[HN Gopher] What does it mean to be thirsty?
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       What does it mean to be thirsty?
        
       Author : pseudolus
       Score  : 134 points
       Date   : 2025-08-11 23:03 UTC (23 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.quantamagazine.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.quantamagazine.org)
        
       | JSR_FDED wrote:
       | I have the opposite problem, after one glass of water I feel full
       | and drinking any more makes me nauseous. It's a struggle to get
       | sufficient hydration during the day.
        
         | WalterGR wrote:
         | How many ounces consumed over how many minutes?
        
         | noman-land wrote:
         | Don't drink the whole glass at once?
        
         | jiggawatts wrote:
         | Try adding a rehydrating powder mix, the same stuff they use
         | for treating diarrhoea. It's just salts, glucose, and citric
         | acid. It is hugely more hydrating than plain water, with a much
         | faster onset of feeling relief from intense thirst.
         | 
         | Sports drinks are basically the same thing, but with excess
         | sugars for "energy" (and weight gain).
        
         | pazimzadeh wrote:
         | try carbonated water +/- lemon juice
        
           | ykonstant wrote:
           | A good choice if you have a carbonating machine; just take
           | care of your teeth afterwards, especially if you add lemon
           | juice.
        
             | WA wrote:
             | You gotta clarify what "take care of your teeth afterwards"
             | means, because brushing your teeth after eating lemons is
             | the worst thing you can do. Best thing is to do absolutely
             | nothing.
        
               | ykonstant wrote:
               | Rinse with plenty of water.
        
         | move-on-by wrote:
         | What are your thoughts on cows milk? There are a number of
         | studies suggesting it's better at hydration than plain water
         | regardless of skim vs. whole.
        
         | moi2388 wrote:
         | First off, it doesn't have to be plain water. Secondly, the two
         | liters a day was two liters of moisture, not drinking two
         | liters a day; food is included in this amount
        
           | Steve44 wrote:
           | > food is included in this amount
           | 
           | When my wife was ill a few years ago the doctor suggested
           | Angel Delight[1] to help maintain fluids. Until then it
           | hadn't occurred to me you're still effectively drinking half
           | a pint of milk when you eat a bowl.
           | 
           | [1] It's an instant dessert / mousse that you mix up with
           | milk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Delight
        
       | avalys wrote:
       | I'm so interested in this topic, for a weird reason.
       | 
       | Since I was a kid, I've thought I was "prone to migraines", and
       | ascribed various triggers to them - sun exposure, heat, physical
       | exertion, mental exertion, etc. I'd get a migraine sometimes
       | after a long hike on a weekend - and also a long business meeting
       | entirely indoors in an air-conditioned space.
       | 
       | Only when I was around 35, did I figure something out. All these
       | situations lead to me getting dehydrated without any obvious
       | accompanying feeling of thirst. Hiking all day will do it -
       | walking around an outdoor shopping mall on a hot afternoon - or
       | sitting in an all-day business meeting focused on the work at
       | hand and forgetting to drink. And all these situations lead to a
       | migraine - my only "migraine" trigger is simple dehydration,
       | nothing more complicated.
       | 
       | The weird thing is, it took me a long time (decades) to put this
       | together, because I just figured that I couldn't be dehydrated if
       | I wasn't thirsty, and I had no association between "feeling
       | thirsty" and getting a migraine.
       | 
       | I get what I consider normally thirsty in other circumstances,
       | but somehow there's a failure mode where my body doesn't warn me.
       | So now I just remember to chug lots of water (and electrolytes)
       | if I'm exerting myself even if I don't really feel thirsty, and I
       | can systematically avoid triggering migraines.
       | 
       | Now that I understand it the association is quite clear and
       | obvious in retrospect.
        
