this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026

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183

The measurements on my water bottle are not uniform (infosec.pub)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by thearpist123@lemmy.world to c/dull_mens_club@lemmy.world

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...because the shape of the water bottle isn't uniform either. Part of my new year's resolution is to drink 4 liters of water per day, so I spend a lot of time looking at those lines. Edit: 4 liters is a lot, but appropriate for my size and activity level. Without conscious consideration I don't drink enough water. It looks blue because the bottle is blue.

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[–] philpo@feddit.org 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh lordie lord.

People, don't fall for that influencer water challenge bullshit. Please.

Because a sudden rise in fluid intake without a change in habits is never a good idea. 4l won't usually kill you, unless you have a kidney or heart condition you didn't know beforehand. Which... Happens more often than even I would think.

Which leads to people getting nice cozy edema. If you are lucky only on your legs. If your unlucky you ignore these (being a bit bloated is normal, right) or your body simply doesn't like you and you get pulmonary edema. Which makes you sound like a boiling kettle from afar and ends with my colleagues and me either pushing a very very tight mask on your face that constantly pushes air into you if you want it or not, which makes you nauseated for days...or we straight up chuck a tube down your throat. Which at least has the advantage of you not witnessing the next step. Because we need to make you pee you get the holy grail of all golden shower parties, Frusemide. Which then leads to you,well,peeing litres. The very next step is nurse Edna with her hands that are the size of a snow shovel and approximately the same temperature pushing a catheter down your peehole into your bladder. Feels as bad as it sounds - but if you are awake you will beg her to do it because you literally produce more urine now than you can pee out. If neither helps you and you fucked up your organs really good your kidneys might not make it and you will need emergency dialysis - done through your chest with two catheters the size of a pinkie each pushed into vessels there. Also not a pleasant idea.

Why am I telling you this? Because... If I got a dollar for each guy (and with one outlier it always was a guy,not a gal) I had to work really hard to not let them kick the bucket in my care due to them having a "water drinking challenge"/"new year resolution" over the years I had 12 bucks which is not much but also far more than I would have expected. And for some reasons all of them called 20min before my shift is over.

(Source: Am a critcare paramedic)

[–] redlemace@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

you had me on your side at

don’t fall for influencer bullshit

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 66 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Recommend caution with 4 litres OP. I did that for about a month once, gave myself water poisoning - hurt to pee, kidneys ached, constantly low on electrolytes. Stopped and it recovered in a day, but was not pleasant.

Keep in mind all liquids count towards your water intake, even diuretics like coffee.

Either way, good on ya for drinking more water:)

[–] redlemace@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

drink more water

This worked for me! They usually say you need to drink 2 liters. I tried. After 2 day's I look back ... 1 liter/day and I give up. Until I read an article saying I just need to drink more water (but within limits).

Day 1: I drank one glass .. mission accomplished !! Day 2: I drank almost 2 glasses .. mission accomplished !!

So I got myself drinking a couple of glasses ( 1..4) a day. Along with coffee and tea etc ... I think it's enough, I'll live

[–] prenatal_confusion@feddit.org 25 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

I work as a carpenter and during the summer it's at least 6 liters on a hot day. I need to or I'll fall of the roof.

I don't do anything special for electrolytes. I feel tired a lot but also during winter so I dunno if it's related.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 days ago

Oh 10/10. I used to work construction and would slam a LOT of water on hot days. My comment assumes a more sedentary lifestyle (I was in uni at the time, and the gym is not as hard as roofing).

I agree with the other commenter, those electrolytes might be contributing to exhaustion. I used to cut gatorade in my water, found it helped. 0.75L water, 0.25L gatorade, adjust to taste (cuz watered down gatorade isn't that good lol)

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago

Salt tabs homie. I take them for a different reason but you really should be replacing salts from that much water intake.

[–] Bosht@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Honestly I'm an extremely sweaty guy and let me tell you electrolytes will change your life. After doing yardwork I'd feel almost hungover the next day. Started drinking just one electrolyte type mix with my normal torrent of water made a night and day difference.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Thanks. I'm always tired too, maybe some elecs might do something.

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

Outdoor worker here, needing to hike around in open fields and marshes with little to no shade on 30-35 degree days.

I can down more than a litre per hour doing that

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[–] philpo@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

Difference is: You will very likely feel thirsty - these "water challenges"/new year resolutions where people are at times literally drinking more water even though they feel already borderline nauseated are insane.

And in terms of electrolytes: It's mixed bag: First and foremost we generally oversatisfy our demand with our diets these days and unless you work very unsteady patterns it's unlikely an issue. But: On the other hand electrolyte issues are a fucking mixed bag and, especially in healthy muscular people, tend to stay "good" for a long time until,well, they escalate hard and fast. Literally had a colleague of you fall of a roof due to tachycardia caused by electrolyte issues. (Which every paramedic student around here now hates him unknowingly for because it's an all time favorite for exams now)

So...maybe occasionally eat some nuts, bananas or similar and a bit of cheese after a hard day. Even dark chocolate isn't that bad in that regard.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Coffee is not a diuretic. It does not dehydrate you, but it does irritate your bladder making you want to pee.

