Name some water alternatives?

[paperfist]

I know water is good and a main driver of health. I just can't seem to drink enough of it without wanting to puke. I have to force it down basically. Overall I'm hardly ever thirsty which seems odd in itself.

Anyway, I haven't had a regular soda in years. I have had an on/off relationship with diet soda, but I know that's pretty bad for you too so I'd like to get that off my list.

So seltzer water is pretty good. I like True lime water mixes, but too much of that gives me heart burn. Almond milk is good, but I need something cheap with some kind of taste to help me get to about a gallon of 'water' a day.

Any ideas?

 

[pcgeek11]

I like my water with coffee or tea in it.

 

[Mai72]

Crystal Light?
Green Tea?

You only need to hydrate yourself during the day.

 

[Crono]

Why do you need to drink a gallon of water a day?

 

[mindless1]

Room in the back yard for a moonshine still? You could get one of those veggie juicers.

 

[pauldun170]

I know water is good and a main driver of health. I just can't seem to drink enough of it without wanting to puke. I have to force it down basically. Overall I'm hardly ever thirsty which seems odd in itself.

Anyway, I haven't had a regular soda in years. I have had an on/off relationship with diet soda, but I know that's pretty bad for you too so I'd like to get that off my list.

So seltzer water is pretty good. I like True lime water mixes, but too much of that gives me heart burn. Almond milk is good, but I need something cheap with some kind of taste to help me get to about a gallon of 'water' a day.

Any ideas?

There is no water "alternative".
Everything else is just water with crap in it.

Why do you need to drink a gallon of water a day?
Sounds like you misinterpreting some recommendations found around the internet.

So how much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:

• About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men
• About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women

These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks.

 

[paperfist]

I like my water with coffee or tea in it.

No coffee for me but tea is good. I wish I could find a good cold tea bag that tasted good.

Crystal Light?
Green Tea?

You only need to hydrate yourself during the day.

Yeah geeen tea is good, but I tend to only get a cup a day before I don't have a way to make more.

I gave up those Crystal Light mixes, too many ingredients I can't pronounce lol

Why do you need to drink a gallon of water a day?

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration but a gallon from what I've read seems to be the sweet spot to flush out your system.

 

[paperfist]

Room in the back yard for a moonshine still? You could get one of those veggie juicers.

Lol

There is no water "alternative".
Everything else is just water with crap in it.

Why do you need to drink a gallon of water a day?
Sounds like you misinterpreting some recommendations found around the internet.

You're right but I need some crap in my water. I'm lucky if I drink a quart a day.

Maybe I am reading that wrong, but a few of the people I know who hit a gallon says they feel much better than if they drink less.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Green Tea?

That. Add a little lemon or lime juice and it tastes good, so you don't have to choke it down.

 

[mindless1]

Why do you need to drink a gallon of water a day?
Sounds like you misinterpreting some recommendations found around the internet.

So how much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:
About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men

• About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women

These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks.

Except the very same page you quoted also read...

How much water should you drink each day? It's a simple question with no easy answer.

Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years. But your individual water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live.

No single formula fits everyone.

An average is merely an average. All it would take to exceed that average is to have better than the average health so you have more body mass, a higher metabolism. How many people are really a combination of the average size, the average climate, the average activity level, the average food moisture level, all together, every day?

In summer I easily drink over a gallon a day if outside for more than a few minutes, in other words doing anything other than sitting around. Maybe sitting around is the new average.

 

[Crono]

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration but a gallon from what I've read seems to be the sweet spot to flush out your system.

You're a human being, not a toilet. You can actually dehydrate yourself by drinking too much water, as strange as that sounds (depletion/imbalance of electrolytes).

Thirst is an adequate indicator for dehydration, though the popular opinion circulating a few years ago (and maybe still) was that it isn't. I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't an idea being pushed by bottled water companies. /Tinfoil hat

Aside from that that, though, urine color also can show if you are dehydrated.

If you can't just drink plain water, learn (it's somewhat of an acquired taste for some people) to drink different types of teas. Green, black, white, oolong, herbal... there's a million different types of "true" (camellia sinensis) and other types of teas.

You can also get water added to your diet from fruit and vegetables, although obviously not dried fruit (need more water to deal with the fiber, too).

