The Hydration Sweet Spot - Importance of Aquaporins
Clinical laboratory science: journal of the American Society for Medical Technology
29(3):186-193 · September 2016
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... AquaporinsHow Much Water do we Need?
Because water is essential to life, evolutionary pressures to maintain water balance and preserve osmolality are encoded within the DNA of all vertebrates (and some invertebrate) species.52 The amount of water that each individual needs at any given time, in any situation, is centrally dictated in real-time by linear alterations in the physiological sensation of thirst in response to often subtle changes in plasma osmolality.5,6 The more water that the body needs, the thirstier animals become (and vice versa).5 The dire consequences associated with both underdrinking and overdrinking have been sensationalized and are rare. However, misguided drinking (not in response to thirst) can have fatal consequences if unexpected variables (heat, stress, infection, drugs, getting lost in the desert or at sea) exceed maximum compensatory capabilities associated with habitual tendencies (often from well- intentioned advice). Therefore, hydration advice should be simple: drink to thirst. Any overshoot or under-replacement of fluid will be continuously corrected, without conscious thought, by millions of renal aquaporin channels shuttling in and out of luminal kidney collecting duct cells, as orchestrated by vasopressin. So, why not trust in our physiology?