Alcohol on the other hand does pull water out of your bloodstream and makes you pee it out.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Your comment intrigued me, so I looked more into it, as I've never heard of this differentiation based on bladder irritation vs. pulling water from bloodstream. Perhaps a technical definition?

My understanding is that caffeine itself is a mild diuretic, but doesn't dehydrate you when brewed as drip coffee because there's more water than diuretic effect. I assume espresso would have more of a diuretic effect due to the relative caffeine concentration. I used the Britanncia definition and this article: https://www.aicr.org/news/will-coffee-make-me-dehydrated/.

No contention on the alcohol commentary. Happy to be wrong, just contrasted strongly with my understanding :)

Edit: I didn't like the lack of references so I'll add a mayoclonic article https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/caffeinated-drinks/faq-20057965

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

https://www.rd.com/article/is-coffee-a-diuretic/

A lot hinges on the definition of diuretic. Does it mean, "makes you pee more often/more volume?" (In which case water is a diuretic) or does it mean it dehydrates you? (In which case water is not a diuretic).

That is my understanding of it anyway.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oooh I love readers digest.

I agree it is based on the definition, and honestly it sounds like we might be arguing two sides of a similar point: I'm focused on the drug action (caffeine as a diuretic), you're focused on the actual beverage (coffee as a hydration drink).

Thanks for the great discussion :)

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't agree with your characterization of the discussion. My understanding was that caffeine the drug irritates the badder and causes you to pee, but doesn't actually dehydrate you.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

That's fair, I'm sorry if I put words in your mouth.

If I'm understanding you, you're focusing on how it's affecting you to increase urination, right? I know nothing about bladder irritation - you could be right, for sure.

My only contention with increased pee volumes is that if you're peeing, you're losing water, so if caffeine is increasing urination, it's dehydrating you, regardless of how it's coming about, no? Is there a part of your point I'm not getting?

Where I'm sitting: caffeine as a drug is a diuretic and causes dehydration in high enough volumes, but caffeine does not appear in strong enough concentrations in drip coffee to cause dehydration. So, coffee is a hydrating drink, but because water outweighs the dehydration impact of the caffeine, rather than caffeine is not a diuretic.

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

As I understand it, your bladder collects urine, which is water and waste products. Your body, your kidneys, etc, are always trying to maintain a Goldilocks level of hydration. If you drink a lot of water, your body removes the water from your bloodstream and puts it in the bladder so you can pee it out. That way you don't get overhydrated. If you're underhydrating, you will still have to pee eventually to void the water soluble waste products in urine, like uric acid. And if you don't replenish this you'll get dehydrated.

As I understand it, alcohol dehydrates you -- it removes water from your bloodstream and into your bladder, which gets full and causes you to pee. Your electrolytes get more concentrated, and your muscles are less effective. Your body doesn't have the water it needs to properly function unless you drink more water.

Caffeine on the other hand does not dehydrate you this way. What it does is irritate your bladder, causing you to void whatever was in there before you would otherwise need to, but not affecting your electrolyte balance in your blood.

So while both are "diuretics" in the sense that they make you pee, only one is dehydrating you, and is a "diuretic" in that sense.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thanks for clarifying, I see what you mean. Could this not be considered a question of drug action then, how it impacts your body? Since all of them will go through your bloodstream, one impacts your hydration levels pre-bladder, one post-bladder - assuming you're correct about the bladder irritation. I'd be interested to find out more about this irritation.

I think caffeine impacts your bloodstream more than this discussion indicates, as it is absorbed into the blood before it can be filtered by the kidneys, transmitted to the bladder, then increasing urination. I assume that increased urination, regardless of pre- or post-bladder, will result in similar effects as alcohol, the difference being the magnitude of the impact (alcohol being the more potent drug, results in more dehydration). Any loss of water should result in higher concentration of solutes, no?

With the information we have, I think we disagree on how to apply the definition of diuretic and how caffeine works, but we're also getting into more complex levels of biology and drug action. I'm sure we could get into very complex chemistry if we wanted haha

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Any loss of water should result in higher

concentration of solutes, no?

I don't think this is completely true. Caffeine may cause you to empty your bladder, but your body continues to function normally, and will keep blood concentration of electrolytes at homeostasis.

Compare this to alcohol which removes water from the bloodstream, which increases concentration of solutes in the blood.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago

That's fair. I'd be curious to know more, but don't know enough to argue it. I'll let you know if I get around to investigating further haha

Anyway, I want to thank you for an intriguing and entertaining conversation. It's nice having a good long discussion with someone with diverging viewpoints. All the best in this new year :)

[–] turdas@suppo.fi 71 points 3 days ago (4 children)

4 liters per day is absolutely insane unless you're doing physical labour in the sun all day, but you do you.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

4 liters of water per day is completely fine if you are not absolutely sedentary in a cool climate.

(The following is for a healthy male, who requires the most generally)

Average adult in a temperate climate needs 3.7L according to mayo clinic

harvard says a minimum of 3.1L per day

Most people are pretty dehydrated in general. Your piss isn't supposed to be bright yellow.

