Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

[not2late]

Re: Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

Forgot to add to my post, so you might not need to drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water, but you might need to drink six 8 ounce glasses of water if your Atkins menu resembles the one I posted.

If you don't eat all your vegetables, you might not even get that amount of water from your foods. Note: the vegetables have the highest amount of water. Also, I didn't bother looking up foods like olive oil or butter, as you can see from the heavy cream, the amount of water these foods add is less than a fluid ounce. Butter has 2 grams of water per tablespoon. Olive oil has 0 grams per tablespoon.

And if you are exercising, like we all should be doing, you will need to drink extra water in order to make up for the water lost from that.

[APanthesilia]

Re: Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

It sounds to me like there has been plenty of science used here to support the claims of how much water is needed and that we can't get it all from our food. But even if the evidence is mostly anecdotal in this thread (which I'm not sure that it is) it doesn't matter. That is why we have this forum, so that people can share their own personal experiences about what works for them. I don't come here to get hard science on my health- I go to my doctor for that. I come here for advice and support so I am happy for people to talk more about their own lives than about hard science.

Also, in the ADBB I think we really try to follow DANDR which states "You must drink at least eight 230 ml (8 fl oz) glasses of pure water daily" (DANDR page 230 in my copy). I trust Dr Atkins about this and since I'm following the rest of his plan I'm happy to do this bit as well.

I know, Samira, that you are looking for hard science about this and that you were just offering another way of looking at water consumption. I just doubt that anyone is really feeling like a failure if they don't get in their target water goal daily. And this forum is all about support and encouragement so if someone was really having a hard time dealing with it, this is the place for them! Please try to be respectful of what people are doing here and please try to express that respect. I think you are probably just trying to be helpful, but it is coming across as kind of mean. I'm sorry to have to say that and I wish you all the best in your weight loss journey.

[Debi2007]

Re: Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

Just for fun I made up a hypothetical Induction meal and looked up the water grams for each food at the USDA's Nutrient Database Website.

A gram of water is equal to a cubic centimenter (cc) which is equal to a mililiter.
There are 30 ml per 1 fluid ounce

Breakfast
2 large eggs, hard-boiled (75 gm H20)
2 slices cooked bacon, pan-fried (2 gm)
2 ounces Cheddar Cheese (21 gm)
total grams H2O = 98 gm = 98 ml = 3.3 fluid ounces

Lunch
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce (138 gm H2O)
2 chicken drumsticks, roasted (65 gm H2O)
2 tablespoons ranch dressing ( 12 gm H2O)
2 ounces Cheddar cheese (21 gm H2O)
total gram H2O = 236gm= 236 ml = 7.9 fluid oz

Dinner
6 oz porterhouse steak, grilled (83 gm H2O)
1 cup green beans, boiled (123 gm H2O)
total gram H2O = 206 gm = 206 ml =6.8 fluid oz

Additional foods:
2 tablespoon heavy cream (17 gm H2O= 0.5 fluid oz)

So the total water from foods in this hypothetical Induction menu is 557 grams (557 ml) or 18.5 fluid ounces (roughly 2 1/4 cups)---a little over 1/4 of the 64 ounces/2 liters of water required for our daily basal metabolic needs.

Wow... really interesting. Thanks! I didn't actually realize that we got that much water from food. Nice to know.

[Bren]

Re: Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

Also, in the ADBB I think we really try to follow DANDR which states "You must drink at least eight 230 ml (8 fl oz) glasses of pure water daily" (DANDR page 230 in my copy). I trust Dr Atkins about this and since I'm following the rest of his plan I'm happy to do this bit as well.

Well said.

Welcome to ADBB where we follow Atkins by the book.........DANDR. Why? CAUSE IT HAS WORKED FOR MANY MANY OF US. I came here to learn from people who were having success with this WOE after researching many others. What did I find? The best advise and a road map to success.
What is the first thing we tell someone when they hit a plateau or stall?? Up your water.
Anyways this is a good thread and I think alot of great info/input has been shared.

But, I want to stress we follow Atkins here and in the book in numerous places Dr. Atkins states to drink 8 eight ounce glasses of water. It works if you work it!

That is our goal here, to be Atkins success stories..............happier and healthier and to help others to do the same.

Onward and Upward and HAPPY LOW CARBING!

[not2late]

Re: Do you really need EIGHT glasses of water?

Wow... really interesting. Thanks! I didn't actually realize that we got that much water from food. Nice to know.

But in the grander scheme of things, 2 1/4 cups of water isn't that much. A Starbucks Venti is 20 fluid ounces. A Burger King shake is 16 ounces. So if you were to squeeze the 2 1/4 cups of water from that meal, you could probably drink it in a few gulps.