"Don't get sucked in to buying bottled water. Just drink tap water -it's fine and often tastier than bottled." YMMV... you'll have to do a taste test. The last several places I've lived the water has been pretty gagworthy "straight up". In my current town it smells and tastes like a swimming pool and the "leave a pitcher/bottle on the counter overnight and the bad taste/smell goes away" trick does not work (not to mention we get a "boil order" at least once a year). In one town I lived in, the water tasted like rotten fish and seaweed from the "organic fertilizer" plant, and in a couple of others it tasted like overcooked cabbage because of the paper mills. I'm unable to lift a Brita type filter pitcher anymore (hands and wrists are weakening further) and the screw-on-the-faucet filter doesn't get along with the faucet and sink in this house. There's an under-the-sink filter waiting to be installed, just a question of finding the time to do so (although we don't have the right sink for a separate tap for drinking water, irritating, but it's not in the budget to replace it), but it doesn't filter out more than it does. "Why develop a new, expensive habit of buying water, which might just be municipal (tap) water from the bottling plant, when it comes from your own tap." Read the label! It is federal law that drinking water must be labeled with its source, whether it's water from a municipal water supply that's been filtered or otherwise treated, or from a spring or springs (means the water comes naturally to the surface), and if it's spring water which specific springs the water comes from. Even private wells are no guarantee of safety or decent taste - in most areas it's the landowner's responsibility to maintain the safety of the well water to a minimum standard. My mother hauled water from a relative's house for YEARS because her well water did not pass state regs (which are pretty loose where she is, too). The only things she could use it for were laundry and toilet, it wasn't even considered safe enough for bathing in!

Very little water. I drink Crystal Light or Diet Coke, for the most part. No problem with my bones, never been dehydrated. As I understand it, caffeinated beverages do cause some dehydration in people who don't regularly consume them, though even then, it's not as though you lose all the benefit of the liquid. You just don't get as much benefit as if it had been plain water. I've heard (and I don't remember where, so I have no idea if it's reasonable, but it makes sense to me) that you can count about 75%-80% of a caffeinated beverage as water equivalent. I can't imagine that the body is so fussy about liquids. For centuries, people pretty much only drank alcohol (either by preference or because water wasn't reliably safe) and managed to stay alive.

Thanks to you rhizo, I have made a conscious effort to brink actual water!.I had my coffee as usual (decaf) but made sure to measure out 4 oz of water for my supplements. Coffee is considered half. So, that is one glass. The I had a cup of tea mid morning. With lunch I had a glass of water. I never do this! I'm going to do a half hour on my lifecycle, and will bring down a glass of water. From what my eye doctor has told me (I have dry eyes) you are suppose to drink the after gradually. It needs to have a chance to absorb, so downing it in a hurry really doesn't produce the desired effect. i still don't understand how people drink 8 glasses a day.

Posted by aptosca: "If I drink too much liquids it makes me nauseous. I told that to the Urologist and he looked at me strangely like I was crazy. " You can DIE from drinking too much water. It has happened to people. Too much water throws the electrolyte balance off. Posted by loggerbaby: "i read somewhere you can literally drown yourself by drinking too much water." No. No, you cannot "drown" by drinking too much water. There is no way to consume so much water that your lungs fill up with water. The body does not work that way. If someone dies because their lungs are filled with fluid, it is solely due to a bacterial infection of the lungs, like pneumonia or some other malady - not because they drank a lot of water. ----------- Drinking more water than your body needs won't make your hair shiny like so many people think. Nor will it make your skin look young and your nails grow faster. It won't help you lose weight or get smarter. One should listen to their body's cues. Drink water when you are thirsty. Drink water shortly before any strenuous activity like swimming or Yoga where you know you will be sweating to keep the body cool. That water needs to be replaced. Drinking water that has caffeine added to it (iced tea/coffee) in an attempt to rehydrate, sort of defeats the purpose. Caffeine is a diuretic and causes the body to rid itself of the water and actually can cause dehydration no matter how many gallons of ice tea are drank. This is the same reason that a person can die of thirst on a life raft in the middle of the ocean. People scratch their heads and wonder in amazement how someone could die of thirst in the middle of the ocean. >>Its because the ocean is salty.I can't tell you how many times I've seen people dump salt on their food because in their mind, they think that since the salt causes them to drink more water, that they are "doing the body good". ------------ A guy in my neighborhood died from drinking too much water. Here is a fairly recent news story about the woman who drank too much water in a contest and died immediately afterward. The radio station got sued because the station KNEW that the stunt was dangerous. A woman who identified herself as a nurse called in live, on the show and said the contest should stop because someone could die. The DJ laughed and hung up on her. Woman dies from drinking too much water. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16614865/ Here is a link that might be useful: Wii contest