BBC summarized some journal papers that said that most adults are 1-2% dehydrated. Human thirst mechanisms also degrade as we age, not to mention "nurture" factors like people not drinking enough water when they are young, so their thirst mechanisms are already skewed towards too little water. Also hunger and thirst mechanisms are tied together so dehydrated people may overeat more as their body tries to get more water through food (also contributing to the huge rise in obesity)

There are a variety of unpleasant problems that come from drinking too little water, drinking too much water (within reason, not 12L per day) has the side effects of good kidneys and pissing more often...

Of course, a 140cm person won't need 4 liters, but a 2m tall person who goes to the gym may need 5+.

[–] bonenode@piefed.social 24 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It is on the upper limit but OP could just be huge. Like GoT-Mountain-huge, if you've seen the series. Then 4 liters is maybe ok.

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

I’m 5’11, 170lbs and drink about 5 liters a day, only drinking when I’m thirsty. It’s not a problem.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 days ago

During summer, but working inside, I will easily drink 4 litres. Any temp above 22°C and I start to sweat, a lot. When we had a heat wave one year, around 38°C inside, the water was just running off my hands and soaking the laptop keyboard. Puddles on either side of track pad, and forming on the desk.

[–] RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 4 points 3 days ago

Maybe OP just likes pissing.

[–] ideonek@piefed.social 43 points 3 days ago

"Drink before you are thirsty" is a lie that can be traced back to the Nestlé and their marketing departments.

https://youtu.be/aznnt5JB1Gg

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 3 points 2 days ago

Don't even mention HCL or KOH man. I did earlier on another post and it was removed for spam! Of all things. Suffer from hemorrhoids? Go get your prep H. Leave me out of it.

[–] xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 46 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Why is your 'water' suspiciously blue? Then again, if you drink 4L of water / day while ostensibly sitting at a desk, electrolytes might be a very good idea.

And maybe a catheter.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 26 points 3 days ago

It's wiper fluid. De-ices the kidneys during winter.

[–] FabledAepitaph@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Yeah, I never understood these arbitrary water volume challenges. Drink when you're thirsty. If you're you are worried, just take some extra drinks each time. Most hydration issues can probably be solved by drinking water instead of anything else.. like whatever is in this container

[–] Ludicrous0251@piefed.zip 31 points 3 days ago

As someone with ADHD, I often don't realize I'm thirsty until I have a headache and am about to pass out. Having an even arbitrary water goal forces me to do the math every once in a while and go "oh, I should probably drink something today"

[–] inmatarian@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (3 children)

3.7 liters (~16 cups) is the scientific recommendation (source), but you're supposed deduct from that number what you're getting from food, which is why everyone is freaking out about 4 liters of straight water.

[–] LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz 16 points 3 days ago

That's cause I only eat completely dehydrated food. It makes tracking my fluid intake much easier.

[–] turdas@suppo.fi 6 points 3 days ago

That doesn't sound right at all, as obviously it would depend on the size of your body. The recommendation I've heard is 30-40 millilitres per kilogram of body weight, so by that to need 4 litres per day you'd have to weigh 115 kilograms.

I'm not entirely convinced by body weight either though, because e.g. perspiration is affected more by the body's surface area than mass, and surface area does not grow linearly with body mass. Water loss via respiration is probably the same regardless of your size, because your lungs are still the same size. Cellular metabolism, I imagine, doesn't scale linearly either because as you get bigger you don't get more cells, the existing ones just get bigger, but I know very little about this.

[–] BossDj@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

That was NOT a scientific recommendation. If you're not getting sample tested, most doctors would first direct you to urine color and skin snappiness

What the source says:

Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years. But your individual water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live.
...
No single formula fits everyone. ...
Most healthy people can stay hydrated by drinking water and other fluids whenever they feel thirsty.
...
Your fluid intake is probably adequate if:
-You rarely feel thirsty
-Your urine is colorless or light yellow

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[–] ptu@sopuli.xyz 12 points 3 days ago

I bet that liquid would soak in period pads in no time

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

Pretty sure the bottle is painted blue and fades toward the top.

[–] Limerance@piefed.social 11 points 3 days ago

The bottle is not uniform. It’s more narrow at the grip.

[–] Bruhh@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Don't force youself to drink more water. You drink when you're thirsty. Just like when you eat when you're hungry, your body will tell you when to drink.

[–] Schmeckinger@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That doesn't work for me and multiple people I know. I drink way too much because of that and they sometimes don't drink anything for over 24h

[–] Bruhh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm no expert so take what I say with a grain of salt.

It's not a perfect system for the same reason some people over-eat and some don't eat at all. Your lifestyle could also affect it.

If you are frequently thirsty and no amount of water is quenching your thirst, you might not have enough electrolytes to retain the water causing you to always be thirsty. Apart from gatorade or pedialyte, coconut water is also high in electrolytes...or maybe you have diabetes.

Again, I'm no doctor and I may be talking out my ass and obviously I don't know you or your lifestyle. Just what I remember reading when I had issues drinking water.

[–] Schmeckinger@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I don't drink because im thirsty. I drink because I made it a habit, otherwise I forget.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

https://youtube.com/shorts/aznnt5JB1Gg

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