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naraburns  nihil supernum  11mo ago (text post)   3950 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 30, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I squirt some lemon or lime juice into it, but I don't worry about drinking too little water unless I'm on a hike.

I also like naturally carbonated water, like Borjomi or Ferrarelle, but I am not installing a SodaStream for that, my kitchen is small enough already.

Adding BCAA powder makes it very easy to get down and there are some potential health benefits.

Really? I recall BCAA powder tasting like death.

The ALLMAX Aminocore BCAA flavors have all tasted pretty good to me. I've only tried the fruit punch and a key lime flavor they used to have.

I got some random BCAA powder at the drug store once and it tasted awful.

I find if you go to a supplement store they curate the flavors a bit so you don't get anything awful.

I fill a small thermos with coffee or tea in the morning, then rinse and replace it with cold water for the afternoon, but I'm not clear on whether that qualifies as a "weird flask." Apart from that you can try one of the dozens of flavored sparkling water brands that have sprung up in recent years as an alternative to soda among the PMC (in this case at least they may be on to something).

  1. Carbonate it.

  2. Add a light flavoring, like tea, lemon, or Angostura bitters.

  3. Add minerals. You can buy Burton salts from brewers suppliers or Amazon cheap, and a pinch a liter reasonably approximates San Pellegrino.

I've used the simple expediency of adding raw lemon juice to the water.

Not to make lemonade, just to add a 'flavor' that effectively masks any displeasing tastes.

It might not work for a big cary bottle, but carbonated water with a dash of bitters is pretty good. Gives some flavor to the water and feels a bit more natural than using some weird flavor extract.

You need to start trying different types of mineral water. "Water" is a broad category that includes many different categories and subcategories of drink that all have different flavors.

"Water" (H2O) is the carrier for the things that actually give water taste. If you are drinking municipal water that comes from your tap, a water fountain, etc, then what you are tasting are the chemicals that the city adds to make it safe to drink.

For mineral water, the things the water is carrying are what you are tasting. Based on the region that the water comes from and how it is sourced, these things are going to taste different.

For an extreme example of what I mean, try 1907 water, which is sweet to the taste: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product/1907-water-artesian-water-2-lt-676-fl-oz-b06xhl9528

Or Gerolsteiner for a salty tasting water: https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product/gerolsteiner-mineral-water-253-fl-oz-b0078dsgdk

Gerolsteiner is also naturally carbonated, meaning it is bubbly as it comes out of the ground.

Distilled water is tasteless.

I think 1.5L/day excluding food isn't that bad? Women, due to lower mass, on average consume/require less of everything per day than men. The consensus on authoritative-seeming google-first-page websites like 'harvard health' seems to be women should drink 2.7L/day and men should drink 3.7L/day - including water from food.

from some paper > Approximately 20% of total fluid intake will come from fluids within foods, leaving the AI of drinking fluids to be amounts of 2.5 L/day for males and 2.0 L/day for females;

So if your diet already has more fluid than usual, that seems fine. And if you weigh 25% less than the average (somewhat overweight) american woman, that might correspond to less fluid used, so you'd be fine (less sure about that). Generally, if the concern's just over the number not being high enough, I wouldn't worry - but if one's often uncomfortably thirsty/feels dehydrated / feel blood pressure swings when you stand up / urine color etc, then drinking more is reasonable.

In terms of taste, I find tap-water fine-tasting, but some brands of ""spring water"" in glass bottles to taste great (and others to taste bad), due to various dissolved minerals. Don't think that's universal though. Or if you prefer cold water, maybe get an insulated bottle and keep cold water (with ice?) in it?

Won't help when you're out and about, but I got a one liter glass bottle with a stopper attached (one of the ones you'll often find at restaurants) which I fill up with tap water and chill during the day, then drink at night. Obviously could do filtered water as well.

I've found that just swigging it straight from a glass bottle makes me drink significantly more than I would otherwise (compared to pouring a glass, drinking from a plastic water bottle or jug, etc). YMMV on this one, I'll admit this might just be a weird quirk of my brain.

Unsweetened seltzer water is my favorite. But, I don't have a seltzer machine and I can never stock up enough seltzers from the grocery store. ($$ add up)

Highly-highly diluted cold coffee is also great. I have a huge 1+ liter glass that put a bunch of ice and cold black coffee into. And drink that. My brain thinks it is a steady supply of caffeine because there is still some color to it.

Why not get one of the 1 gallon water bottles. Add a bunch of ice, lemon and mint to it in the morning, and now you have a clear marker for 3.7 liters to finish every day.

You can get artificially sweetened cordial in a variety of flavours, but you still might find it trying after a few days.

I think cold water (iced?) tastes better than room temperature and spring water tastes better than tap water.

Seconded the cold water suggestion.

I used to not like water until I realized I liked the feeling of crunching ice. Ideally you wait until it's slightly melted so it's not as hard on your teeth. Putting some water in it helps the ice melt of course. Eventually I just got used to drinking water.

Too low for what? I think the evidence on drinking more water when you're not thirsty is pretty mixed. I drink liquids when I'm thirsty, pretty much never any plain water, and have been unable to discern even the slightest negative effect from this despite being a hobby runner that regularly runs 50+ miles per week.

Given my lack of enthusiasm for water, I start the day with coffee, have soda, Spindrift, or low-sugar sport drinks when thirsty during the day, and a couple beers at night. Seems fine, no drawbacks, would recommend. I'm never going to understand how people that are almost completely sedentary wind up seeming so goddamned thirsty comparatively.

specific fluid requirements vary by individual but the main thing is that if your piss looks like apple juice, or even worse apple cider you're probably doing hydration wrong, and if not, the alternative is some sort of kidney or liver disease.

