I often see on the Net the recommendation to drink 8 glasses of water a
day. On another mailing list they are now talking about 8-10 glasses a day.
I would think one should only drink when they are thirsty. As one that
looks to our ancestors for answers, I find it hard to believe Paleolithic
people consumed this much, especially as the only containers they might
have had is animal bladders.

Has anybody done research into this? Is it possible that eating Neolithic
foods increases the need for water? But there is the argument that someone
on a high protein diet needs more water. A paleo diet would have been
higher protein.

When do modern hunter/gatherer populations drink water? On this other list
the argument is to drink plenty of water between meals, but little with the
meal. They say too much water will dilute the hydrochloric acid and food
will not digest properly. If HGs didn't have bladders filled with water, I
can see them not drinking water with meals, as they would have to go to the
stream or pond to drink.

There are even books that claim drinking water cures all sorts of pains and
degenerative diseases, e.g. stress-induced peptic ulcer disease,
hypertension, and arthritis. But these are civilizatory diseases.

Don.