         | zeta0134 wrote:
         | You might as well be my dream self writing a journal, because
         | this describes my experience 1:1. It's kindof wild how long it
         | took me to realize that I wasn't overheating at night due to
         | the weather or the A/C being broken, but simply due to needing
         | more water. That's one of my strongest signs as it turns out.
         | 
         | I don't know what "thirst" feels like at all! It's weird
         | because I _do_ feel hunger. If I forget to actually eat, my
         | stomach kicks my brain and refuses to let me concentrate until
         | I fix it. Hydration has no equivalent, and in retrospect, it 's
         | no wonder I was suffering headaches and nausea all through
         | college on my diet of mostly soda. After I switched to water as
         | my primary beverage things improved dramatically, but it's not
         | perfect. I still have to watch the signs and pay attention, or
         | I'll dehydrate myself by simply forgetting to drink.
        
           | tasuki wrote:
           | > I don't know what "thirst" feels like at all! It's weird
           | because I do feel hunger.
           | 
           | (I'm not an expert so take with a grain of salt)
           | 
           | This is it! Your hunger! It's actually thirst! When you're
           | "hungry", try drinking a glass of water first. (Some people
           | use this trick to lose weight, others, to stay hydrated...)
        
         | olup wrote:
         | I can't relate more. I am also prone to ophthalmic migraines
         | and have the same tendency to not be thirsty, to the amazement
         | of the people I usually trek or live with. Only recently (35
         | and a kidney stone) did I gather that I might actually be in
         | need of water even without feelings of thirst. I have never
         | made a connection with migraines, and that might not be it for
         | me but reading you makes me want to pay attention.
        
         | keeda wrote:
         | Maybe a related point is that hangovers, of which headaches are
         | likely the most common symptom, are caused in a large part by
         | dehydration as well as electrolyte imbalance.
        
           | tasuki wrote:
           | A friend of mine always goes around parties and tells
           | everyone to stay hydrated. It always feels completely out of
           | place, and also it's saved me from many hangovers...
        
         | m463 wrote:
         | I just remember reading that adults start to lose their ability
         | to sense thirst.
         | 
         | Wikipedia says 50:
         | 
         |  _In adults over the age of 50 years, the body 's thirst
         | sensation reduces and continues diminishing with age, putting
         | this population at increased risk of dehydration._
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirst#Elderly
        
           | tasuki wrote:
           | Tangential: I remember when I was a kid, adults always told
           | me to drink more. Apparently I never drank enough, but I
           | don't think it's ever caused me any problems. As an adult, I
           | started drinking a lot of water - I drink easily 4 liters a
           | day. Not even sure why. And now I always tell my kid to
           | hydrate...
        
             | benchly wrote:
             | I remember the same. As I approach 50, I do notice that I
             | feel much more tired and mentally foggy when I fail to
             | remember my daily water bottles. I've had to develop
             | specific routines that help me remember to fill/drink my
             | water bottle which goes pretty much everywhere with me. For
             | being such a necessity, it sure is an oddly hard thing to
             | remember to do.
             | 
             | I think adults tell kid-me to drink more water was a way of
             | trying to get me to just develop a habit with it, since
             | they understood the seemingly paradoxical struggle of
             | keeping hydrated at their age.
        
             | TimorousBestie wrote:
             | > As an adult, I started drinking a lot of water - I drink
             | easily 4 liters a day. Not even sure why.
             | 
             | Excessive thirst and urination is a potential symptom of
             | diabetes, might want to get that checked out.
        
           | dghughes wrote:
           | I'm 56 now and I'd agree. I bike in the summer for exercise
           | and I drink while on the go as needed. I always got a
           | headache after exercising. A regular headache not a migraine
           | (never had one).
           | 
           | My discovery was Pedialyte it's meant for children but it's
           | like the adult version or Gatorade. I drink it before I
           | exercise and also drink as needed. I feel normal no headaches
           | not dehydrated.
           | 
           | edit: I also have hypothyroidism so my hypothalamus must also
           | be crap at regulating my thirst maybe?
        
