[0xEF]

Are we sure this is not just harmless and arbitrary information being parroted? Do we have verifiable sources other that anecdote? I find it hard to believe that there is just a single value for water intake across the massive biological spectrum that is humanity and expect to see a range when this conversation comes up. You're also getting water from foods, which I am sure is not being accounted for. Reminds me of the 10k steps a day that just happened to be "correct enough" to be believed and acted on. The truth is much more nuanced and depends on a number of factors in a person's physical health.

Without concrete verifiable findings, the best we can do is learn to pay attention to our bodies and drink maybe a little bit more water than we think we need to.

[Arodex]

Overdrinking water is an American mania. You don't need to drink 3 liters.

https://abcnews.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-america-drin...

The European doctor quoted certainly said "3 liters" from both drinks and food (especially vegetables). In Europe I think we drink between 1 and 2 liters per day in actual water, depending on how dry the weather is.

[0xEF]

Agreed. Being in the Midwest US, my intake also varies widely, depending on weather or season, physical activity, and the foods I've been eating.

I'm not entirely dismissive of doctors, be they European or American, as most I've encountered do have the patient's best interest at heart. But they are also human, and it is very easy to stick with the safe and easy answer rather than do the work to find the real answer. So when I hear claims like that, I immediately doubt them, assuming it is placeholder information because we do not know the actual answer. Unfortunately, a lot of our media in the US considers such "placeholder information" to be actionable, and ends up convincing the public (including doctors) of its veracity.

[Arodex]

European recommendations:

https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/how-much-wat...

[amunozo]

I always laugh about those ridiculously large water bottles American carry and how they remind you all the time that you must drink water as if I did need it. I wonder why that happens.

[chocrates]

Americans don't eat vegetables though

[amunozo]

They also eat plenty of salty processed foods.

[Arodex]

Which helps with water retention, so...

[Arodex]

https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/how-much-wat...

[riffraff]

sure, there are different recommended amounts, the EFSA recommendations are 2.5l per day for a grown up man and 2l for a woman[0]. I'm a bit bigger than the average so I got 3l as a recommendation when I was on a diet or when I had specific issues.

But I didn't mean to imply everyone should drink it, just that it's not hard to drink that much. And yes, of course you ingest a lot of water through other means too.

[0] https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2010...

[throwthrowuknow]

I’ve always been extremely suspicious of constant water consumption. No other mammal seems to do this. Even the ones that require a lot of water like horses will only drink when they’re thirsty or while eating.

[alexwwang]

The point is you shouldn’t wait to drink until you feel thirty. That’s too late. Your muscle has been consumed by then.

[Qem]

Its aggravated because the "water sensor" appears to fail early with age. Elderly people tend to not get the thisty feeling as often, but get dehydrated anyway.

[alexwwang]

Indeed. That’s why I form the habit to drink 3 liters everyday to keep my urine white transparent.

[Qem]

I wonder how much of the effects of ageing are due to cascading failures downstream of alterations like these. For example, it's common for people to lose teeth in advanced ages. How much of this is due to dry mouths from insufficient water intake? Fallen teeth then may become entry points for infections, et cetera. Perhaps fixing a few early causes we can avoid a lot of negative effects and live more, without the need to go full spartan in lifestyle discipline.

[alexwwang]

I don’t know the exact things. I only know that diabetes would make this loss tremendously. As to teeth loss, it’s mainly because periodontitis but not age though it always goes worse as the age increases because of their life behaviors.

[funcDropShadow]

No other mammal eats cooked or baked food. Raw meat or raw plant contain more water than our food.

[Qem]

Most other animals have typical lifespans that don't top two decades.

[chocrates]

Tl;Dr blame Gatorade marketing.

The book "waterlogged" does a good takedown of the myth. Basically only you need to drink when you are thirsty.