 

[sandorski]

H2O

 

[paperfist]

You're a human being, not a toilet. You can actually dehydrate yourself by drinking too much water, as strange as that sounds (depletion/imbalance of electrolytes).

Thirst is an adequate indicator for dehydration, though the popular opinion circulating a few years ago (and maybe still) was that it isn't. I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't an idea being pushed by bottled water companies. /Tinfoil hat

Aside from that that, though, urine color also can show if you are dehydrated.

If you can't just drink plain water, learn (it's somewhat of an acquired taste for some people) to drink different types of teas. Green, black, white, oolong, herbal... there's a million different types of "true" (camellia sinensis) and other types of teas.

You can also get water added to your diet from fruit and vegetables, although obviously not dried fruit (need more water to deal with the fiber, too).

Excelllent post!

Some people would beg to differ on the toilet comment

That's interesting that you can turn yourself into a dried fruit by drinking TOO much water. I never heard of that before.

I'm glad you briught up the urinal color chart. I'll get yellow urine and still not be thirsty.

Hmm maybe all the fiber I get is dehydrating me...

 

[PeterScott]

I know water is good and a main driver of health. I just can't seem to drink enough of it without wanting to puke. I have to force it down basically. Overall I'm hardly ever thirsty which seems odd in itself.

Anyway, I haven't had a regular soda in years. I have had an on/off relationship with diet soda, but I know that's pretty bad for you too so I'd like to get that off my list.

So seltzer water is pretty good. I like True lime water mixes, but too much of that gives me heart burn. Almond milk is good, but I need something cheap with some kind of taste to help me get to about a gallon of 'water' a day.

Any ideas?

Adapt.

Instead of looking for more flavors, get rid of all the pointless mixes and just drink water, or drinks that deliver something useful (nutrients/caffeine). I only drink Water coffee/tea/nut milk. No sugar or sweetener added to any of them.

People tend to adapt to what they get on a regular basis. If you keep drinking flavored drinks, you will keep expecting/wanting flavored drinks. Drink plain drinks and you will soon be fine with those.

How is your water quality? If it isn't great, consider a filter. I use a Zero Water, and it removes the chlorine smell/taste, plus since I keep it in the fridge it is always nice and cold, so water tastes great and refreshing to me.

Ignore fads that tell you need to drink X many glasses. We are all individuals, so once size does not fit all for liquid intake, and liquid content of your food alters how much you actually need to drink, as does temperature, and activity etc...

I would never force myself to drink towards any quota. While I haven't heard anything about dehydration through too much drinking, People have died from drinking too much water following misguided advice about drinking lots of water and drinking before they got thirsty, or stupid water drinking contests.

 

[pcgeek11]

Too much water too fast can also kill you.

https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/water-intoxication#1

 

[TheGreatBigDog]

Add a squeeze of lemon and a slice of cucumber and a few cubes of distilled water ice.
If you like toss in a sprig of mint.

 

[TheGreatBigDog]

Adapt.

Instead of looking for more flavors, get rid of all the pointless mixes and just drink water, or drinks that deliver something useful (nutrients/caffeine). I only drink Water coffee/tea/nut milk. No sugar or sweetener added to any of them.

People tend to adapt to what they get on a regular basis. If you keep drinking flavored drinks, you will keep expecting/wanting flavored drinks. Drink plain drinks and you will soon be fine with those.

How is your water quality? If it isn't great, consider a filter. I use a Zero Water, and it removes the chlorine smell/taste, plus since I keep it in the fridge it is always nice and cold, so water tastes great and refreshing to me.

Ignore fads that tell you need to drink X many glasses. We are all individuals, so once size does not fit all for liquid intake, and liquid content of your food alters how much you actually need to drink, as does temperature, and activity etc...

I would never force myself to drink towards any quota. While I haven't heard anything about dehydration through too much drinking, People have died from drinking too much water following misguided advice about drinking lots of water and drinking before they got thirsty, or stupid water drinking contests.

Drinking too much (water, tea, etc) can and will cause a sodium imbalance and could end up sending you to the hospital.

 

[pauldun170]

The body is pretty good at telling you when to drink and how to consume it.

Room temperature water should go down easy and you should be drinking the appropriate amount at a sitting.
If sipping room temperature water throughout the day (which may total a gallon, or maybe less...or maybe more) causing you discomfort then perhaps the issue isn't the water.