           | williamdclt wrote:
           | It's a big problem for the elderlies, it snowballs into
           | serious issues. Don't feel thirst -> be dehydrated -> UTI ->
           | hospital.
           | 
           | And having to be stay at a hospital for a length of time for
           | any reason is very much Not Good for an elderly person. Other
           | illnesses, muscle atrophy, disorientation, loneliness,
           | cognitive decline...
        
           | walthamstow wrote:
           | If my mum wasn't English she would have shrivelled and died
           | of dehydration many years ago. There's a lot of water in 15
           | daily cups of tea.
        
         | Snacklive wrote:
         | YES YES i get migraines and it's my body saying "Hey you need
         | more water to function you know ?" usually i don't feel any
         | thirst nor hunger, although, i do get hungry more often, but i
         | can last a day without food before my head starts to hurt
        
         | lithocarpus wrote:
         | Same here - there are other feelings than a dry mouth or
         | "feeling thirsty" that tell me I need more water. The slight
         | beginning of a headache for example, or feeling a little bit
         | dizzy, or many other things. I guess I could call these
         | "feeling thirsty" since I now know when I feel these things
         | that I probably need water and that's how I interpret them.
        
         | dazzawazza wrote:
         | When I was in my 20s I realized I had lost the thirst signal. I
         | never felt thirsty. I guessed this was because I lived a
         | comfortable life and I had lost this signal in the noise of
         | modern life.
         | 
         | So I set about deliberately retraining myself. I stopped
         | drinking everything but water (and beer, because life) I'd
         | exercise (and sweat) and then drink water. I retrained my
         | body/mind to savour the pleasantness of drinking water when
         | dehydrated and after a year of conscious effort I more or less
         | recovered the sense of "thirst" and would pre-emptively desire
         | drinking water.
         | 
         | We are pretty simple machines.
        
         | rootsudo wrote:
         | It took me to teenagehood and then finally around the same time
         | did I link it togtether.
         | 
         | Glad to know I'm not the only one and I do wonder how I missed
         | this obvious step. Lately I've been doing electrolytes/water
         | cliche of pocari sweat/etc and it really helps focus, weight,
         | energy, etc.
        
         | arethuza wrote:
         | I used to work for an industrial company that had a lot of
         | plants which, by the nature of the work they did, were often
         | extremely hot - a lot of them had urine colour charts in the
         | toilets to try and warn people about dehydration.
        
         | Pooge wrote:
         | I think I have the same problem. I'm ever dehydrated now, but
         | if I am I can tell something is wrong because my head starts to
         | feel fuzzy (don't even know if it's the right word).
         | 
         | I used to get really bad migraines and a neurologist gave me a
         | prescription. The only time I used it I felt like absolute
         | shit. Never took another one.
         | 
         | Now I always have my 700ml flask with me.
        
         | kruffalon wrote:
         | I'm probably misunderstanding the article or you, but as I
         | understand it you are talking about different things.
         | 
         | The article talks about the proportions between water and
         | sodium, while you are talking about just filling up the tank
         | with both.
         | 
         | I too drink water with sodium (and a few other salts) to
         | relieve oncoming migraines but this has to be something else
         | than the article is talking about.
        
           | kruffalon wrote:
           | Nvm, sitting with it for a bit I realise that when I drink
           | salty water and it relieves my migraine my body needs either
           | salts or water and by giving it both it takes what it needs
           | and gets rid of the other.
        
         | thefz wrote:
         | > I just figured that I couldn't be dehydrated if I wasn't
         | thirsty
         | 
         | When did you last pee and what color?
        
           | SneakyMission wrote:
           | 15 years ago, blue.
        
         | beingfit wrote:
         | > I just figured that I couldn't be dehydrated if I wasn't
         | thirsty
         | 
         | This is what I learned, but from others online. I also learned
         | that sometimes our body/mind may mistake thirst for hunger and
         | we may end up eating some food instead of just drinking water
         | (this is generalizing things a bit). This made me a little more
         | aware of what I think of as hunger signals and I started
         | tracking water intake (other than from food) everyday.
         | 
         | BTW, a tiny nitpick: it's "led", not "lead", when you talking
         | about the past.
        
