Would you consider yourself physically healthy?

[SoDesuNe]

I think, I lived quite healthy before I changed places due to university. Fruits (mostly an apple and a banana) everyday, no carbohydrates after six pm, fast-food perhaps once in a month, no drinks with sugar (except it's only fruit sugar) and every two to three days excercizing in a gym, plus doing Tae-Kwon-Do twice a week.

Well, now (three years later). Maybe sports once a week, too many hours just sitting in front of the computer or sitting in general, drinking energy-drinks (low-carb though, I already decreased the amount), almost no fruits but a lot of smoothies and quite regularly vegetables (I cook like 70% of my meals) and fast-food every week.

Still, I lost more weight due to muscles than I gained through fat ^^ BMI is still the same, too.

[Toge]

I consider myself healthy. Just by having normal weight without diseases, you're already more healthy than half of the population. When I was in upper secondary school, I ran 3000 metres in cooper test. I used to bicycle all school trips and jog at weekends. Nowadays I've dropped most of those good practices. Summer is coming and I'm going to start exercising again.

[rubin427]

I'm curious...

James' Paradox (a.k.a. Summary of April):
1) realize I am not "active" enough.
2) take up a new outdoor hobby to improve the situation.
3) promptly fracture ribs...

...but, I'm fine now and it looks like the hobby might stick - so that's an overall improvement (I think).

[kirkmc]

There's a long article in the New York Times Magazine from a few weeks ago, proving that everyone who eats sugar or HFCS dies. It claims that there's no important difference for health between the two, and links them both to metabolic syndrome.

A lot of what Taubes (the author of the article) says is interesting, and I read one of his books. He seems to extrapolate a lot, though, with the stuff he's saying about sugar. And metabolic syndrome basically affects the obese, so the link you say there is tenuous.

And, yes, everyone who eats either of them will die. Everyone who never eats them will die as well. QED.

[cdybeijing]

I have a lot of opinions on the subject of health, but if I could implore everyone to do just one thing to substantially improve their health it would be to drink more water. For an average male around 175 pounds, that's about 3 liters.

Bogus. There's no scientific evidence that says that one needs to drink a certain amount of water. Interestingly, different cultures specify different amounts. In the US, it's generally a _gallon_ a day, which is a huge amount. In France, they say a liter and a half; just the amount in which bottled water is sold.

Drinking water is essential, but there's no minimum. Drink when you're thirsty and you'll be fine. If your urine is often very yellow, drink until it's pale yellow.

There are lots of myths about water that float around - for example, the myth that drinking coffee makes you lose more water than what you consume with the coffee...

I am intelligent enough to not get into an argument with you, as I know how that will proceed. Needlessly, I will point out that I never suggested a minimum based on scientific evidence. If a male of 175 lbs drank about 3 liters of water a day they would virtually assure optimal hydration. It is not necessary to drink this much water; it is not necessary to be optimally hydrated to pass your existence.

Obviously, all fluids contribute towards hydration. Individuals can judge for themselves what and how much they are putting into their bodies. If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

Also, the guideline of monitoring your urine color is a good one, until it is clear or nearly clear. That won't happen drinking a liter and a half a day, at least not for this 175 lb male.

[cdybeijing]

There's a long article in the New York Times Magazine from a few weeks ago, proving that everyone who eats sugar or HFCS dies. It claims that there's no important difference for health between the two, and links them both to metabolic syndrome.

A striking point that I first heard a few years ago is that there is one small way in which the obesity epidemic is a good thing. One partial cause of rising obesity is decreased smoking, and obesity is much less dangerous than smoking. There are other causes of obesity, but so far as we've traded one for the other, that's a good thing.

Could you please post a link to the recent Gary Taubes piece?

[hyperpape]

@cdybeijing: Sure.

@kirkmc, I was registering my mild distaste for the tone of the article, as worth reading as it might be.

[Joaz Banbeck]

...

I left the US 26 years ago. At the time, obese people were rare....

A couple of weeks ago, Nation Public Radio reported:

The U.S. Coast Guard puts out a number that is important for companies running ferry boats and charters. For safety reasons, the operators are supposed to estimate the weight of the people on board. You don't want to overload the boat. Since the 1960s, the Coast Guard has told boat operators to assume that the average person weighs 160 pounds.

Now, in keeping with America's changing waistlines, the Coast Guard has raised the average weight. Boat operators must now assume that people weigh 185 pounds, which means that some boat companies will have to carry fewer people.

[kirkmc]

I am intelligent enough to not get into an argument with you, as I know how that will proceed. Needlessly, I will point out that I never suggested a minimum based on scientific evidence. If a male of 175 lbs drank about 3 liters of water a day they would virtually assure optimal hydration. It is not necessary to drink this much water; it is not necessary to be optimally hydrated to pass your existence.

Obviously, all fluids contribute towards hydration. Individuals can judge for themselves what and how much they are putting into their bodies. If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

Also, the guideline of monitoring your urine color is a good one, until it is clear or nearly clear. That won't happen drinking a liter and a half a day, at least not for this 175 lb male.

There is no way to specify a set amount of water one needs. It depends on what you do, where you live (I live in the mountains, in a very dry area, and was thirsty all the time the first weeks here), and how much you sweat.

3 liters is _a lot_ of water. If you drink that much, I'd suggest seeing a doctor and getting checked for diabetes; thirst is one of the first signs of the disease.

