Dehydration's role in learning and memory
57 points
by hhs
3 days ago
| 4 comments
| cshl.edu
| HN
riffraff
5 hours ago
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The more I age the more important hydration turns out to be. Gastric issues, joint pain, blood pressure, weight problems, kidney stones, bad breath, constipation.. and now brain issues too?

Do yourself a favor, and start drinking a ton of water!

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rambrrest
1 hour ago
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Not too sure - an overload of water can actually be dangerous i think.
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deviation
37 minutes ago
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Jumping in here with relevant experience - because you're absolutely right.

In 8th grade (~16 years ago) my substitute biology teacher organised a "Water drinking competition" poised to elevate our understanding of stomach capacity, etc.

Two of us went to hospital, and ~5 (including myself) had to take multiple days off of school and recover.

It's very dangerous. He lost his job.

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suprjami
27 minutes ago
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There was a lady who died from the same thing:

https://abcnews.com/GMA/jury-rules-radio-station-jennifer-st...

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uxhacker
20 minutes ago
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It’s actually dependent on your individual biology and the environment that you are in.

You need more hydration in hot climates than in cold damp ones. Also your activity influences how much hydration you need.

Ps I don’t think the article is about how much water you drink. (Edited to make the last sentence clearer)

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coldtea
12 minutes ago
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Only if it gets ridiculous. Like after a marathon drinking a gallon on the spot (and dying from it).

Drink 2-4lt a day and you'll be fine.

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alexwwang
2 hours ago
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3 liters everyday actually to keep muscle and brain work properly.
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k__
2 hours ago
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200ml every waking hour?

Seems excessive.

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wiseowise
1 hour ago
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It’s a glass of water an hour. Hardly excessive.
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riffraff
1 hour ago
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it's a matter of habit. 3l of liquids per day is what various doctors in different (european) countries have recommended me over the years.
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0xEF
1 hour ago
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Are we sure this is not just harmless and arbitrary information being parroted? Do we have verifiable sources other that anecdote? I find it hard to believe that there is just a single value for water intake across the massive biological spectrum that is humanity and expect to see a range when this conversation comes up. You're also getting water from foods, which I am sure is not being accounted for. Reminds me of the 10k steps a day that just happened to be "correct enough" to be believed and acted on. The truth is much more nuanced and depends on a number of factors in a person's physical health.

Without concrete verifiable findings, the best we can do is learn to pay attention to our bodies and drink maybe a little bit more water than we think we need to.

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throwthrowuknow
24 minutes ago
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I’ve always been extremely suspicious of constant water consumption. No other mammal seems to do this. Even the ones that require a lot of water like horses will only drink when they’re thirsty or while eating.
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solumunus
1 hour ago
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A few big sips.
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usrbinbash
1 hour ago
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Why
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gib444
4 hours ago
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> start drinking a ton of water!

But not too much as you don't want water poisoning!

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layer8
3 hours ago
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A ton is definitely too much.
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etiam
2 hours ago
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... at any given moment.
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BiteCode_dev
4 hours ago
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7 litters...
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HlessClaudesman
3 hours ago
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...Not that much... 3ish liters spread out over the day is good. Too much water will strip your body of electrolytes and salt.

I recently upped my water intake and can report that my skin and mood feel better. I caffeinate with a strong coffee and 2 cups of tea in the morning, and around 12 I switch to pint glasses of water every 2 hours or so until 6-7 o'clock.