           | avalys wrote:
           | As a stickler for spelling myself, I had to go back and
           | check. I meant that sentence in the present tense as these
           | situations continue to occur.
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | I had a similar moment of enlightenment when I found out that
         | depressive feelings can be caused by a lack of sleep.
        
           | lemonberry wrote:
           | This 1000x. Anytime I get depressed my first response now is
           | I need more sleep. Not to say that this is the answer for
           | everyone, but yeah, I've noticed the same thing.
        
         | geden wrote:
         | I also discovered that dehydration was a migraine trigger for
         | me. I tend not to get big headaches now but get quite intense
         | visual aura / disturbance.
         | 
         | Interestingly I also discovered that electrolyte supplements
         | were also migraine triggers for me.
         | 
         | Leading me to think that electrolyte imbalance was the actually
         | trigger. Caused by too little water increasing the
         | concentration or added salts increasing it.
         | 
         | I tend not to feel thirst very strongly and think I do often
         | confuse it with hunger.
         | 
         | I pay loose attention to urine colour as a gauge and make sure
         | I drink plenty, kinda robotically when playing sports / walking
         | in heat etc.
        
         | hackitup7 wrote:
         | A quick note for people responding, you might have a mild form
         | of vascular dysregulation or flammer's syndrome. It can
         | manifest as migraines and a decreased sensation of thirst, as
         | well as other symptoms like cold extremities.
         | 
         | Afaik it's pretty harmless in general but it is associated with
         | certain vision issues (normal tension glaucoma). Glaucoma is
         | _irreversible_ but has many treatment options especially if
         | caught early. But you MUST go in for a (fast, cheap, painless)
         | screening to catch it, it 's really hard to detect unless there
         | are issues otherwise. Please consider this if you really are
         | showing a lot of these symptoms.
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammer_syndrome
        
           | a_c wrote:
           | I used to have warm and sweaty hands. Since I picked up
           | bouldering I realised everyone is using chalk but I hardly
           | sweat in my hands (I still sweat). My hands felt colder, and
           | I don't feel thirsty that if I don't drink enough water it
           | triggers headache. Took me quite some time to associate the
           | headache with dehydration. Thanks for the reply. I will try
           | to get myself a check up
        
           | avalys wrote:
           | How interesting!
           | 
           | I have had mild tinnitus my whole life (with no obvious
           | lifestyle cause), and my migraines do often manifest as pain
           | / pressure behind the eyelid. But I don't have any of the
           | myriad other symptoms listed for Flammer syndrome - I sleep
           | fine, my blood pressure is fine, I'm pretty solidly built
           | (not underweight), I don't get cold easily, etc.
           | 
           | It is interesting to consider I might some sort of related
           | disorder, though!
        
         | hansvm wrote:
         | In activities prone to heatstroke, the advice is similar. Even
         | for people with normal thirst detection capabilities, by the
         | time that you realize you're thirsty it's likely too late. You
         | need to be proactive about drinking enough water.
        
         | dkarl wrote:
         | I grew up in a hot climate spending a lot of time outdoors, and
         | I was educated about staying hydrated from a young age.
         | 
         | Still, like you, when I get symptoms of dehydration, I don't
         | feel any intuitive connection with the need to drink, and I
         | often don't feel any urge to drink at all. I have to remind
         | myself to drink even though I don't want to.
         | 
         | It's weird. You'd think something so essential for life would
         | have a better regulator.
        
           | bearl wrote:
           | Notice peeing. That's my hack. It can be used as a
           | dehydration monitor, not just frequency and volume but color
           | especially is informative.
        
             | shagmin wrote:
             | The US military drilled it into my head during boot camp in
             | Texas in the late summer - pay attention to the color.
        
