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Does Fizzy Water "Count"? · MIT - Conversations with MIT Health

• 0:02
  Emily Wade (Host): At MIT, it seems like everyone has an
• 0:04
  emotional support water bottle.
• 0:06
  Campuses full of people toing nail jeans, and Stanley's and awa and Yetis,
• 0:12
  and tracking their ounces on apps and stressing about peak hydration.
• 0:16
  Today we're settling a debate between two friends.
• 0:20
  Do those eight glasses a day count.
• 0:23
  If your water is fizzy like this, if your water is plain and flat and boring,
• 0:29
  is that the only way it'll be actually hydrating you on this episode of Office
• 0:34
  Hours, I'm talking to n Nurse Practitioner Ally Sherwood from MIT Health's primary
• 0:39
  Care Service, and she's gonna help us separate the science from the Seltzer.
• 0:45
  Welcome, Allie.
• 0:46
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Thanks Emily.
• 0:47
  I'm excited to be here to help to settle the debate.
• 0:50
  Emily Wade (Host): Yeah, I, as you can see, I'm, I'm really,
• 0:52
  really invested in this, debate.
• 0:54
  So I'm gonna just get right to the question, dear office hours.
• 0:59
  I love seltzer.
• 1:01
  If water isn't fizzy, I don't want it.
• 1:04
  But a friend just told me that sparkling water doesn't count
• 1:07
  toward those eight glasses of water we're supposed to drink every day.
• 1:10
  They can't be right.
• 1:12
  Right.
• 1:12
  It seems to me that water is water.
• 1:15
  Who is right?
• 1:16
  This is like Judge Judy or something.
• 1:18
  Um, you get to once the verdict Is bubbly water, does that count as water or does
• 1:25
  it, do you have to just have flat water?
• 1:28
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: know, I think our listener is right.
• 1:29
  Water is water, whether it's bubbles or not.
• 1:31
  And when it comes to saying adequately hydrated, sparkling water is
• 1:35
  actually just as good as plain water.
• 1:37
  Emily Wade (Host): Oh, well then I guess we're done here.
• 1:40
  I guess That is a
• 1:43
  pretty short podcast.
• 1:44
  You know, make this like a or something.
• 1:47
  Well.
• 1:50
  Say a little more.
• 1:51
  because I'm, I'm always a person who cannot be on a zoom without
• 1:55
  having like, multiple beverages.
• 1:58
  I was looking here at my coffee what about coffee and tea?
• 2:02
  Because they're diuretics.
• 2:03
  So do they, do they count as a hydration tool?
• 2:08
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: there's a greater truth there that coffee is a
• 2:11
  mild diuretic and caffeine, increases blood flow to the kidneys, and it does
• 2:16
  inhibit the reabsorption of sodium and water, which of course is going
• 2:20
  to promote increase urine production.
• 2:22
  So, in other words, you're gonna pee more when you drink coffee.
• 2:25
  But there's still a lot of liquid in that coffee cup So, It doesn't all
• 2:28
  count, but studies show that the average person retains between one half and
• 2:32
  two-thirds of the fluids consumed when we have the caffeinated beverages.
• 2:36
  Emily Wade (Host): So still it's kind of a net gain.
• 2:39
  So I'm getting like some partial credit here with my cup of morning Joe.
• 2:44
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Yeah.
• 2:45
  I like that.
• 2:46
  So you know, if you're someone that drinks coffee and tea regularly, So National
• 2:50
  Academies of Sciences, which is kind of a big deal, actually lists coffee, tea,
• 2:55
  juices, and even soda as sources that can contribute to our total hydration.
• 3:00
  Emily Wade (Host): This is great.
• 3:00
  So my seltzer counts, my coffee counts, and obviously I'm.
• 3:06
  Not consuming this right now, but, this occurs to me.
• 3:10
  What about alcohol?
• 3:12
  that's a liquid.
• 3:13
  does that count On this hydration chart?
• 3:17
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Excellent question.
• 3:17
  And that's where I think we need to, you know, kind of dive into this
• 3:20
  deeper, because alcohol is a big.
• 3:22
  Exception, to the liquid is the liquid rule, a pin of beer or a glass of wine.
• 3:26
  Even alcohol seltzer is technically a liquid, but alcohol is a much stronger
• 3:31
  diuretic than caffeine, which is why you might make more trips to the
• 3:34
  bathroom when you're out of the bar at a restaurant when you're drinking.
• 3:37
  But alcohol works differently in the body than caffeine does.
• 3:40
  Emily Wade (Host): How so?
• 3:41
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Well, caffeine mildly suppresses the
• 3:44
  reabsorption of sodium water.
• 3:45
  Alcohol, on the other hand, inhibits the production of Vasopressin,
• 3:49
  which is a hormone that tells your kidneys to reabsorb the water
• 3:51
  when it's needed in your body.
• 3:53
  Alcohol switches the signal off, so instead of liquid being reabsorbed
• 3:57
  by your kidneys, your bladder fills up with urine And the end result
• 4:00
  is you have to pee more often.
• 4:03
  Emily Wade (Host): So unlike coffee where you're maybe keeping about like half to
• 4:07
  or two-thirds of the water with alcohol.
• 4:09
  All.
• 4:09
  You might be losing more liquid than you're consuming.
• 4:13
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Exactly.
• 4:14
  It's often a net loss and well, you know, you should feel free to enjoy your coffee
• 4:18
  and seltzer if hydration is the goal.
• 4:20
  Please don't swap out your water bottle for that pine glass.
• 4:24
  Emily Wade (Host): Darn, darn.
• 4:26
  let's go back to the numbers a second.
• 4:28
  we always hear eight glasses a day, And that measurement always stresses me out
• 4:34
  because a glass is not a unit of measure.
