink tap water exclusively, then you’re left with minerals that the government chose to add, such as fluoride, calcium, but barely any sodium. Therefore, mimicking the ancestral lifestyle can be useful, as natural sources of water are much less likely to deplete you of nutrients. Additionally, it may be wise to buy the fancier, more mineral-rich water since that is a lot closer to what we used to consume.
With the increased intake of diuretic fluids, including coffee, tea, alcohol, and the like, proper nutrition was never as relevant. Considering we can no longer depend on our water’s quality, replenishing electrolytes through salt and nutrient-dense foods should become a number one priority for everyone.
Takeaway
I know this may sound counterintuitive, but you should drink water when you’re thirsty. Our bodies are not dumb and are generally good at telling us what they need.
Tackling the water myth requires a reconsideration of multiple nutrition claims that we take for granted. No, you don’t need 8 glasses of water, nor will lowering salt make you healthier. Yes, water is better than Coca-Cola, but that is not a good enough excuse to propagate false information.