         | jmmv wrote:
         | Hah, same. I recently started getting many more back to back
         | meetings than usual and, by lunchtime, I had a headache most
         | days. It took me a while to realize that, while I'm at my desk,
         | I keep drinking from the huge water bottle that I keep there,
         | but when I go to meetings, I don't. I started carrying the
         | bottle with me (when I remember) and the headaches are gone.
        
         | 1718627440 wrote:
         | When somebody complains about headaches, the first think my
         | family does, and so now do I, is to ask whether you have drank
         | enough. I thought this is common knowledge.
         | 
         | Next things are: sleep, sugar, stress.
        
       | pazimzadeh wrote:
       | Tangentially related, I'm curious to know why it is that proteins
       | are so much more filling than other macronutrients (within
       | minutes)
        
         | lithocarpus wrote:
         | One theory is that the most important nutrient that we really
         | need a certain amount of every day is protein, and thus the
         | body wants us to keep eating until it thinks we've got enough
         | protein. (And for the vegans, I'm not saying meat - even most
         | green plants and mushrooms are about 1/3 protein by dry
         | weight). In nature almost every food has some amount of
         | protein. If you get meat, you don't need to eat that much for
         | your body to have all the protein it needs. If you are eating
         | cake, it will take an awful lot of cake to have an adequate
         | amount of protein.
         | 
         | In evolutionary past, if one had access to fresh fruit it might
         | make sense to eat a lot of it right away since it won't keep,
         | and the sugar in the fruit is easy for the body to store as fat
         | and use later. In nature it's very rare to find a diet with
         | very high fat and low protein but suppose you live by a
         | macadamia tree, you may need to eat a lot of calories worth of
         | macadamias to get enough protein. I have a feeling though that
         | excess fat can go right through you in some cases like that -
         | because there have been times where I was binging on peanut
         | butter, like easily 16-24oz in a day often, like 2-3000
         | calories extra on top of my normal diet, and I didn't gain
         | weight, I think a lot of it went through me undigested.
         | 
         | These are just hypotheses I'm not claiming they are necessarily
         | the reason, and definitely are not the only mechanism involved
         | as it's extremely complex. But they make sense as a simple
         | place to start.
        
           | scythe wrote:
           | >I have a feeling though that excess fat can go right through
           | you in some cases like that - because there have been times
           | where I was binging on peanut butter, like easily 16-24oz in
           | a day often, like 2-3000 calories extra on top of my normal
           | diet, and I didn't gain weight, I think a lot of it went
           | through me undigested.
           | 
           | Nuts, specifically, do this:
           | 
           | https://www.nature.com/articles/0803735
           | 
           | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-
           | of-n...
           | 
           | Peanut butter is usually pretty bioavailable, though. Unless
           | it was particularly coarse (like the kind you get freshly
           | made at an upscale grocer)?
        
             | lithocarpus wrote:
             | Yeah I know chunks of nut can get through undigested but in
             | this case it was creamy peanut butter, "natural" but not
             | crunchy. I wonder if it may have been because of the
             | quantity, that the body was like "nope we don't need all
             | that" or what.
        
           | pazimzadeh wrote:
           | I meant how does the body know I'm eating protein so quickly
           | (almost real-time)
        
         | scythe wrote:
         | I thought this was because the protein can (partially)
         | neutralize stomach acid. Proteins contain an amino group which
         | can be protonated; carbohydrates and fats do not.
        
       | rr808 wrote:
       | So dumb to see office workers sipping all day on their gallon
       | water bottles, while outside the workers in the sun on the
       | construction site taking the occasional sip.
        
         | dataflow wrote:
         | > So dumb to see office workers sipping all day on their gallon
         | water bottles, while outside the workers in the sun on the
         | construction site taking the occasional sip.
         | 
         | Dumb? People can't just drink their darn water as much as they
         | please without getting judged now? What's your point?
        
           | dgan wrote:
           | not the OP but: it's fairly obvious that those office workers
           | force themselves, so you can't say "as much as they please",
           | otherwise they d stop 3 liters earlier. So yes, you will be
           | judged.
           | 
           | It looks pretty dumb.
        