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sevenzero
3 hours ago
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Yea 2.5-3l seems to be the proper amount. Only drawback is having to pee every 30 minutes.
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dotancohen
3 hours ago
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That's an advantage - it means you're not sitting e.g. at a computer monitor and keyboard for too long. Getting up twice an hour (to pee or not) greatly reduces the potential for ergonomic harm that desk jobs - especially computer use -are known for.
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sevenzero
2 hours ago
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Fair :D I walk everywhere anyway so I think I'm good in that regard
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HlessClaudesman
2 hours ago
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Bug == Feature
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solumunus
1 hour ago
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If you're peeing that much then evidently your body is not using all that water you're consuming. Either it's more than you need, or you're lacking in electrolytes and should increase electrolyte intake alongside the water.
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Gigachad
1 hour ago
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Your body doesn’t use up water turning it in to nothing. You are meant to pee out what isn’t lost to sweat.
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nobodywillobsrv
3 hours ago
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Please correct me if wrong but this has almost nothing to do with broad human dehydration or hydration.

I think it is an interesting finding and it would be interesting to hear more about the implications from someone in the field.

I only broadly understand this is some kind of peeking behind the curtain of some process that was not fully understood before

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jdblair
2 hours ago
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"Dehydration" in this article is the chemical process of separating magnesium atoms from water molecules. It is not about drinking enough water.

Most of the comments here are based on the title alone. Like always.

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visika
50 minutes ago
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Exactly, when I read the article the first thing I thought is "why is this on hacker news??"
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jeejay1
1 hour ago
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You are correct, title is wrong. Blame this communicator. It feels that the person that wrote the text lacks understanding of chemistry or oversimplified too much. More appropriate term for removal of water around an ion is “desolvation”.
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wavemode
15 minutes ago
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No, dehydration is the common term when it's specifically water that's being removed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration_reaction

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irjustin
5 hours ago
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On an absolute tangent, every kid today has a water bottle. It's a constant priority for us when we leave the house, and when we arrive at the destination, it's "stack yours with the rest of the kids'".

I never had a water bottle growing up. Was I just constantly dehydrated? Seems like it.

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oidar
4 hours ago
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Some schools don’t allow children to leave the classroom to get a drink of water unless it’s at recess or between classes. So that’s why they carry water bottles nowadays.
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layer8
3 hours ago
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Kids aren’t allowed to go to the toilet in the middle of a class?

Though I don’t remember not being allowed to drink something between class breaks ever being a problem growing up. Classes aren’t that long.

The other thing is that we mostly only had glass bottles back then, so of course kids wouldn’t carry those around.

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filchermcurr
2 hours ago
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Progress! When I was in school we weren't allowed to leave class OR have a water bottle. If you had food... good luck, that was like the worst school crime for some reason.
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bflesch
3 hours ago
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Leaving the classroom to pee was frowned upon during lessons, and during breaks obviously there was a queue.
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riffraff
5 hours ago
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Same for us.

I think as kids were were indeed constantly thirsty when playing in the streets, but on family trips my mom would have a big water container, so maybe it's just a kids/parents split.

What baffles me is the rise of water bottles in school, we just went to drink from the bathroom faucet when I was a kid.

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bokkies
4 hours ago
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Yep, or the hose that was being used to water the playing field. Ah the sweet taste of pfas on a hot summers day
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gib444
4 hours ago
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It is compensation for all the sugar, caffeine and UPF causing dehydration IMO. And aircon perhaps.

People in Spain, Portugal, Italy etc don't carry 2 gallon water bottles everywhere.

The ones who have better diets are just going along with the crowd (though not necessarilyin better shape), using the oversized pacifier to signal they're healthy ("people who exercise have water bottles. Therefore I must show off a water bottle")

And kids are products of the parents

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senectus1
5 hours ago
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yeah same here. Also my wife drinks at least 3 liters a day... I think I'd struggle to stomach more than a liter of liquid on a normal day. (not counting hard work or hot weather.)
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6510
5 hours ago
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One can get used to quite strange life styles. One could be very active, drink nothing but coffee and alcohol. If they feel a bit sluggish thats just normal. If one gets used to being sluggish (from any deficiency) fixing it might make sleeping difficult or one ends up working harder than one should. If the job is a mindless grind gaining mental clarity might feel terrible.
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senectus1
5 hours ago
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hmmm food for thought.
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