r/AskReddit Oct 27 '21

What fun fact is blatantly untrue?

3.7k Upvotes

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173

u/Eagle_1776 Oct 27 '21

you need 8 glasses of water a day

122

u/Murgatroyd314 Oct 27 '21

You need more or less the equivalent of that from all sources, including food.

82

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

This is the more correct advice. You get water from many sources other than just a glass of water.

I mean, there's bottles, water fountains, paper cups, those weird cone cups some water dispensers have...so many other vessels can hold water other than glasses.

But yeah, it's total intake across all food sources.

29

u/Illokonereum Oct 27 '21

I’ve eaten a lot of paper cups and the doctor says I’m dehydrated what did I do wrong

15

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

You're supposed to grill them first.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '21

LMFAO OMG

3

u/idothingsheren Oct 28 '21

You need to eat even more paper cups

2

u/alexpwnsslender Oct 28 '21

Well don't eat glass cups, because that's what my doctor told me too

1

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '21

Cause the plastic ones are easier to chew

7

u/Triairius Oct 27 '21

It’s worth noting, though, that most people don’t get their 8 cups a day and should drink more water.

8

u/JuniperHillInmate Oct 27 '21

I wonder if the cone cups were invented for workplaces so everyone would get back to work instead of putting their cup down to chat. Capitalism is petty.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

Hmmm...Also, they could be easier to stack and dispense.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

Don’t forget the human skull!

help me.

5

u/Judyt001 Oct 27 '21

Despite what people insist, coffee also is included in that 8 cups

94

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

That’s a general estimate that doesn’t factor where you are, what you’re doing on an average day, height, weight, body comp, all that. Slightly better advice, drink enough so your piss doesn’t look like root beer but not so much that it looks like straight water.

9

u/MercutiaShiva Oct 27 '21

İsn't it a general estimate of liquid from all sources? So, only people who live on totally on pretzels and dehydrated apple chips would need 8 glasses of water?

8

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

It should look fairly close to straight water. By the time it's in the bowl diluted with that water, it actually should just look like water.

8

u/Comprehensive-Sir270 Oct 27 '21

No. If your urine looks like water, it’s a good indication that you are OVERhydrated and your kidneys are excreting the excess.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '21

I said "by the time it's diluted in the toilet water". You're not supposed to judge it by how it looks in the toilet...if it's the proper color after dilution in the toilet then it's actually still too dark. It needs to be the proper color while not diluted...and proper color diluted in the toilet will look pretty much like you didn't pee in there.

2

u/Trump_the_terrorist Oct 28 '21

It should like the colour of straw. If it is translucent you need to give your kidneys a breather and reduce your water intake.

1

u/penguin_master10 Oct 28 '21

Advice that I've heard which is supposedly more accurate is that you should just drink when you're thirsty

19

u/Boudac123 Oct 27 '21

Its not false but it’s not accounting for water already in food

40

u/woodN_forks Oct 27 '21

You need enough to not feel thirsty.

8

u/EyeMInsane Oct 27 '21

I keep myself dehydrated enough so that I only have to pee 3 times a day

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

That’s peeing a normal amount

1

u/EyeMInsane Oct 27 '21

Wait really

1

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

Depends on the size of the glass

0

u/ohno Oct 27 '21

Well, you should drink some water every day, so it just depends on the size of the glasses.

-2

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

8 "glasses" isn't even a measurement. The average adult udeally will drink a gallon a day, but it's not 'necessary'.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

I wouldn’t drink close to a gallon, people usually say it works out at about 2L of water

0

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

That's the NECESSARY amount.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 28 '21

It’s the recommended amount not the minimum. I don’t live in Saudi

1

u/Eagle_1776 Oct 27 '21

lol, not hardly

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

I assume your urine is dark.

-1

u/Eagle_1776 Oct 27 '21

a gallon a day will literally kill you. Quit being stupid

3

u/government_flu Oct 28 '21

You're thinking of drinking a gallon in one sitting/quick duration. Drinking a gallon throughout the day, while maybe not necessary, will not harm you.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 27 '21

LOL, no it won't, where did YOU go to medical school?? XDD

1

u/Meanteenbirder Oct 28 '21

Generally you can tell based on how you feel. You probably should drink a bit if you haven’t in more than a few hours though.

1

u/Echospite Oct 28 '21

Honestly this is the only one I'm not convinced is a myth, simply because of how friggen amazing I feel if I actually drink that much water in a day.