• 4:38
  so I'm always like, I don't even know what that means.
• 4:40
  But even so, if I'm counting water and seltzer as full credit and I am
• 4:47
  giving partial credit to coffee and tea, how am I making sure that I am
• 4:52
  sufficiently hydrated during the day,
• 4:55
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: It's a good question and actually that, drink
• 4:56
  eight classes of water a day rule isn't actually as scientific as we
• 5:00
  might like to think for different patient's and different, folks.
• 5:03
  It might be a different quantity, recommended.
• 5:06
  Emily Wade (Host): but it's eight classes a day.
• 5:07
  I feel like it's like everybody.
• 5:13
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: I hear you and I know we all love to play by the rules.
• 5:16
  I love it and, and I, I appreciate the sentiment for sure.
• 5:19
  One thing most people often don't consider is that hydration's not just
• 5:22
  about drinking, it's also about eating.
• 5:24
  So moisture And the foods can account for about 20% of our total water intake.
• 5:28
  When you eat a piece of fruit, a serving of veggies, or some soup,
• 5:32
  you are actually eating your water.
• 5:34
  Emily Wade (Host): So we're getting hydration from our water bottles,
• 5:37
  our coffee break, our meals.
• 5:40
  So like, you can actually maybe have some emotional support soup, and that's
• 5:44
  not, that's still gonna be hydrating.
• 5:48
  is there any harm though?
• 5:49
  I mean, I, you know, it's like I go to the gym sometimes and you'll see
• 5:54
  somebody with like a giant bottle that's like a gallon jug or something.
• 5:58
  is there anything wrong with actually, you know.
• 6:02
  super hydrating, hydrate, maxing.
• 6:05
  If we're using like the
• 6:07
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: The turns.
• 6:08
  Yeah.
• 6:08
  Yeah.
• 6:09
  It's an excellent question for healthy individuals.
• 6:11
  Drinking when you're thirsty and consuming beverages with meals
• 6:13
  is usually enough, to be totally adequate to maintain our hydration.
• 6:17
  Now, I think you bring in the gym question, which is an interesting one,
• 6:20
  which is when we're, when we're exercising and we're losing salt and fluids, we
• 6:23
  do need to be accounting for that.
• 6:25
  But that might be a different podcast.
• 6:27
  Emily Wade (Host): So if you're not breaking a sweat, you don't
• 6:32
  necessarily need to be toting around like that comically, large jug
• 6:36
  of liquid with you at all times.
• 6:39
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: You got it.
• 6:40
  And they're pretty cumbersome for any of us who've tried it.
• 6:43
  Emily Wade (Host): I mean, it's like maybe it's more of a
• 6:44
  bicep workout, but otherwise,
• 6:47
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Again, we'll get into a strength
• 6:48
  training podcast on another day.
• 6:50
  Emily Wade (Host): Yeah.
• 6:51
  that will be like one of our, we'll do that with Get fit or something.
• 6:54
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: I
• 6:55
  Emily Wade (Host): So if we need something to kind of replace that eight
• 6:59
  glasses goal, is there a golden rule?
• 7:02
  do we need a rule at all or is it.
• 7:05
  it's t We need to follow rules.
• 7:07
  Like what?
• 7:10
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: Yeah, it's a good question and, and I think that we wanna
• 7:13
  make sure, that we're not forcing it.
• 7:15
  So aside from feeling bloated, excessive liquid intake can wreak havoc on our
• 7:19
  daily schedule and make us a whole lot less efficient and productive.
• 7:23
  I see patient's who feel guilty that they don't drink the eight glasses a day.
• 7:26
  But the ones who do meet eight glasses a day, often complain of things like
• 7:29
  peeing too much, getting in, distracted at meetings or even peeing in the middle of
• 7:33
  the night, which is going to disrupt the really important piece of sleep hygiene.
• 7:38
  Emily Wade (Host): And sometimes when that happens, like your cat wakes up
• 7:41
  too, And then they want you to feed them, And then, you know, that's, that's
• 7:46
  like a chain of crisis right there.
• 7:48
  So.
• 7:49
  I can definitely, try to adhere to that too, to not, over
• 7:55
  hydrating for those reasons.
• 7:57
  so to recap, our listener is right, which is great news
• 8:02
  for me as a person who hates.
• 8:04
  Just flat water, so I'm thrilled to hear this.
• 8:08
  sparkling water does count and, Your, uh, coffee counts too, but
• 8:13
  maybe don't reach for that white claw that's not gonna hydrate you.
• 8:17
  Even, even if it looks like it maybe has a health halo.
• 8:21
  it really doesn't.
• 8:23
  well This is great.
• 8:24
  This, I feel like Allie, I feel like you've cleared up some confusion for
• 8:28
  us and definitely saved us from some unnecessary trips to the bathroom and
• 8:33
  saved me from having midnight cat attacks.
• 8:36
  So that's.
• 8:36
  That's really great.
• 8:39
  Allison Sherwood, MSN: I'm happy to be here.
• 8:40
  It's been my pleasure and, I think the theme continues to be consistent about
• 8:43
  listening to our body And it's needs.
• 8:45
  Emily Wade (Host): Well, that's great.
• 8:46
  And if you need a clinician who listens to you, like Allie, who is.
• 8:52
  Really good at that.
• 8:53
  our primary care team is always accepting new patient's and
• 8:57
  we're ready to help you thrive.
• 8:58
  You can make appointments online if you have a question for office
• 9:01
  hours, a, big one, a little one, a quirky one, a weird one.
• 9:06
  Visit health.mi.edu/thrive
• 9:10
  and submit your question today.
• 9:12
  And thanks so much for being on this episode of Office Hours.
• 9:15
  Ally.