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| Amir Azari on 28 Feb 2006 | |
| Here's a critical response by a reader: Dear BlankZero, In your article "At the Watering Hole!" you have a bunch of bad advice. I don't know how much background education you have but I am an undergraduate in the program of Life Sciences and I am concerned for the well-being of people who read your article and follow your instructions. A couple of things I would like to point out: For athletes, it is not good for them to just drink water. Sweating causes the loss of a lot of salt (and I hope you know that you need salts in your body to live) and drinking water, while hydrating, does not replenish the salt that was just lost from the sweat (and you need sugars too but I won\'t get into that). Also, water does not make you less hungry. It might make your stomach feel full for a little while but in no way does it induce satiety. Please do [more] research and edit that article or just make a note on the bottom warning readers that what you wrote might not be the most accurate thing. And BlankZero, the author, gives the rebuttal: I'm very happy that you finished taking Biology 101. Perhaps you should consider re-reading the textbook, as well as my article. Unless an athlete has been practicing for weeks on end without consuming any amount of sodium whatsoever, the human body's natural reserves of minerals contain more than enough electrolytes to sustain athletic activity. Dehydration is far more likely to occur, because the human body's reserve of water is easily depleted. Add to this the fact that salt also causes the body to need more water to maintain chemical balance. You get enough sodium in a serving of McDonald's french fries to last you several gallons worth of sweating. In short, yes I realize that salt is also important to athletic performance, but I also know what you clearly did not; I know that electrolytes are so abundant in the body, and so relatively few are lost through sweat, that it is completely unnecessary to drink a sports drink to replenish them (yes, I also knew that complex carbohydrates are necessary to provide energy, but I'm glad you thought to remind me). As for your second point, I never said that water was a permanent solution to hunger, in the same fashion that potato chips aren't a permanent solution to hunger. Neither has much nutritional value, and both of them are only good for a temporary sating of the appetite. The point I made in my article was that drinking water will make you feel less hungry, which in turn will lead you to consume less junk food, thus consuming less unhealthy content, such as trans-fatty acids and high amounts of calories due to fat. You cannot argue that eating ice cream, chocolate cake, or Twinkies(R) is more nutritionally satisfying than drinking water, because only drinking water results in a net loss of calories. You still need to consume regular meals every day for your vitamins, proteins, and minerals; drinking water is merely a healthy way to keep your intake of fattening foods at a minimum. In conclusion, there is no need for me to do more research, to edit my article, or to post a disclaimer in my article. I researched thoroughly for my article, and resent the implication that I did not do so. If you're going to request that inaccurate content be labeled as such, I'm going to request that the title of your e-mail be changed to reflect such a policy. Your concern is appreciated, but misplaced. | |
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| concept on 22 Sep 2007 | |
| Great article on water and how important it is. I dont think alot of people really understand it. Also, I was very impressed by the way you handled that guys rebutle to your article. Some people go to a class or two and think they know everything. I hope to read more articles in the future. | |
| Byrd3790 on 03 Nov 2007 | |
| not to sound like fellowsapien but there is one thing that did bug me drinking only water forever that verywell may have been made in jest but the fact that your cells need to be in an isotonic (balanced of saline and water) rather than hypotonic (too much water) there have been athletes who drink only pure water their cells become hypotonic and burst resulting in death. thats why an IV is not pure water but rather a saline solution. just my 2 cents | |
| john63 on 25 Dec 2009 | |
| Nice article. Only one thing bugged me: you don't digest water, in the sense that it gets broken down. Water is pretty inert, and doesn't get changed into anything else by your body. So how does it consume energy? Also, I was under the assumption that nearly every drink (milk, juice, tea, even soda) was mostly water (at least 80%). So wouldn't these beverages also accomplish some of the things you've mentioned, like transporting nutrients? | |
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