wosnes wrote:I asked this same question in another post, but I think it might get lost without being answered:
nfalcone wrote:the scale said I was 146, but I didn't freak out because I drink a lot less water on the weekends. I knew it was probably just a little dehydration. I go from 8 water bottles a day to only about 2 cups.. so, going by the scale is tricky.
What is the rationale behind the idea that you weigh more when dehydrated and less when well-hydrated? I'm a nurse and I've never heard of this.
As I read various posts I'm consistently amazed by how much misinformation is out there, not only about nutrition in general, but also by how the body utlizes the nutrients.
I pulled out the textbook I used on my very first nutrition class and I found this:
"Once the body registers a shortage of available water, it increases fluid conservation... the pituitary gland releases ADH to force kidneys to conserve water, the kidneys respond by reducing urine flow... however, despite this mechanism, fluid is constantly lost via the insensible routes-feces, skin, and lungs.
These losses must be replaced, in addition, there's a limit to how concentrated urine can become...if fluid is not consumed, the body becomes dehydrated....
By the time a person loses 1% to 2% of body weight in fluids he or she will be thristy...at 4% muscle loses strength and endurance...10% to 12% heat tolerance is decreased and weakness occurs...20% reduction, coma and death soon follows."
I think people tend to imagine that once we retain fluid, we absorb extra like a sponge and puff up, when, in reality, the fluid retained is fluid that is normally in your body already and you probably accounted for it when you weighted yourself before.
Even if you imagine that your body is retaining an extra 1-2% of your body weight in fluids (which it isn't) 1% to 2% of body weigh in fluids is not much more than 1-2 pounds at best for an average weight of 145 pounds.
My husband is a biiig, huuuge proponent of weight loss and gain via fluids, but, what he never realizes is that he got that info during highschool footbal "ooh, but you lose pounds and pounds of fluids!", yes
if you are playing a football match with full gear under the afternoon sun and you are a big moose of a male teen.
For most of us?, the weight changes are almost nil.