Guzzling Water Does Not Seem to Improve Health

A new study contends that unless you are an athlete or live in a hot climate, drinking the recommended eight 227-ml glasses of water per day may be a waste of time.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA) decided to find out what the true benefits of drinking large amounts of water might be and examined published clinical studies on the topic. Among the issues they reviewed were:

Kidney function and clearing toxins - Although the studies indicated that drinking water may have an impact on the clearance of various substances by the kidney, such as sodium and urea, they did not indicate any sort of clinical benefit that might result.

Improving the function of organs - The studies indicated that water retention varies and often depends on how quickly the water is consumed - if it is gulped down quickly it will most likely be excreted more quickly, while if it is consumed gradually and slowly the body will retain more of it. Nevertheless, none of the studies indicated any benefit to organs as a result of raised water consumption, no matter how quickly it is consumed.

Suppressing appetite, maintaining bodyweight, and fighting obesity - The studies remained inconclusive. No carefully designed clinical trials have measured the effects of water intake on weight management.

Headaches – Only one small trial found that some of those who consumed more water reported having fewer headaches; the results were not statistically significant.

Skin Tone - Not one study demonstrated any clinical benefit to skin tone as a result of consuming extra water.

The researchers did find that people who live in hot, dry climates, as well as athletes, need more water than others. They also found that patients who suffer from specific diseases also do well when their fluid intake is increased. However, they found no solid evidence that showed any health benefits for healthy people. Not one study they reviewed indicated that people required an "8 x 227” intake of water each day. The researchers indicated that this "myth” might have arisen from the alternative medicine world. The study was published in the April 2, 2008, online issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

"There is no clear evidence to indicate that consuming extra water is good for the health,” concluded authors Dan Negoianu, M.D., and Stanley Goldfarb, M.D., of the renal, electrolyte, and hypertension division, who also stressed that there is no clear evidence of a lack of benefit. "There is simply a lack of evidence in general.”


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