Cycling UK Forum

The recommended daily water intake varies depending on the source, but the general recommendations are:

For men: 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day

For women: 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day. (Mayo Clinic)

Familiar topic but did not come up on recent posts when I searched.Please advise how many cups of water you drink a day.If my GP is reading do not get scared.I drink only 4 cups of warm water a day.No coffee no tea but lots of veg and porridge which has a high water content.I cycle every day so do lose some salt/water esp in summer.

The reason is the recommended figures are high (unless of course they do include food)

Please do include any ice and scotch.as it all counts!
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I ride Brompton,Hetchins 531

As a person I drink about 600ml of carbonated water a day along with 4*300 ml tea or coffee.
As a cyclist I’ll take a 750 ml bottle with me and often bring most of it back. Takes a long hot day to use it all.

The recommended daily water intake varies depending on the source, but the general recommendations are:

For men: 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day

For women: 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day. (Mayo Clinic)

This is probably from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-life ... t-20044256

which probably quotes it from:
https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/ ... sease-risk

Jonathan

I consider things like this depend to a fair degree on the individual's metabolism. Some start sweating sooner than others, some ride pard for training, others enjoy gentle relaxed rides. Others should not base what they drink on what I drink just as I won't base what I drink on what others drink.

Some coffees are full of caffeine(a diuretic), others decidedly low on caffeine, same for cans of fizz. Many dietary factors affect liquid needs.

Ian

Psamathe wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 5:31pm I consider things like this depend to a fair degree on the individual's metabolism. Some start sweating sooner than others, some ride pard for training, others enjoy gentle relaxed rides. Others should not base what they drink on what I drink just as I won't base what I drink on what others drink.
...

And there have now been multiple reports of harm from overhydration. IIRC I've referred to these in previous threads.

Jonathan

A typical day in February will be thus;

1 cup coffee at breakfast
3 or 4 cups tea spread through rest of day
plus @ 500ml of milk/soft drink/beer some days but not all

I carry a 750ml bottle on my rides but i rarely drink from it.

however, a typical day in July will be thus;

1 cup coffee at breakfast
3 or 4 cups tea spread through rest of day
plus @ 2l of soft drink (usually cheap diet lemonade)

on ride days there will also be up to 2 x 750ml bottles during the ride and 500ml electrolyte solution after

I do keep a watch on urine colour, i will supplement more liquids if indicated - i do sweat quite freely and suffer with cramp, which i do manage quite well usually.

foxyrider wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 5:48pm ...
I do keep a watch on urine colour, i will supplement more liquids if indicated
...

This may not be a reliable test:

Jdsk wrote: ↑10 Jul 2022, 9:38am

ANTONISH wrote: ↑10 Jul 2022, 9:23am

briansnail wrote: ↑10 Jul 2022, 7:51am We did a long session on our bikes. Some of us felt dizzy and nauseous later.
Normally we are as fit as fiddles. A quick google reveals who have to drink lots of water in the heat. If your older you might not realise your dehydrated. Urine should be light coloured but people are cutting back on food as it hits 26 Centigrade. The healthy foods are low in salt anyway. So lt be light in colour but one still needs to drink more water.
How's you doing cycling in the heat?
...

One of the problems with hydrating is consuming large quantities of water can reduce sodium levels - so reducing salt intake can be counter productive.
...

Overhydration is being increasingly recognised, and can cause severe neurological problems. That's "dilutional hyponatraemia" with the low plasma sodium concentration to which ANTONISH refers.

Here's the NHS advice:

"Heatwave: how to cope in hot weather":
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-h ... t-weather/

"Heat exhaustion and heatstroke":
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exha ... eatstroke/

And note that it does not mention using the colour of urine as a warning sign of dehydration or as a target for adequate hydration. Colour of urine may not be reliable and that "should be" could be dangerous advice. Previous discussion of this:
viewtopic.php?p=1496077#p1496077
viewtopic.php?p=1519635#p1519635

Jonathan

Who has time or inclination to count their flipping water intake? Drink when thirsty, plus whenever it seems like a good idea, unless you've something wrong with your thirst detection.

^^^

Absolutely.

Last point is important though. My son is something of an “under drinker”, has to make a bit of a conscious effort to drink enough, and if he forgets, it’s detectable by irritability.

What tiny cups...

No idea, I drink loads. 6+ pint mugs of tea at work isn't unheard of for me and then whatever I drink at home. could be getting to 4-5 litres if some exercise gets involved (ignoring the consequences of pub trips). At the weekend could be more like 2-3l if not doing much.

I don't think I'm particularly normal though, 3.7l per day seems on the high side and the drink lots thing comes across as a bit faddy sometimes, not sure it's necessarily wise to be forcing water down if the body isn't asking for it. At the same time though there is the odd person who seems to drink 2 thimbles of coffee a day and whose breath consequently stinks, they do need to drink more, for others' sakes!

I have mused whether my slightly excessive liquid consumption is linked to my high tolerance to contacts, never had an issue with dry eyes, even in airplanes etc.

Stevek76 wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 10:53pm What tiny cups...

No idea, I drink loads. 6+ pint mugs of tea at work isn't unheard of for me and

Doesn't it get cold before you finish a 6+ pint mug?

I find that my typical pace when on the go (which isn't pushing it and I can keep it up for hours) is such that the way my body burns fuel seems to have a side effect of spare water: I stop quite often for a pee and it's very pale, and I tend not to get very thirsty, just taking the odd sip.
If I up the pace then I pee less, it's quite a bit darker and I get significantly thirstier/drink a lot more.

I'm fairly happy with the idea that if my body needs water it'll tell me by way of thirst, rather than by consulting recommended daily water intake charts. Seems to have worked okay for the last 57 years...

Pete.

mjr wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 7:04pm Who has time or inclination to count their flipping water intake? Drink when thirsty, plus whenever it seems like a good idea, unless you've something wrong with your thirst detection.

+1 for that - as I understand it very few people suffer from dehydration.
I note that most middle aged and younger people seem to be as attached to a bottle of water as they are to their 'phones.

ANTONISH wrote: ↑28 Feb 2024, 10:09am

mjr wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 7:04pm Who has time or inclination to count their flipping water intake? Drink when thirsty, plus whenever it seems like a good idea, unless you've something wrong with your thirst detection.

+1 for that - as I understand it very few people suffer from dehydration.
I note that most middle aged and younger people seem to be as attached to a bottle of water as they are to their 'phones.

Dehydration is pretty common around the world and in old and neglected people in the UK. But it doesn't suddenly happen in moderate exercise in typical British conditions. Or 10 minutes after you start playing rugby etc.

The attachment to bottles of water is very recent and probably driven by commercial marketing, and probably contributes to overhydration in sporting events.

Jonathan

Here's a BBC article about how much fluid to drink.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/fluid_in_food

briansnail wrote: ↑27 Feb 2024, 3:19pm

The recommended daily water intake varies depending on the source, but the general recommendations are:

For men: 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day

For women: 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day. (Mayo Clinic)

Those figures (above) seem a lot to me.