 

[PeterScott]

Drinking too much (water, tea, etc) can and will cause a sodium imbalance and could end up sending you to the hospital.

Yeah, and even kill you as mentioned. Runners world has a pretty good article about water balance and hyponatremia.
https://www.runnersworld.com/hydration-dehydration/what-is-hyponatremia

It has always seemed absurd to me that we had guidelines, telling people to drink even if no thirsty, like humans were the only animals didn't have a proper thirst mechanism.

This ended up leaving a lot of marathon runners with some degree of hyponatremia after races, and a couple died, and they finally began to re-think the previous recommendations, and some marathons even installed scales so some runners could check that they weren't gaining weight during the race (drinking too much water). Quote from the Runners World article:

In fact, for years runners have been urged to drink ahead of their thirst--the message being that by the time you feel thirsty, you're already on the road to dehydration. Despite the controversy, there is increasing scientific evidence to support the notion that thirst is actually the ideal way to gauge hydration needs.

Yes, the "controversial" idea, that we might have evolved some reasonable mechanism (thirst) to tell us when we need more water...

I don't want to be alarmist in the other direction either. You are extremely unlikely to suffer Hyponatremia while sedentary at home, it usually happens to athletes following the old bonehead "Drink ahead of thirst" advice.

But there is an important take away. We have a perfectly functional mechanism to tell when we need more water: Thirst.

 

[pete6032]

LaCroix

 

[Muse]

In my case, coffee. I drink very little plain water. I add a fair amount of reconstituted nonfat dry milk powder to my coffee. Fruits and vegetables have a lot of water content. Most food contains some water. I drink a little wine many days (3 oz, approx.).

 

[Muse]

But there is an important take away. We have a perfectly functional mechanism to tell when we need more water: Thirst.

I see people in the gym who go to the water cooler all the time. I figure they do this because they want a break more than need to drink water. I seldom drink in the gym, don't bring a bottle. I'm in there close to two hours usually, and I don't just sit there like a lot of people do a lot of the time.

I met a guy who told me of his experience hiking one time where he ran out of water and got progressively thirstier and thirstier. He finally made it to civilization, but he assured me convincingly that being as thirsty as he was was an extremely agonizing experience. I figure it's probably a lot worse than being extremely starved for food. Of course, oxygen is another matter, but you don't last long without oxygen.

 

[nitsuj3580]

I bought a SodaStream Source since we were buying tons of sparkling water and I figured it had to be cheaper. Its been a great purchase and has really upped my water intake. I actually like the seltzer from the SodaStream much better than any canned/bottled sparkling water brands we've tried. Occasionally, I'll put a splash of Miio flavoring into it (orange mandarin is amazing), but usually just drink it as is.

I'm finally getting around to reading up on how to modify the SodaStream to hook it up to a much bigger CO2 canister, but even a 60L cylinder seems to last the misses and I about a month.

 

[paperfist]

I bought a SodaStream Source since we were buying tons of sparkling water and I figured it had to be cheaper. Its been a great purchase and has really upped my water intake. I actually like the seltzer from the SodaStream much better than any canned/bottled sparkling water brands we've tried. Occasionally, I'll put a splash of Miio flavoring into it (orange mandarin is amazing), but usually just drink it as is.

I'm finally getting around to reading up on how to modify the SodaStream to hook it up to a much bigger CO2 canister, but even a 60L cylinder seems to last the misses and I about a month.

I have an older Soda Stream and it limited the amount of CO2 you could put in. Does the Source do that?

I bought a fizgiz rope thing with I think a 15# CO2 tank. It'll be years before that runs out, but it's a PITA to use.

Next one I get is going to be a DIY kegerator for water with automatic filling.

 

[nitsuj3580]

I have an older Soda Stream and it limited the amount of CO2 you could put in. Does the Source do that?

I bought a fizgiz rope thing with I think a 15# CO2 tank. It'll be years before that runs out, but it's a PITA to use.

Next one I get is going to be a DIY kegerator for water with automatic filling.

With the Source, you push down the front to activate the CO2 and it has three levels. The higher the level, the more carbonated. I usually do the middle level. I'm going to buy a CO2 tank and put it in one of the kitchen cabinets. I can get a fitting that will let me connect the tank to the Source.