It's important to point out that you can drink too much water; you can even die from it. (You die from hyponatremia, or too little sodium in the blood.) There are plenty of cases of this, and it happens occasionally to runners, especially of marathons, who think that they need to drink as much as possible.

BTW, this sentence:

If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

is pure woo stuff. As if one could be insufficiently hydrated for any period of time without being thirsty. It is a common woo myth that you can be "chronically dehydrated." The body doesn't work like that; if you need water, you're thirsty. If you don't need water, you're not thirsty. It's naturally better to drink so you don't get thirsty, but that other myth that says "you're dehydrated before you're thirsty" is just a myth as well.

[kirkmc]

@cdybeijing: Sure.

@kirkmc, I was registering my mild distaste for the tone of the article, as worth reading as it might be.

Ah, I didn't read the sarcasm. I agree with much of what he says, but he has little scientific proof for much of it.

[cdybeijing]

I am intelligent enough to not get into an argument with you, as I know how that will proceed. Needlessly, I will point out that I never suggested a minimum based on scientific evidence. If a male of 175 lbs drank about 3 liters of water a day they would virtually assure optimal hydration. It is not necessary to drink this much water; it is not necessary to be optimally hydrated to pass your existence.

Obviously, all fluids contribute towards hydration. Individuals can judge for themselves what and how much they are putting into their bodies. If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

Also, the guideline of monitoring your urine color is a good one, until it is clear or nearly clear. That won't happen drinking a liter and a half a day, at least not for this 175 lb male.

There is no way to specify a set amount of water one needs. It depends on what you do, where you live (I live in the mountains, in a very dry area, and was thirsty all the time the first weeks here), and how much you sweat.

3 liters is _a lot_ of water. If you drink that much, I'd suggest seeing a doctor and getting checked for diabetes; thirst is one of the first signs of the disease.

It's important to point out that you can drink too much water; you can even die from it. (You die from hyponatremia, or too little sodium in the blood.) There are plenty of cases of this, and it happens occasionally to runners, especially of marathons, who think that they need to drink as much as possible.

BTW, this sentence:

If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

is pure woo stuff. As if one could be insufficiently hydrated for any period of time without being thirsty. It is a common woo myth that you can be "chronically dehydrated." The body doesn't work like that; if you need water, you're thirsty. If you don't need water, you're not thirsty. It's naturally better to drink so you don't get thirsty, but that other myth that says "you're dehydrated before you're thirsty" is just a myth as well.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

[kirkmc]

I am intelligent enough to not get into an argument with you, as I know how that will proceed. Needlessly, I will point out that I never suggested a minimum based on scientific evidence. If a male of 175 lbs drank about 3 liters of water a day they would virtually assure optimal hydration. It is not necessary to drink this much water; it is not necessary to be optimally hydrated to pass your existence.

Obviously, all fluids contribute towards hydration. Individuals can judge for themselves what and how much they are putting into their bodies. If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

Also, the guideline of monitoring your urine color is a good one, until it is clear or nearly clear. That won't happen drinking a liter and a half a day, at least not for this 175 lb male.

There is no way to specify a set amount of water one needs. It depends on what you do, where you live (I live in the mountains, in a very dry area, and was thirsty all the time the first weeks here), and how much you sweat.

3 liters is _a lot_ of water. If you drink that much, I'd suggest seeing a doctor and getting checked for diabetes; thirst is one of the first signs of the disease.

It's important to point out that you can drink too much water; you can even die from it. (You die from hyponatremia, or too little sodium in the blood.) There are plenty of cases of this, and it happens occasionally to runners, especially of marathons, who think that they need to drink as much as possible.

BTW, this sentence:

If you have ever been truly hydrated for a consistent period of 1-2 weeks, you would know beyond a doubt what the impact on health and function is.

is pure woo stuff. As if one could be insufficiently hydrated for any period of time without being thirsty. It is a common woo myth that you can be "chronically dehydrated." The body doesn't work like that; if you need water, you're thirsty. If you don't need water, you're not thirsty. It's naturally better to drink so you don't get thirsty, but that other myth that says "you're dehydrated before you're thirsty" is just a myth as well.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

Ok, prove it. Give me a link to a serious (non-woo) scientific article saying that comment you made above has any validity at all.

BTW, you might want to look at this:

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/water.php

And this, more technical article:

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/283/5/R993.full

[Kirby]

...

I am intelligent enough to not get into an argument with you, as I know how that will proceed. ...

[BaghwanB]

There are lots of myths about water that float around - for example, the myth that drinking coffee makes you lose more water than what you consume with the coffee...

If that was true, I would have been a dessicated husk around 15 years ago. In one period of my life, I spent years drinking practically nothing but coffee and the occasional soda (and very rare fruit juice or Gatorade-style drink).

Thankfully now I'm a little (little...) more moderate about my coffee intake.

Bruce "Jitterbug" Young

[jts]

I had the opportunity to ask a doctor the hydration question this weekend. She said that you should drink as much water as you lose in a day. This varies from person to person, but she says doctors often tell people to drink two nalgenes a day if they aren't sure (that's about 2L). She also said that pedialyte is, indeed, more hydrating than water, and water more hydrating than soda.

Now, obviously if you have some website that you trust more than an American medical professional, I can say nothing more.