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Comment by Carrok | Hacker News Reader

What an absurd statement. Over hydration has to go WAY over to compete with the dangers of under hydration.

If you can back that up with a source, please do so. In any case, my point isn't about margins. My point is that you get thirsty if you need to drink more water. With some exceptions, such as old age.

Drinking too much water is harmful. Drinking too little water is harmful. You want a proper hydration balance, and in most circumstances—with several exceptions—this is well regulated by thirst. All of this is well documented and none of this is should be controversial at all.

My sense of thirst seems somewhat off.

Maybe it’s confirmation bias, but I have heard of very few over-hydration cases whereas medical dehydration seems pretty common.

Granted the pressures for dehydration are a lot more common (hiking with too little water, running competitions, maybe little access to water in a hot climate, etc). Once one has ample access to water, I doubt there is much pressure to keep drinking to over-hydration.

My experience is the opposite. I've never witnessed serious dehydration, i.e. with symptoms beyond cramps, but I've encountered various cases of serious spontaneous over-hydration, including a heli evac. It's worth pointing out that my background is infantry, so we're generally mindful of drinking enough during marches, in arctic conditions and so on, which are some of the exceptions I'm talking about. On the less serious side, two friends have had "urinary tract abnormalities" due to generally drinking too much water daily because they bought into the "stay hydrated" hype.

With all that said: Yes, dehydration is probably more common. My point is simply that the goal is a good balance, not to drink excessively to "stay hydrated".

Out of curiosity on the marches, was it due to electrolyte imbalance? I know army types can drink a ton of water in hot climates!

I’m in the Rocky Mtns, so it’s pretty dry up here with lots of unprepared people (maybe confirmation bias in my end).

Indeed it was! Three day day-and-night march/exercise with hot temperatures even during the night due to midnight sun. We ended up getting resupplied with salt that we added to our canteens to avoid any more incidents. We were more used to arctic conditions and not fully prepared for something like that.

Interesting. Many years ago when I was doing initial motorbike racing training, the instructors gave us salt tablets due to the amount of sweat each of us lost each day wearing leather race gear + drinking water all day to make up for it.

I have never felt thirsty when dehydrating. People's response to dehydration or over-hydration is not uniform.

That is kind of a contradiction. Presumably you have felt thirsty many times and had something to drink, and if you didn't drink you would have become dehydrated. But you didn't become dehydrated because you had something to drink, and so it's excluded from your statistics.

> People's response to dehydration or over-hydration is not uniform.

Of course not, and I have hopefully stated clearly enough and frequently enough that I'm talking about a general rule to which there are many exceptions both ways.

> Presumably you have felt thirsty many times and had something to drink

This is not the case. It is very rare that I have ever felt thirsty. It has been an issue my entire life, often with seriously negative outcomes. Every day I have to make a conscious effort to ensure I drink enough water. I can never rely on how I feel; I always have to depend on what intake I have measured.

> That is kind of a contradiction. Presumably you have felt thirsty many times and had something to drink, and if you didn't drink you would have become dehydrated. But you didn't become dehydrated because you had something to drink, and so it's excluded from your statistics.

Not OP but as someone who would regularly consume way too much water to the point it was causing me adverse effects, this is my experience:

When I was properly hydrated I'd still be mildly thirsty.

When I have been overhydrated I'd keep getting thirstier.

And when I was getting close to being on the dehydrated side I'd get mildly thirsty.

But when I would actually start getting dehydrated, the thirst stopped.

It sounds backwards and weird but it's a thing and it's really quite problematic (and it's not that uncommon). I think it technically falls under the name polydipsia but it's more a symptom of any number of different biological quirks or disorders than anything specific in of itself.

When it comes to how one notices they are dehydrated when they aren't feeling thirsty, you tend to get good at picking up on the signs (skin turgor test, headaches, dry mouth, etc) and you also tend to be pretty cognizant of how much water you consume in a day which makes it pretty easy to self correct early.

You’re writing with an authoritative tone, but I’m confused by what you’re trying to say. I drink a lot of water. I keep a 2 liter bottle on my desk and refill it 2-3 times over the course of a work day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I also drink tea and coffee, and sometimes beer in the evening.

I drink water because I want to? It’s not exactly being thirsty (I sometimes get thirsty when I’m out and about for extended periods; that feels different). It’s just wanting to drink water, and water being there. Should I be worried? Should I be limiting myself to only drinking water when I feel truly thirty?

I’m also an amateur marathon runner, and I reckon I probably drink much less liquid while running a marathon than in a comparable 3.5 hour block working (although I drink a lot of water and sports drink after finishing).

Edit: In case it matters, I don’t drink water because I’ve bought into “stay hydrated” hype. I’m well aware that I drink more than enough water to meet my body’s needs. I just like it.

> You’re writing with an authoritative tone.

Bad habit, sorry. I'm probably a lot more humble and open to being wrong than I seem, promise.

What I'm trying to say is that in most circumstances, with several notable exceptions, the body will self regulate these things perfectly fine, and most people in most cases don't have to actively "stay hydrated". Exceptions apply. Drinking ±6 liters throughout a work day sounds a lot to me, but I am in no way qualified to judge, authoritative tone or not :)

I do not know how big the margins are. What I do know is that two of my friends have needed medical attention (routine stuff) for urinary tract issues due to prolonged excessive water consumption, because they were trying to "stay hydrated". There's also been several medical professionals, i.e. doctors and researchers, warning about "stay hydrated" campaigns run by bottled water companies in my country. I don't know if it's as big a thing in other countries.

English is my third language, so sorry if the things I write are unclear.

Thanks heaps for coming back to clarify, that makes total sense. I just did a bit of research and it does seem like I’m drinking more water than medically recommended, although I don’t know how big the margins are either.

Anyway, thanks for engaging!

I constantly have to remind myself to drink water. I ignore all cues to drink and only notice when it's an emergency. I have to actively engage to remember to hydrate. It's a huge problem for me.

Are you talking about hyponatremia? That’s going to be very rare if you’re healthy.

Also your source is an analysis of articles on water drinking advice, not a medical study.

It's not supposed to be a source at all, it's supposed to be a reminder that advice about "staying hydrated" are common—and wrong.

Yes that part I don’t really care about, it’s pretty easy to point to misinformation on the internet. I think the part of your original comment that sticks out to everyone is your idea that generally, over hydration is more of a risk than dehydration.

As an otherwise independent third party, I'd like to gently suggest that you read the words again. Each case, either too much or too little, is given equal weight. I believe confusion may happen there because our brains fill in the blank and in reaching for that language it's typically done so to contrast the subject.

Sorry to intrude with nothing more to contribute.

Fair enough, thanks for the tip. I did write this before I drank a coffee this morning which is probably a questionable way to start the day anyway :D

> because it's so easy to say "stay hydrated" and it seems like an uncontroversial thing

> Drinking too much water is harmful. Drinking too little water is harmful

Saying that too much something is harmful seems like an uncontroversial thing to say too. But you need to back it up with a source.

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