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CNN Live At Daybreak

How Much Water Should You Drink?

Aired May 28, 2003 - 06:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk health now. You hear it all the time -- if you want to stay healthy, drink more water. But how much should you drink? We've been hearing conflicting reports on that, like maybe we don't need to drink eight glasses of water every day after all.
To clear things up, we want to go live to New York and nutritionist Lisa Drayer of Dietwatch.com.

OK, Lisa, so how much water do we need?

LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Well, you know, eight eight ounce glasses each day may not be a bad idea. But, a recent review of the literature did not find any studies to support the recommendation that we should be, in fact, drinking this amount. In fact, what it found was that many healthy, mostly sedentary individuals consume less than eight and that except for the elderly population, who may have a diminished sense of thirst, that obeying your thirst is really a good guideline to follow.

So if you feel thirsty, you're not necessarily in a state of dehydration by the time you actually feel your thirst coming on.

COSTELLO: But there are times when you need to drink more water, right?

DRAYER: Sometimes you do. But, in fact, even some long distance runners -- there was a guideline issued this spring for runners who run, let's say, marathons for about four or five hours long -- even for this population, it's important to watch your thirst, because there is such a thing as drinking too much. In fact, over hydrating ourselves can result in what's known as hyponatremia. This is where there's low blood levels of sodium. It's caused by over hydrating ourselves, drinking much more than what is lost in sweat and also not replacing sodium that is lost inside. For example, if we don't drink beverages such as Gatorade that have sodium in them to replenish our lost stores.

COSTELLO: Yes, you're tipster running alongside beside you. So if you drink a caffeinated beverage, you should drink a glass of water to make up for that.

DRAYER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: And, also, you should increase your water intake if you have kidney stones and low blood pressure. Why? DRAYER: Exactly. It helps to flush the kidneys, that is, it prevents the accumulation of minerals such as calcium, which can otherwise lead to stones. And if you have very low blood pressure, you may be advised to drink more. This could help boost the blood volume and improve blood flow. Also, if you're looking to watch your weight, it's a good idea to drink cold water. Your body actually burns calories when it attempts to bring cold water up to your body's own temperature.

COSTELLO: Oh, OK. So we expend energy just heating the water up.

DRAYER: Isn't that a great thing?

COSTELLO: Yes, that's interesting.

Lisa Drayer, thanks for making it clear for us.

We appreciate it.

DRAYER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 28, 2003 - 06:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time to talk health now. You hear it all the time -- if you want to stay healthy, drink more water. But how much should you drink? We've been hearing conflicting reports on that, like maybe we don't need to drink eight glasses of water every day after all.
To clear things up, we want to go live to New York and nutritionist Lisa Drayer of Dietwatch.com.

OK, Lisa, so how much water do we need?

LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Well, you know, eight eight ounce glasses each day may not be a bad idea. But, a recent review of the literature did not find any studies to support the recommendation that we should be, in fact, drinking this amount. In fact, what it found was that many healthy, mostly sedentary individuals consume less than eight and that except for the elderly population, who may have a diminished sense of thirst, that obeying your thirst is really a good guideline to follow.

So if you feel thirsty, you're not necessarily in a state of dehydration by the time you actually feel your thirst coming on.

COSTELLO: But there are times when you need to drink more water, right?

DRAYER: Sometimes you do. But, in fact, even some long distance runners -- there was a guideline issued this spring for runners who run, let's say, marathons for about four or five hours long -- even for this population, it's important to watch your thirst, because there is such a thing as drinking too much. In fact, over hydrating ourselves can result in what's known as hyponatremia. This is where there's low blood levels of sodium. It's caused by over hydrating ourselves, drinking much more than what is lost in sweat and also not replacing sodium that is lost inside. For example, if we don't drink beverages such as Gatorade that have sodium in them to replenish our lost stores.

COSTELLO: Yes, you're tipster running alongside beside you. So if you drink a caffeinated beverage, you should drink a glass of water to make up for that.

DRAYER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: And, also, you should increase your water intake if you have kidney stones and low blood pressure. Why? DRAYER: Exactly. It helps to flush the kidneys, that is, it prevents the accumulation of minerals such as calcium, which can otherwise lead to stones. And if you have very low blood pressure, you may be advised to drink more. This could help boost the blood volume and improve blood flow. Also, if you're looking to watch your weight, it's a good idea to drink cold water. Your body actually burns calories when it attempts to bring cold water up to your body's own temperature.

COSTELLO: Oh, OK. So we expend energy just heating the water up.

DRAYER: Isn't that a great thing?

COSTELLO: Yes, that's interesting.

Lisa Drayer, thanks for making it clear for us.

We appreciate it.

DRAYER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com