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The health recommendation to drink six to eight glasses of water a day is "thoroughly debunked nonsense," a doctor wrote this week in a commentary in the British Medical Journal.
Many health departments and organizations tout the need to drink that much water every day, but there is no high-quality scientific evidence to support the recommendation, wrote Dr. Margaret McCartney, a general practitioner based in Scotland.
Some organizations backed by bottled-water makers -- such as Hydration for Health, created by the makers of Volvic and Evian -- say that it's important to drink 1.5 to 2 liters (about 6 to 8 cups) of water a day, and that being even mildly dehydrated plays a role in disease development, McCartney wrote.
However, no such claims have ever been confirmed in studies, she said, and drinking too much water can actually be dangerous by causing low blood sodium levels (a condition called hyponatraemia) and exposing people to pollutants in the water.
"People still think that we're all going to die or our kidneys will shrivel up if we don't drink eight cups of water a day," McCartney told Postmedia News. "From what I can see, there's never been any evidence in the medical literature about it."
The first recommendation to drink six to eight glasses of water a day has been traced back to a 1945 U.S. research paper, but even that isn't for certain, Postmedia News reported.
The Guardian reported that humans' thirst mechanisms are so sophisticated that if our bodies are in need of water, they'll let us know by making us thirsty.
18 hours ago (6:59 PM)
Whenever I really want a beer I have one or three or six. I drink water in between and afterward.
18 hours ago (6:54 PM)
"The first rule is that whenever I really, really want a beer, I have to drink a quart of water first. If I still want the beer, fine, I can have it. Same for when I "just feel like" eating something."
That’s a good thing to do. I do it too (though not as consistently as I should). It definitely works.
18 hours ago (6:43 PM)
Yes, I have always read that thirst is a lagging indicator, hunger is a very quick and over responsive indicator.
18 hours ago (6:32 PM)
I don’t care what they say. Since I started watching my hydration, I feel better, have more energy and have started losing weight.
I don’t count volume I just have a few rules that I follow since I learned that most humans have such a poor sense of thirst that they think they are hungry when they are really dehydrated.
The first rule is that whenever I really, really want a beer, I have to drink a quart of water first. If I still want the beer, fine, I can have it. Same for when I "just feel like" eating something.
3 hours ago (9:34 AM)
Proper hydration is very important in weight loss. When the body is dehydrated it will not burn fat and you will not lose any weight. It’s the same concept as eating too few calories, basically. The body thinks it’s in danger of dying and goes into wacky mode, holding onto every drop of water that it can.
18 hours ago (6:33 PM)
I drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day and have felt no "ill effects." In fact I think it has helped in my personal weight loss of over 20 lbs by flushing out any excess fat or sodium in my system.
3 hours ago (9:32 AM)
Yes, water intoxication can kill you very quickly.
18 hours ago (6:38 PM)
One guy I know who used to be a prison guard told me that some prisoners would get "drunk" by drinking extreme amounts of water. Sounds dangerous.
18 hours ago (6:59 PM)
I quit smoking 15 years ago but still funny
18 hours ago (6:59 PM)
omg hilarious.….
18 hours ago (6:57 PM)
this is always cute —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMzjJjuxQI&feature=related
18 hours ago (6:38 PM)
Doctors used to smoke in their offices as well. Some folks never learn.
3 hours ago (9:31 AM)
Pasta is mostly water? Well, that’s news to me! Pasta is COOKED in water, but if you’ve ever made pasta you’d know… there’s no water in it!
8 hours ago (4:36 AM)
How do u have so many friends with only 48 comments? Amazing. Just wondering.
17 hours ago (7:20 PM)
And eight glasses was given as a maximum; for example, for people who labored in hot weather and perspired a lot.
18 hours ago (7:00 PM)
Bingo. Then the health faddists revived the total as water only and you can’t get them to shut up about it.
18 hours ago (6:41 PM)
Old news. Even the original research was based on TOTAL water intake…which would include the water that’s in food and even in soda or beer. Many fruits are mostly water, as are many pastas, etc.
18 hours ago (6:41 PM)
I think this doctor is thirsty for some fame. It is such a petty claim. I drink some eight glasses of water a day and I somehow feel healthier inside when I do than when I don’t.
17 hours ago (7:24 PM)
Maybe this is the reason why 10% of Americans have type 2 diabetes because they mindlessly drink too many Big Gulps and not enough water? ; )
18 hours ago (6:52 PM)
If that old lol. People who say "what did people do before {insert whatever modern invention or discovery)
People are incredibly clueless..
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If you put every nutritioni
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Fanned for the name and the comment.
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Well, this is America so I’m sure 3 Mountain Dew Big Gulps will suffice for proper hydration.
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Slurrpees.
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