July 12th 2011
British journal exposes myth of ‘eight glasses of water a day’
Gulping down eight glasses of water a day to be healthy is a delusion and always has been, according to Margaret McCartney, the author of an article published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal.
McCartney, a family doctor in Glasgow, Scotland, lampoons the recommendation to drink the equivalent of a two-litre pop bottle of water every day in the wake of a new international health initiative coming to the fore.
Hydration for Health promotes drinking more water for a healthier lifestyle, and that means six to eight eight-ounce glasses of H20.
McCartney points out the program is sponsored by French food giant Danone, which produces Volvic and Evian brands of bottled water.
“This is not only nonsense, but is thoroughly debunked nonsense,” McCartney writes, listing recently published studies that have found no scientific evidence that we need to drink that much.
“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,” she tells Postmedia News.
Tags: Day, Eight Glasses