Actual Water Usage

Hmm .... interesting. When looking after old people, I was told by the nurses that 1 cup of water = 1 cup of fluid; 1 cup of tea = 0 cups of fluid; 1 cup of coffee = -1 cup of fluid (ie, negative); ditto alcohol. When I was a young uni student and working on a property harvesting during summer hols, I used to think nothing of going most of the day (7.30 am to 5.30 pm) without fluids - ended up having kidney stones when 23 yo - not clever. Since then have consumed plenty of fluid equivavlent each day - ~2 litres min, normally more
Regards
Andrew

Andrew,

I had kidney stones at 20, so know where you are comming from LOL


Cheers Kev

Hi Guys

Certainly fliud intake is related to output , and a point of this test was to show that no other fluid intake was necessary - or even desired , under those conditions. Overall it was quite a cool drive though, and I was a little surprized that I didn't even feel the desire to take more considering 12 or so driving hours per day .

Hi Toyo

Haven't got a lot of time and its probably to big a discussion for now , but my research actually shows that those choices like black coffee (no sugar), wine etc are actually positive in making the machine last longer.

I agree Kim , that management of the water is a more relevant issue. one of the advantages of travelling alone was that I just used almost none except in coffee etc . and no one complained.

As Kim says, its not how much water you carry that matters, but what you do with it. On a recent remote (hot) trip one of our companions suffered terribly from headaches day after day. Eventually we realised that not only was she not taking in enough fluids, but what she did consume during the day was coffee and coke. Both contain caffiene, which is a diuretic. The water was passing straight through. Wine in the evening didn't help either as alcohol tends to draw water out of the body.

On that same trip our Troopy blew a head gasket. The rush back to civilisation involved topping up the radiator with 2 or 3 litres every 15 minutes.

How much water should you carry ???? Lots..... How much should you consume ???? Depends on heat and activity, and of course what's mixed with it.

John

I find it an interesting subject John and is why I didn"t set up anything , just consumed what I felt like and added it up later.

Things like coffee can vary wildly - if I make a black coffee with a level teaspoon of nescafe , well I could drink it all day without any worries , but 1 or 2 cups of the coffee I purchased were really strong , and from previous work I know thw caffiene content can vary by a factor of 4 or 5 times.

I also watched a recent ABC sciene show about deaths of walkers on the Kokoda trail and essentially they put the problem down to to much water which flushed out salt from the body ( not sure of details) but it was a fascinating piece of TV,

Hi Robin,

Glad to see that you had a good trip! I spent 6 weeks in Wiluna working 2 years ago, as well as passing through in 1998 on the way to the Gunbarrel Highway.

I make the next two points as a qualified and practicing Doctor in Western Australia...

Firstly, your Doctor was absolutely correct! (said as I refil my glass of cabernet...)

Secondly, yes, I can believe that there would be deaths on the Kokoda Track due to sodium depletion. Essentially, hyponatraemia (the fancy name for sodium loss) is often due to sweating secondary to exercise in young, otherwise fit and healthy people. (Different story in the Elderly, but let's keep this simple). This tends to happen mainly in people undertaking endurance sports such as marathon running, cycling, and walking extreme distances in adverse conditions. Your body has an obligatory sodium loss, which must be countered by dietary intake. (I've seen people with low salt after the Avon Descent, Busselton Marathon, and similar events...)

Luckily, the Western diet (including those fantastic pies and sausage rolls from Roadhouses all over the country, let alone tomato sauce, and other staples) includes a huge amount of Sodium.

Caffeine and alcohol are both diuretics - especially alcohol. Doesn't stop me from drinking either though! Especially in the bush. Wouldn't be a camp without a red or two (and on the rare occasion three or more) around a campfire, and a cup of coffee to start the day.

I guess my point is that water consumption should be related to your own sensation of thirst. (My opinion only). Have a water bottle, and consume as you see the need to. Most people, with a litre water bottle in front of them, will drink it as their physiology requires, and then refill it. The cycle continues.

Recommended levels of water intake factor a lot of things - emergencies, survival, radiator repairs (as talked about), hygeine, etc...

Every camp I return with spare water, and sometimes lots of it. But for the amount that might be wasted, surely the security and safety is better.

I guess the question is, how much water do we truly consume each day? Sitting in my air conditioned Landcruiser, even touring the Desert doesn't put me through any more physiological stress than a day at work, exercise, etc.

Perhaps our consumption in the bush should mirror this, plus or minus the difference required by our physiology.

However, going back to the original point, in 4WD touring, dehydration is far more of a concern than sodium loss!

Enjoy the trip!

Charles


_______________________________
Charles Jenkinson
Perth, Western Australia

Gracie "The Grey Ghost"
1991 Toyota Landcruiser GXL (HDJ80R)
4.2L 1HD-T Turbo Diesel
358,864 km and counting!

Your dead right about not enough chardonay - after 4 days the remaining wine started to taste slightly vinegery (if thats a word) which is why the rest was not drunk.

Bob do you mean you actually drink water - as opposed to getting it thru coffee/softdrinks etc.

That sounds like a sensible rule of thumb Alastair - it sort of takes in various factors as applied to your specific circumstances, which appeals to me more than any fixed rule.

Alistair - I agree. Use the same rule, or a slightly modified one, when out on the boat all day.
What people tend to forget is that we are, if memory serves me right, 98% water. If we don't drink enough, our immediate need for fluid is satisfied by drawing on our internal cellular supply --> hence dehydration. To repalce that fluid and prevent dehydration, we need to drink enough water to satisfy our "cellular needs" AND flush the system of waste products.
As I said above, coffee does NOT achieve this objective because it is a diuretic (as are most alcoholic drinks) and so while we may think we are meeting our fluid requirements by drinking coffee, the opposite is happening. Hence the coffee rating of -1.
The same with salty chips, nuts, etc at pubs. Salt increases our propensity to store fluids, hence our body reacts by getting thirsty and we drink more. What is readily to hand - beer!! So we drink more beer - which is a diuretic, so we pee more and then, as we are thirsty, we drink more beer :-)
When travelling (or just living actually) we need plenty of water, fruit juice, etc. If you don't pee for 2 or so hours, you are most likely starting to darw on your own internal supplies.
Rgds
Andrew