Conference rocks::weight_control

    
>>    Besides, I *like* taking a break from work to run to the potty ten
>>    times a day.... 8')
    
Not to mention how many calories the "run" burns off!

    Hey!  I never thought of that...and the little boys room is at the
    other end of the building, too!
    
    Down one more pound this morning....
    
    

    Just don't get carried away with the idea.  Overdoing it could make
    you not feel well (hyponatremia, hypocalcemia, etc) if you're healthy
    or it could kill you if you have a kidney disfunction.  Overdoing it
    would be more than 16 glasses of water while not thirsty.

    That line about the kidneys not functioning without enough water is
    out of place.  Long before that happens, you'll have been thirsty
    for hours.

    And remember, if you eat fruits and vegetables, you'll get lots of
    water from them.

    .0, can you quote the source of this information, or is it something
    you authored?  Also, how long does it take to get to "breakthru"? One
    day?  Several days?
    S

    
    I have a copy of this article, the gym at my apartment complex had it
    on the wall.  It is authored by Donald S. Robertson, M.D.,M.S.c,
    whoever that is.
    
    If anyone wants a copy, send me e-mail and an internal address and I
    will mail you a copy.
    
    Amy
    

    What value (if any) does the water (liquid) in coffee, orange juice, or
    any other mixed drinks (including booze) contribute to (or take away from)
    your water quota for the day?
    
    I understand that caffiene doesn't contribute to displacing fat, but
    the water that it is mixed with may???
    
    Thanks
    
     

I bet that you get several opinions on this one---

The nutritionist I work with says that liquid is liquid is liquid.  The caffiene 
in sodas and coffee is not particularly good for you, and even detrimental is
some cases, but the liquid counts as part of your overall intake.  :-) 

(I know, though, that other specialists don't necessarily share her feelings!) 

-jer

    Water in foods counts as water in your diet.
    
    However, with foods like coffee, you also consume a pretty strong
    diuretic (caffeine), so that you actually LOSE water from your body.
    Alcohol will also cause you to lose water, because it takes plenty
    of water to metabolize alcohol, more than is in a drink, even a dilute
    drink like beer.
    
    Water doesn't displace fat, dissolve fat, or do anything else magical.
    
    You need water on hand to metabolize fat, but once you have enough,
    any additional water is pretty much useless and will be excreted.

    A friend of mine who is a physician told me sometyhing interesting
    about water in foods, water in soda, etc.  She said what you have to
    think about is a process called osmotic pressure.  WHat this means,
    simply, is that if you have one solution that has lots of sugar, salt,
    whatever dissolved in it, and you place it next to a solution with a
    lesser concentration, and separate them with a permeable membrane, then
    the solutions will tend to equalize , i.e., the more concentrated one
    will become less concentrated by drawing water from the other.  In
    terms of your body, if you drink a very concentrated solution, then it
    will draw water from your body in this process of equalizing.  So, for
    instance, if you drink soda, you will actually lose water from your
    body.  Why?  Because soda is a very concentrated sugar solution -- the
    average can of soda contains 10 - 12 teaspoons of sugar -- and this
    highly concentrated solution will attempt to absorb water to equalize
    itself with the fluids in your body.  
    
    Ever notice that one can of soda makes you thirsty for another, and
    another, and another.....?

    Your physician friend is wrong.
    
    The process of osmosis is certainly applicable to cell membranes,
    HOWEVER, and this is key, cells are more than just a membrane.
    They cannot intake or release fluids in strict accordance with
    osmotic pressure.
    
    If cell membranes passed fluids to cells strictly according to
    omsotic pressure, the cells in your stomach would burst, those in
    your extremeties would dry up.  As you know, this doesn't happen.
    
    He's misapplying his knowledge of osmosis.

    .9 Soda can make you thirsty when it contains sugar. Some so-called
    healthy drinks in the UK have so much sugar in (Lucozade 'Sport' for
    instance) that the stomach has to pull water out of the bloodstream in
    order to digest the sugar. Eventually the water is released back to
    your body, but drinking such drinks when you are already dehydrated is
    a bad idea.
    
    Caveat emptor!
    
    /andy

    re .10
    
    I did not mean to imply that osmotic pressure was the only process
    going on in your body, and if you took my note to mean that, then
    I'm sorry.  As for my friend, she did not imply this to me either.
    Yes, "she" -- not all physicians are male, in case you've not noticed.
    
    

    Well, I guess that explains it.

    A response to the woman who finds .13 (and I quote) "HIGHLY OFFENSIVE."
    
    If you feel that was a comment on the doctor's gender, you're mistaken.

    So, someone else found it offensive too?  
    
    Perhaps you'd care to explain just what you meant...

    That seemed obvious to me. He was referring to the first part of the
    previous note.
    
    /a

Gosh, for a moment I thought that I was in Soapbox.  ;-)  (It gave me quite
a start, too.)

-jer

    Does any one know if there are any problems with substituting flavored 
    soda water for plain water. I find drinking so much plain water a day
    gets boring. The flavored soda waters provide a variety which makes it
    easier to drink different flavor once you get tired of one.

    Isn't soda water just carbonated water? 
    
    If so, there's no problem.

    The large bottles of water I have bought at the local crocery are
    grapefruit or other various flavors, and list 0 sodium, 0 calories,
    etc.
    
    Doesn't look like much difference between them and plain water, except
    the taste....they're rather cheap too!  95 cents for 50-60 ounces.
    

About water - 

I have a severe health problem and must limit my intake of fluids - including
water.  I can have a maximum of 64 oz a day.  That includes water, milk, coffee,
juice, etc.  So just a note, don't drink water constantly.  You need to be aware
of your body and how it is reacting to whatever you do.  Drink some certainly,
but body can react adversely to anything, including water.

--karen

    This is slightly off topic, but...

    Does anyone know where, or if, you can buy replacements for the straw
    that comes with those quart bottles?  I used one for a while, but the
    straw got dirty looking, and I found it difficult to impossible to
    clean.  

    Thanks
    Debby

    You can buy a very small "bottle cleaning" brush at a kitchen
    speciality store to clean the straw.  I bought one a few months ago,
    and it does the trick!