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Comment by silicon2401 | Hacker News Reader

aside from hangovers, I don't remember the last time I've gotten a headache since starting to drink more water. this year i pretty much stopped drinking and that rules out hangovers now too. I think a lot of people could benefit immensely from drinking a lot more water. for reference I drink 2-3L a day minimum and don't consume caffeine, but have excellent sleep and energy throughout the entire day

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Id caution against the myth of water drinking for all cures

As long as you listen to your body and hydrate when thirsty, a lot of our water requirements are satisfied with our food intake and our body is quite good at regulating water and electrolyte levels.

See https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-nutrition/water-myt...

Your “proof” is incredibly lackluster. The only study it references was done on people with stage 3 kidney disease, and even the study states the conclusion might be incorrect.

Alternatively, I found a study that concludes that “consuming less than the 24-h water adequate intake may influence the risk of dysfunctional metabolism and chronic diseases” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315424/

The study does state that the “adequate intake” is different for everyone, but at the end of the day you need to drink water. Spreading the idea that you don’t need to drink water is foolish.

The odd thing about this kind of stuff is that it won't help you unless you're chronically dehydrated. But nobody thinks they are chronically dehydrated. So the best or only effective way to give this advice is to tell people to drink more water.

nobody is saying it's a cure for everything but a lot of people are basically constantly semi-dehydrated

Even slightly processed food has way more salt than we need, while caffeine & alcohol (the two most widely used drugs) have diuretic effects. Unless you prepare your food from scratch and keep the drugs to a minimum, you need additional water intake to counteract those things.

I have often woken up in the middle of the night dehydrated and felt horrible-- half a bottle/glass of water later and I'm usually able to sleep through at least one more full REM cycle.

How do we know the latter?

I get what you're saying and I do agree.

I think many of us could do with drinking more water each day, especially if exercising. But drinking water won't solve all of your problems.

> As long as you listen to your body and hydrate when thirsty,

Are you aware that some people don't ever feel the need to drink or feel thirsty? I myself used to barely drink water throughout the day and I have relatives who don't even drink a glass of water a day. I also have family who have specifically been told by their doctors to drink more water.

I never said water drinking is a panacea, I said most people would benefit from drinking a lot more.

I can easily go a full day without a sip of water. I have to remind myself to drink. I have forgotten what thirst feels like.

I guess I should rephrase and give better references, but my overall point was as long as we are consuming the required intake and at the same time if we don’t we are feeling thirsty, then drink water. The idea I wanted to challenge was that everyone will benefit from drinking x amount of water.

See e.g. dolphins, whales and other marine mammals that thrive without a single glass of fresh water.

Marine mammals obtain fresh water through their diet. Suggesting they survive without any fresh water is just plain wrong

Humans also obtain (some) fresh water through their diet and metabolism.

To explain the latter: when you combine a carbohydrate with oxygen, you mostly get CO2 and H2O.

(No opinion implied on whether humans should drink more water.)

I was suggesting that diet can be sufficient. That said, I can’t fathom how many shrimp you have to eat to quench your thirst.

I remember I used to have headaches on holidays. It was frustrating. I was ok at work but not when I had free time.

Then I realized I drank a lot of water at work but not enough at home.

The relief was pretty quick after drinking. Now I always have a 2l refillable bottle by my desk.

Also leaving caffeine made me more energetic through the day. I don't need that sip of coffee to be able to function and if I'm tired for whatever reason, if I drink a coffe now I really feel the effects and keeps me awake and alert.

It's nice to see others who feel the same. I use a 1L bottle but same deal; whenever I feel a bit off, chugging some water is usually enough to feel normal again. And if I'm consistent with my water, I usually don't feel off to begin with.

Same about caffeine! I think a lot of people are addicted to caffeine and think withdrawal is what normal energy level is like, and caffeine boosts you. For me it's been the complete opposite. Now that I don't drink coffee I always feel energy, without the psychological effect of thinking that I'm tired if I'm not drinking coffee.

Yeah, I think the psychological effect it produces is so strong it influences us without even knowing it's psychological.

We've all heard people say "don't even talk to me until I have my coffee". It's not that you need that coffee 2 minutes after you wake up but you think you need it or you can't do anything without being an ass.

Caffeine is a drug that builds a tolerance very quickly. So if you only have it every once in a while, you are going to get more out of any single dose.

Of course it's not a cure all as there are other causes, but adequate hydration and electrolyte balance can help a lot! My experience is the same, if I have a headache it is almost always dehydration or lack of electrolytes.

Lack of sleep can also be pretty brutal.

Try to hydrate with electrolytes to taste. Magnesium salts, potassium salts and NaCl need a balance with water intake. Some diets need less, others more. Some sources of sea salt have a good balance and you don't need artificial supplements at all. Also a tiny bit of sugar opens up your stomach to hydration (see ORS).

For me, a bit of sea salt electrolyte supplementation allows me to reduce the severity of my dust allergies as my body can clear from exposures better.

I can't say it's a cure all, but for me, hydration was key to avoiding migraines in my 20s-30s. Not just "drink until satisfied", but 1L by noon or a headache by 3-4pm. Losing weight helped reduce this, but still, hydration is a factor in 90% of my headaches.

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