Research Debunks Health Value of Guzzling Water

[Ordr]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The notion that guzzling glasses of water to flood yourself with good health is all wet, researchers said on Wednesday.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb and Dr. Dan Negoianu of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reviewed the scientific literature on the health effects of drinking lots of water.

People in hot, dry climates and athletes have an increased need for water, and people with certain diseases do better with increased fluid intake, they found. But for average healthy people, more water does not seem to mean better health, they said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0236679720080402

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Studies like this seem to come out every five years only to be refuted by another one.
The cycle continues :).

[kestrel91316]

1. This CORRECT medical assessment of our water intake needs has never been "refuted".

The original claim was not backed by any hard science.

Water intake needs do not necessarily equate with DRINKING GLASSES OF WATER. Food is mostly water; and we have kidneys, too, which when working properly hang onto water rather than pissing it away (that's their job).

The drive to drink is based on the sodium concentration of the blood (which generally equates with hydration status). So if you drink when thirsty, you will be fine. Obviously, increased losses due to heat/exertion/sweating/fever etc mean more intake is needed.

Too much water intake, BTW, can wash the solutes out of the kidneys and cause death. It happens.

[Emillereid]

4. I think the hype about drinking massive amounts of water corresponds to the advent

of bottled water. Almost everyone seems to have a water bottle on them at all times.

One iconoclastic doctor William Douglass has been calling out the water nuts for years.

[pattmarty]

7. I always laugh when I constantly see people with the.........

....bottled water. Where I live we have very good lake water and it's even free (sorta). My wife bought a "travel bottle" that she fills up with our tap water when she goes anywhere. I figure if you want to pay what amounts to over $12.00 per gallon for bottled water, then you ought to have a lot of stock in Coke, Pepsi etc.

[BearSquirrel2]

10. So are the dentists ...

The dentists aren't happy with bottled water because it's not fluoridated.

[Delphinus]

19. I *prefer*

non-fluoridated water, myself, but I'm probably the odd-person out with that.

[BearSquirrel2]

9. Teachers have always known ...

Teachers have always known that the casual urge to ingest water need not be immediately satisfied. ;)

Question: Can I get a drink?
Answer: Sure use the sink over there.
Question: Ewwww, can't I go drink the water in the hall.
Answer: You must not be thirsty then.

[patrick t. cakes]

2. good to hear

with the water shortage coming and all.

no sarcasm.

[Doctor Cynic]

5. Not really.

The vast majority of water use is not for drinking or food. It's for industry, gardening, and other non-essential uses.

You can guzzle all the water you want. It won't hurt water supplies.

[patrick t. cakes]

8. when theres a shortage of anything

people suffer. not industry.



<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2818615.stm>

[Zorra]

3. Wonder who sponsored the study - Coke, Pepsi, or Bud?

Geez, living in corporate Bu*hworld has turned me into a compulsive skeptic.

[patrick t. cakes]

6. amen

n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. Sorry, beg to differ

I think the research is right on. We are water-crazed, and no more healthy than we ever were. In Southern California, everyone and their sister is always packing a bottle of Dasani or a colorful container of water. Entire aisles of grocery stores are devoted to bottled water, which, parenthetically, is often bottled tap water. I support any research that points out the idiocy of the water craze.

If you think this is a cynical ploy by Coke and Pepsi to sell more sugar water, do a quick search to find out who owns bottled water companies.

I find it amazing that people complain about the price of a gallon of gasoline (which conveys a 3000 lb. object about 20 miles), but they don't even blink when they pay $1 for 16 oz. of bottled water, $4 for 12 oz. of coffee, or $5 for a beer at the ballpark.

[LeftHander]

11. Soft drinks found to be better than water....

Study funded by CocaCola...

[Paula Sims]

12. It's still better for you than anything with HFCS

(high fructose corn syrup) or anything labeled "diet". It's sad that I have to go to Whole Foods to get soda with real cane sugar!

[XemaSab]

21. Go to the barrio

Mexican coke (in the bottle) is made with cane sugar.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. I run and swim

So I do have to mind the fluid intake. But I also have to not overdo it. The condition referred to upthread is 'hyponatremia' (too low sodium) and has caused death in marathon runners who way overhydrated, diluting electrolyte concentrations in their body.

[Ilsa]

18. That's right. Even a typical workout for most people

can result in severe dizziness and fainting from hyponatremia and fluid intoxication if they over-consume water.

Nursing mothers can lower their serum prolactin levels (and therefore milk supply) by consuming too much water. Instead, they should drink to their level of thirst.

I tend to do better if I push my water intake a little bit. I think it helps prevent me from getting the munchies as much.

[mdmc]

14. I agree with you and disagree with this report

I recently started drinking 64 ounces of pure water per day. I generally drink 32 oz of water, plus a couple cups of coffee.

I feel a lot better drinking 64.

Perhaps I was drinking too little?

[TrogL]

15. Maybe laying off the coffee helped

[mdmc]

16. no, I still drink it too

sorry for the confusion.
:)

[Igel]

20. No, the research is sort of novel.

The problem was not understanding a 1950s recommendation to get so much water a day, with the understanding that this included water in food. It was taken to mean only water (or beverages), not water in food. If you eat an apple it doesn't count as having any liquid. Squeeze the juice out of it and you'd get a fairly dry mass and maybe 6 oz; eat both portions, and you get credit for the liquid against your 8 x 8oz.

So the former research, from a few months ago, was basically tracing the history of the legend as far back as possible to ascertain that it had no empirical basis. It was an educated hunch that was misconstrued when taken out of context and converted into popular wisdom and taught to hundreds of millions of people.

That said, there's apparently no empirical basis forthcoming for the recommendation, either. Just because there was no support in the past doesn't mean the hunch was run, even as misconstrued; it apparently is wrong.