Have you ever listened to a Ted Talk, with informational short speeches on fascinating topics like “Why do we have hair in random places?” and “Have we been tying our shoelaces the wrong way?”
I enjoy watching these videos while I exercise on my treadmill. The average episode is about nine minutes long, which means if I run at my full speed, I can get in about six of them during a mile-long jog. I often have to listen to the episodes at least twice. It’s tough being both a slow runner and a slow learner.
The other day I tuned into one that really made me happy. It was a presentation by a doctor who believes that the only reason to drink water is if you are thirsty. She claims the “eight glasses a day” dictum is pure fallacy, calling this myth “hydration pseudoscience.”
It’s such a pleasure to finally to be right about something. I was wrong about Twinkies. Apparently, they can cause weight gain. I was off base about gambling. You do lose money in the long run. But I was sure right about water. For years I have been saying that drinking eight glasses of water a day was silly and that everybody who believed in this would someday have to admit they spent a lot of unnecessary time in the bathroom.
People walk around with water bottles in one hand or sticking out of their backpacks. They also keep water bottles in their car’s cup holder, totally unaware that the hole was specifically designed for 48 ounce Slushies.
On network news the other night, the debunking was confirmed by their resident physician who admitted that there has never been an actual scientific study to support this notion about staying adequately hydrated. Scientists have no idea where this idea about consuming eight glasses a day came from. (Probably the same place my parents got the idea I couldn’t go swimming unless I waited 40 minutes after I ate a Twinkie.)
When I heard this H2O revelation, I almost spilled my cup of coffee, which I am pleased to say is 99 percent water. The bottled water lobbyists over the years didn’t want us to include tea or coffee — or beer — as part of our required amount.
“It has to be pure water,” they said, “or it doesn’t count.” So I get no credit for drinking lemonade? How about partial credit?
My grandmother probably should not have lived to 96. She hated plain water. She drank scotch and water every day, but she only drank it when she was thirsty. The rest of the family is sure she got in her eight glasses by bedtime.
A final note: The other day I lugged hundreds of bottles of water home from the dollar store (a buck for a case of 12). I just can’t pass up a good deal.
“It would be wise to drink several bottles a day,” I told my wife.
“Wait, I thought you didn’t believe drinking that much was necessary,” she responded.
“I don’t, but all the water expires the end of July.”
