Benefits of not drinking water

[10-K]

I honestly don't know the answer to this but it's something I've always done and wanted to toss it out for discussion.

Before I hiked so often I ran a lot - marathons, a few ultras, and more half-marathon and shorter races than I can count. One of the things I did when I was training was purposely not drink water thinking that my body would acclimate to not getting fluids in a similar way that it acclimates to climate.

I do that still - I walk a lot (5-10 miles a day) and never carry a water bottle. Many times I get very thirsty and instead of stopping at a fountain or walking by a store I'll tough it out for the last few miles.

So... my question is - do you think you can train your body to get by with less water by toughing out thirst for a while? Or is it more a psychological thing where you just build the mental stamina to push on even though you're thirsty?

Note I'm not talking about being stupid and falling out from dehydration.. I'm talking about just pushing a bit past the comfort zone....

[T.S.Kobzol]

I do this: I drink a full nalgene bottle of water about 30 minutes before I start hiking in the morning. I usually don't need a drink.before I reach the first summit ...give or take 2500 feet elevation gain.

It also means that for details I never need a refill from local sources as I carry two full nalgene bottles with me.

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[T.S.Kobzol]

Please replace word details with daytrips. My phone thinks it knows what I mean and changes the words for me.

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[10-K]

My phone does that too..

Siri doesn't do my southern accent.

[hikerboy57]

I dont think you canacclimate to hydration.i think its psychological.to think othrrwise may lead to a bed decision down the road. when maybe you pushed just a little too hard out of your comfort zone.

[10-K]

The whole point is that I think it's good to be able to push on through thirst - that could come in very handy.

Sometimes I see people slurping down water almost continually and I wonder what would happen if they had to go without for a few hours.

You're right HB - it's probably all in my head.

[hikerboy57]

too much water can be a bad thing tooi how many days is it that you can go without water? I think it also depends a little on the weather if it's hot and dry pushing your limit may lead to heat exhaustion and dehydration quickly. I agree with being able to push a bit. but sometimes that line can become blurry in a hurry.

[colorado_rob]

The whole point is that I think it's good to be able to push on through thirst - that could come in very handy.

YES, this is a technique I use all the time in mountaineering. I call it "deprivation training" and I think it is very valuable. climbing high, cold mountains, you are pretty much are guaranteed to be both significantly dehydrated and depleted with respect to nutrition. If you can get "used" to this, meaning get to know how it feels and how much you can push this condition and still safely function, you are a step ahead. I definitely see parallels to this for long-distance hiking. There will be times when you're both starving for food and dying for a huge drink, but if you know you can still push this a bit, this has to be valuable.

[Leanthree]

Your muscles can get more tolerant to lactic acid, which builds up more when you are dehydrated. That is the only mechanism I am aware of which would explain some form of tolerance to dehydration.

[Wise Old Owl]

possibly 10-k the first thread - I am on the fence... Hey depending on the weather... its a clear oops. Not going with a water bottle? sort of like going to the desert with sand in your shoes.



12 essentials.

[garlic08]

I agree with the idea that we probably drink more than we need to, normally, and the body can do just fine with a little thirst now and then. Try a desert thru hike and your ideas of thirst will change. I hiked the AT after hiking several Western trails, and I was amazed at the amounts of water hikers carried and drank on the AT. I often carried none at all on the AT, just drank every five or ten miles from the multitude of springs. I don't think I acclimated or trained my body, just got more in tune with what the minimum really is.

I first learned to drink water until the urine was "clear and copious". I don't believe that any more. A little yellow is OK. Thick, dark stinky yellow or none at all is bad. (And don't wear amber-tinted sunglasses when you judge urine color.)

And don't forget your salt intake if you're drinking six or eight liters per day.

[Papa D]

I often go long distances without as much water as is customarily suggested - mountaineering, long distance backpacking, etc. I never intentionally deprive myself though - I feel good more or less hydrated. When running marathons and (more commonly) half marathons, I skip every other water station. I doubt that water deprivation is a "training method" but it is a good mental and physical skill to know that you can push it when you need too. Like Garlic, I've often thought that "clear and copious" was a very hard standard to maintain in the backcountry.

[kolokolo]

I agree that many hikers carry and drink more water than they need to. The important thing to me is to know when being thirsty becomes more than that, and begins to affect my outlook and judgement. So, I think there is some training of the body, but the most important thing is training the mind to recognize when it's time to stop toughing it out, and find some water.

[vamelungeon]

The military used to do this. My father was punished during WWII for drinking water during a march. They have since learned that you just can't "season' yourself to do without water and now they make you drink water, and lots of it. I guess you can train yourself to work through pain and deprivation, but you could do that in other ways. Whatever works for you!

[johnnybgood]

This isn't so cut and dry. Having a long history of kidney stones , trying to abstain from drinking fluids for me is foolish.

[Wise Old Owl]

great answer

[10-K]

Yeah, the more I think about it I think that for me, the bulk of the benefit is just the cultivation of fortitude to push on and keep moving through the discomfort. Part of me is a glutton for punishment I guess given my history of running and my hiking style.

I also think that there has to be some physical benefit to this practice - such as the lactic acid comment above.

And to repeat: I'm not talking about being stupid and hiking until you die of dehydration. I'm talking more along the lines of being able to hike for an hour or so of moderate thirst that really gets your attention.

Good point about the kidney stones. You'd be an idiot to try this with a history of kidney stones.

[PD230SOI]

As I understand you can not train your body, physically, to do without water or other much needed fuels. It just can not be done.

You can train your brain to ignore that little reminder that you are thirsty and I can see how it might, repeat might be useful to know how your body operates when deprived. However the risks involved with finding that edge and training along it without a well trained partner are just too high for a very small gain for the general public make it not worthwhile.

However the bottled water industry has made the general public so fixated on plastic bottles of water I think most people are drinking more water then they need and carrying more water than they must.

My personal guideline is this; if I will be burning more than 1200 calories an hour AND exercising for an hour or more I try and trickle in a liter of water. I do modify this for very hot and/or dry climates.

But this is just my unscientific, personal approach. I drink a ton of water regularly and am in generally good health with no known kidney issues.

[hikerboy57]

"push it when you need to".
what other choice would you have?

[10-K]

"push it when you need to".
what other choice would you have?

Well, you could always lay down and cry.