             | 613style wrote:
             | Why are you monitoring your colleagues' water intake?
        
               | dgan wrote:
               | because he s in front of me and i have eyes ?
        
               | quesera wrote:
               | Perhaps he has a renal function issue.
               | 
               | Perhaps he has a familial history of same and is
               | acclimated to drinking more water than you are
               | comfortable with.
               | 
               | Perhaps he just enjoys drinking water. I do. As cold as
               | possible. Kaltes Klares Vasser.
               | 
               | Regardless, ain't none o' yr dang bidness.
        
               | Toorkit wrote:
               | Cold Clear Vater
        
               | quesera wrote:
               | Hah, quite.
               | 
               | I only cosplay Deutscher Sprecher.
               | 
               | Most of my German linguistic skills come from listening
               | to Chicks on Speed.
        
               | 1718627440 wrote:
               | > Kaltes Klares Vasser
               | 
               | If that was supposed to be German for "cold clear water"
               | that's "kaltes klares Wasser" and we don't capitalize
               | adjectives.
        
             | moi2388 wrote:
             | I drink water throughout the day and I most certainly don't
             | force myself. The fuck are you talking about?!
        
               | guappa wrote:
               | I'm sure he also goes to strangers in bars who don't
               | order manly drinks and informs them they are not
               | heterosexuals.
        
           | aredox wrote:
           | It is still weird to see the health fad/moral panic/potomania
           | in the US, about "drinking enough water". This is a
           | borderline mania, that doesn't exist in other countries-
           | including ones with hot climates.
           | 
           | https://www.menshealth.com/health/a60249105/how-much-
           | water-t...
           | 
           | https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/do-americans-drink-
           | mo...
           | 
           | https://www.delicious.com.au/drinks/article/why-we-so-
           | obsess...
           | 
           | https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/waterlogged-
           | america-d...
           | 
           | https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/08/drinking-.
           | ..
           | 
           | https://archive.ph/Y0W7e
           | 
           | No, you are not "chronically dehydrated". The rest of the
           | world isn't, and you wouldn't be either if you drank "only"
           | two liters a day instead of a full gallon.
           | 
           | This is one more symptom of that "freethinking" country that
           | falls for every con.
        
             | Steve44 wrote:
             | We had an office worker who became obsessed about
             | dehydrating, undoubtedly after watching too much social
             | media. She carried the bottle everywhere.
             | 
             | She arrived at work one day in a state of panic because her
             | water bottle spilt in the car and she was terrified of
             | becoming dehydrated during her 15 minute commute.
             | 
             | And no, there wasn't anything medically wrong with her.
        
               | lblume wrote:
               | > And no, there wasn't anything medically wrong with her.
               | 
               | Do you mean physically? The behavior surely sounds
               | compulsive...
        
               | ziml77 wrote:
               | It might come across that way, but the way hydration is
               | talked about on social media makes that level of fear a
               | completely reasonable response.
        
               | 1718627440 wrote:
               | Self-trained mental illness is still mental illness.
        
             | nlawalker wrote:
             | My theory is that the water obsession, protein obsession,
             | "micro-exercise" fads like weighted vests and a lot of
             | other similar trends are primarily just all about appetite
             | control and "hacking" weight loss.
        
           | PeterStuer wrote:
           | I think it is more a comment about the insane size some of
           | those beverage containers grew to over the years.
           | 
           | Some of them do indeed look like you could take a bath in
           | them.
           | 
           | Then again, maybe their colleagues are using those as stealth
           | biceps curl weights and are actually secret gym rats trapped
           | at a desk.
        
         | NoPicklez wrote:
         | How is that dumb? It could be that the construction workers are
         | in fact dehydrated if that's the case
         | 
         | In my experience construction site workers have even larger
         | jugs of water to drink.
        
         | poemxo wrote:
         | I see blue collar workers carrying big hydroflasks all the
         | time, I'm guessing they drink even more water.
        
