Do we really need more water?

A part of just about any body building or weight loss program has incorporated into it the recommendation that you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day.  Some doctors now proclaim there is no evidence this does any good, and in fact it might actually do more harm than good.

Doctors have been pondering this issue recently, and one doctor wrote about it in the British Medical Journal. He wrote that many schools teach that you should drink more water because it's common sense, and it keeps your body working better, keeps your metabolism working, and it keeps your organs healthy.

Yet he writes there is no evidence to any of this.  Likewise, he writes the  number 8 to 10 is just a number that was made up.  In fact, the person who first proposed this idea that we should drink more water to stay healthy, that it's common sense, was a person who worked for -- drum roll please -- a water bottling company.

One person made this claim and everyone else was quick to jump on it.  However, in their defense, many weight loss gurus purport that many times people think they are hungry when they're actually thirsty, and if you keep your stomach full of water you'll resist the urge to eat during these periods.

This is a perfect example of people falling in love with an idea based on feelings -- it sounds like a good idea, and not so much fact.  Besides, I've lost weight many times when I didn't go out of my way to drink as much water as the so called experts recommend many times.

Besides, if you drink too much water you'll just pee it out, and out with it will roll along key nutrients your body needs to function properly.  Dehydration is bad, yet over-hydration is just as bad.  Common sense is better.  So if you're thirsty drink up.  If you're not thirsty, don't worry guzzling that extra bottle of water because it won't do you any good anyway.

This is good new to most of us, because I'm sure I'm not alone in hating drinking all that water.  Now we know there is no proof we have to drink 8-10 cups of water, and that common sense is a better choice.  If you're drinking only when you're thirsty you're probably fine, common sense experts now say.

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