6 ms·

Dehydration's role in learning and memory

82 points by hhs 5mo ago

irjustin 5mo ago
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.
- senectus1 5mo ago
  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.)
- riffraff 5mo ago
  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.
  - bokkies 5mo ago
    Yep, or the hose that was being used to water the playing field. Ah the sweet taste of pfas on a hot summers day
- 6510 5mo ago
  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.
- gib444 5mo ago
  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
- oidar 5mo ago
  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.
  - bflesch 5mo ago
    Leaving the classroom to pee was frowned upon during lessons, and during breaks obviously there was a queue.
  - layer8 5mo ago
    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.
  - filchermcurr 5mo ago
    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.
- Arodex 5mo ago
  >Was I just constantly dehydrated? Seems like it. No you weren't. It is a health fad, a mania. https://abcnews.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-america-drink/story?id=14054401 https://abcnews.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-america-drin...
senectus1 5mo ago
hmmm food for thought.
riffraff 5mo ago
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!
- gib444 5mo ago
  > start drinking a ton of water! But not too much as you don't want water poisoning!
  - BiteCode_dev 5mo ago
    7 litters...
    - HlessClaudesman 5mo ago
      ...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.
      - sevenzero 5mo ago
        Yea 2.5-3l seems to be the proper amount. Only drawback is having to pee every 30 minutes.
        dotancohen 5mo ago
        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.
        5mo ago
nobodywillobsrv 5mo ago
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
- jdblair 5mo ago
  "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.
- jeejay1 5mo ago
  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”.
  - wavemode 5mo ago
    No, dehydration is the common term when it's specifically water that's being removed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration_reaction
    - jeejay1 4mo ago
      You are referencing to another thing. Desolvation and dehydration are not the same thing. Please google the difference between them. The title describes desolvation
- visika 5mo ago
  Exactly, when I read the article the first thing I thought is "why is this on hacker news??"
OutOfHere 5mo ago
Drink water until the color of your urine is clear. Once it is, there is no benefit to drinking more.
Melatonic 5mo ago
Honestly I don't get why we don't educate more on how to manage water consumption and hydration. It's highly situation dependent and both about listening to your body (natural thirst) and pre emptively anticipating water needs. If you are going on a multi day backpacking trip in the desert you are going to be consuming a lot more water than sitting at your computer in an air conditioned office reading HN. And you also are going to need to be very cognisant of consuming adequate amounts of electrolytes (particularly magnesium and salt). You also would be wise to "camel up" at least a bit beforehand to make sure you are at peak hydration at the beginning (and of course anticipate carrying enough water with you or knowing potential water sources you can filter from). People who are into running also become aware of this and those who do any activity in extremely cold and dry environments. In addition most people have a base level of water loss (even while sleeping) through your skin that varies but is I believe around a half liter (specifically 400ml or 14 fl oz) per 24 hours. This is not the typical sweat out of your armpits from being a bit too hot - it's known as "insensible perspiration". Water management is a very valuable skill and much more valuable than just trying to have some blanket "liters per day" recommendation. And getting water from your food is never a bad idea either !
type0 4mo ago
Dehydration on molecular level is not the same as dehydration on physiological level. Their research doesn't make this connection so personnel publishing news releases shouldn't draw their own conclusions either.

82 points by hhs 5mo ago

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.

senectus1 5mo ago
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.)
riffraff 5mo ago
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.
- bokkies 5mo ago
  Yep, or the hose that was being used to water the playing field. Ah the sweet taste of pfas on a hot summers day
6510 5mo ago
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.
gib444 5mo ago
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
oidar 5mo ago
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.
- bflesch 5mo ago
  Leaving the classroom to pee was frowned upon during lessons, and during breaks obviously there was a queue.
- layer8 5mo ago
  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.
- filchermcurr 5mo ago
  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.
Arodex 5mo ago
>Was I just constantly dehydrated? Seems like it. No you weren't. It is a health fad, a mania. https://abcnews.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-america-drink/story?id=14054401 https://abcnews.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-america-drin...

senectus1 5mo ago

hmmm food for thought.

riffraff 5mo ago

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!

gib444 5mo ago
> start drinking a ton of water! But not too much as you don't want water poisoning!
- BiteCode_dev 5mo ago
  7 litters...
  - HlessClaudesman 5mo ago
    ...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.
    - sevenzero 5mo ago
      Yea 2.5-3l seems to be the proper amount. Only drawback is having to pee every 30 minutes.
      - dotancohen 5mo ago
        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.
        5mo ago

nobodywillobsrv 5mo ago

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

jdblair 5mo ago
"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.
jeejay1 5mo ago
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”.
- wavemode 5mo ago
  No, dehydration is the common term when it's specifically water that's being removed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration_reaction
  - jeejay1 4mo ago
    You are referencing to another thing. Desolvation and dehydration are not the same thing. Please google the difference between them. The title describes desolvation
visika 5mo ago
Exactly, when I read the article the first thing I thought is "why is this on hacker news??"

OutOfHere 5mo ago

Drink water until the color of your urine is clear. Once it is, there is no benefit to drinking more.

Melatonic 5mo ago

Honestly I don't get why we don't educate more on how to manage water consumption and hydration. It's highly situation dependent and both about listening to your body (natural thirst) and pre emptively anticipating water needs. If you are going on a multi day backpacking trip in the desert you are going to be consuming a lot more water than sitting at your computer in an air conditioned office reading HN. And you also are going to need to be very cognisant of consuming adequate amounts of electrolytes (particularly magnesium and salt). You also would be wise to "camel up" at least a bit beforehand to make sure you are at peak hydration at the beginning (and of course anticipate carrying enough water with you or knowing potential water sources you can filter from). People who are into running also become aware of this and those who do any activity in extremely cold and dry environments. In addition most people have a base level of water loss (even while sleeping) through your skin that varies but is I believe around a half liter (specifically 400ml or 14 fl oz) per 24 hours. This is not the typical sweat out of your armpits from being a bit too hot - it's known as "insensible perspiration". Water management is a very valuable skill and much more valuable than just trying to have some blanket "liters per day" recommendation. And getting water from your food is never a bad idea either !

type0 4mo ago

Dehydration on molecular level is not the same as dehydration on physiological level. Their research doesn't make this connection so personnel publishing news releases shouldn't draw their own conclusions either.