I'd say the fixtures are half a liter of coffee and about 680 ml of beer. The rest is pretty discretionary and will vary based on distance of runs and temperature during runs (on warm days, I lose 0.3-0.4 pounds of weight per mile in sweat, so this can add up to a lot). On cool days with only a light run, I'd guess roughly one to two liters of assorted beverages - seltzer, flavored waters, Gatorade, diet soda, maybe some more coffee.

Just get a water flavourer. There’s tons out there

Quit being a nancy its literally water. If drinking water is soo arduous for you that you need to think of ways around it, reevaluate your willpower.

Also "aesthetically repulsed" by people who are conscious about their health. The shit you read online 🤦

you need to think of ways around it, reevaluate your willpower.

I am sick of people who somehow choose to be confused about how "some things are easier for some people." It is annoying how the same (not you) person who cackles at my inability to do simple chores , also comes to me for tips on simple google-page-1 social tasks.

Just because the steps are trivial, doesn't mean they are easy for someone to execute. That's not to say that 'just suck it up and do it.' is not valuable advice. But it is never productive to bring it up as the first solution to someone's genuine question.

All of what you are saying is well and good but I think I need to reiterate we are talking about drinking water here, its probably on one of the easiest things to just do after breathing.

If people can be prescribed vegetables and exercise and eating less, Maybe water isn't the worst of it?

It is annoying how the same (not you) person who cackles at my inability to do simple chores

No sympathy for this at all. Its not an immutable trait. The inability to do simple chores is

  1. Embarrassing

  2. Can be fixed in 30 minutes

  3. Why has it not been fixed

I understand there are weird quirks around willpower, but I think a vast majority of the time, it's just people being lazy and making excuses or just being too lush about things.

Not sure I agree. You assume that those who cant do simple chores cant do difficult ones either.

I personally have been pretty good about most things, and especially the hard stuff. But I do struggle to consistently drink water or fold laundry.

If anything, is exactly because I have so many important tasks at hand that the trivial ones fall to the wayside.

Carrying around one of those water jugs all day isn't being health conscious, it's following a stupid trend and acting like you're on a field trip to the Sahara during a 30 minute meeting.

OK so as someone who started carrying around a huge jug of water before it was trendy, I want to explain my reasoning.

I love being hydrated. It's the best feeling, because being dehydrated is the worst feeling.

Thank god I live in America where decent cold water flows relatively freely. European vacations are basically me moving from ice machine to ice machine but still feeling like a desiccated husk. Even with that infrastructure, literally nothing beats having a double-walled vacuum jug with an integrated straw and the perfect amount of ice.

Heading into the office that's too small for an ice machine but has a lukewarm water fountain? Stack the motherfucker with home fridge ice that gets diluted all day. Heading up to bed where I know I'm going to blow through the whole 1.18 liters? Put in just enough cubes to perfectly melt as I wake up at 7am. Going on a walk of indeterminate time and distance (there are toddlers involved)? Grab the water bottle and avoid getting thirsty and pissed off.

I wash fewer cups, I can go longer amounts of time without stopping in a convenience store or interrupting work meetings, and yes I can broadcast palatable aspects of my personality with the 2 stickers I have on there. Water bottles rock.

I love being hydrated. It's the best feeling, because being dehydrated is the worst feeling.

This has got to be the big difference in lived experience. I don't mind feeling dehydrated, it seems like no big deal at all to me to just be kind of thirsty until I arrive at whatever destination has a beverage available. This goes for the proverbial Euro vacation (I'm American also, but actually agree completely with how I see the Euros treat beverages), for a hike with friends, for normal everyday runs, and even for running races short of marathons. Unless I'm doing something where I actually think I'll be in danger, being dehydrated doesn't seem any different to me than some accumulated muscular fatigue or hunger - it'll be fine, I'll arrive somewhere, and I'll enjoy a meal, a beverage, and some rest when I do.

I do think you build up a tolerance. When I was younger I was proud of my ability to go without water - an entire soccer game in the summer with just a couple pulls from my jug was fairly common, and I'd always have a surplus to share.

However, as I've gotten older, I have to stay hydrated enough to support my addiction to caffeine and my love of salt. The difference between how I felt when I'd wake up in the morning and maybe have a sip of water before coffee and work vs now (chugging immediately upon waking up) is vast.

A final point I'd make is being a camel is a great power to have. I still like carrying around a surplus of water. Whether through irresponsibility or circumstances beyond my control, I have frequently found that having a container of the resource most critical to survival close at hand is an overall good practice.

The worst feeling is hyponatremia. Mild dehydration is simply meh.

No one is finishing the entire jug in the span of a 30-minute meeting. As a 2L jug carrier myself, it usually lasts me around 6 hours. I could pull out the excuse that I live in a place with literally the same climate as the Sahara, but no I won't provide excuses for literally carrying water around, you're the ridiculous one for getting peeved by it not me.

I enjoy water when it's a cold, crisp, pure, refreshing glass of filtered water

I too am this picky. I carry around a water jug because that way 95% of the water I drink is exactly in this perfect format. It's convenient as all get out and helped me reduce non-water drinking along with a host of other benefits.

Do you have any evidence that you feel better if you drink more water?

Yes I can relate, but not everything needs to be enjoyed, some things are just done to stay alive and I think its an indisputable fact drinking water is one of them.

You can put a slice of lemon or drink seltzer or put in ice cubes or put in unsweetened flavoring or whatever! But it is a bit ridiculous to do all that to just... drink water.

Edit - Water stans? Am I taking crazy pills? Anyone who isn't a water stan is either dead, obese or has kidney stones, whats next breathing air stans?

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