         | Pooge wrote:
         | In all offices I worked in, less than 10% had their own water
         | bottle. The others barely drank 2 cups per day. They go to the
         | toilet at most twice per workday.
         | 
         | Baffling.
        
         | cedws wrote:
         | People have this weird idea that you must drink a certain
         | amount of fluid per day or be reminded to drink every so often.
         | Like no, if you need water, you will be thirsty. If you feel
         | the need to drink then drink, it's not complicated.
        
           | geden wrote:
           | Well clearly it is complicated as this comment thread shows.
           | Many people don't feel thirst because of age or other reasons
           | or confuse thirst with hunger.
        
         | mschuster91 wrote:
         | Back when I worked in heavy construction (aka, trench digging
         | for telcos) I went through about six liters of soda a day when
         | it was hot outside. And no, I was not diabetic, I was just very
         | intensively working out!
         | 
         | The problem is, too many people in construction don't give a
         | shit about their bodies. Corporate greed, incompetent/uncaring
         | bosses, toxic masculinity, plain old incompetence and/or people
         | "set in their ways"... these are the guys you see at age 50
         | with their spines shot, skin crumbling (or outright cancering
         | out) and a plethora of health issues.
        
       | dgan wrote:
       | i can't stop eating the salt cristals before eating the lunch
        
       | The_Blade wrote:
       | [?] Quanta Thirst
        
       | defyonce wrote:
       | I am piloting a super sophisticated mech that is a literal home
       | (primordial soup) for other tiny specs that cooperate together.
       | 
       | And more and more I ask this question. Why? There is only
       | recursive answer, to copy itself, so the copy could continue
       | piloting.
       | 
       | It is poetic and really weird.
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | They should make an anime series about that.
        
           | trenchpilgrim wrote:
           | They could call it "Diffusion Dave", or maybe "Jobs for
           | Cells"
        
         | card_zero wrote:
         | I am "fastened to a dying animal", at least you're proud of
         | your fancy mech.
        
       | cobbzilla wrote:
       | I recently learned that the inverse of thirst is called
       | hyponatremic craving. This is when you have too much water and
       | your body craves salt.
       | 
       | It ought to have a better word! "I'm feeling salty" doesn't work!
        
         | Jarmsy wrote:
         | That was one part of the article I found questionable- "If the
         | body needs salt, those chips will cause a surge of pleasurable
         | dopamine to flood the brain. If the body doesn't need salt,
         | that dopamine drip disappears"
         | 
         | Surely this second part is false? Most of us have got used to
         | high levels of salt in modern diets, and prefer the taste of
         | salty things even when we've had way more sodium than we need.
        
       | cwmoore wrote:
       | Breaking and hauling concrete patios in the Florida sunshine, I
       | learned to take a couple of salt tablets with my gallon or two of
       | water per shift to prevent incapacitating symptoms of thirst.
       | Gatorade was both not enough electrolytes and the sugar spike too
       | quickly dissipated. On the flipside, distilled water strips
       | excess ions.
        
         | mayama wrote:
         | Same here. On recent Indian trips, I got hit with mild nausea
         | after sweating in summer weather. I couldn't believe I wasn't
         | able to go around like I used to few years ago. Had to bring
         | along mildly salted water and take couple of sips now and then.
        
       | porridgeraisin wrote:
       | This article reminded me to go drink water, I had forgotten.
        
       | prometheus76 wrote:
       | "However, animals like us do not experience salt desire as a
       | powerful, controlling drive as we do with oxygen, food and
       | water." (from the article).
       | 
       | I disagree with that, especially when I was young. I would crave
       | salt. I would lick my hand and sprinkle salt on it, then lick the
       | salt off. I would break chunks off the salt lick block we had for
       | our horses. I would lick the homemade play-doh my mom would make
       | because it tasted like salt.
       | 
       | There's no substantiation for the claim in the article that we
       | lack a salt craving. Apparently, the author hasn't, but I know a
       | lot of people that do.
        
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       (page generated 2025-08-12 23:02 UTC)