Myth broken: Drink 8 glass of water every day for good health ?

All I can tell you is that since my childhood Ihave repeatedly heard from everyone that"Drink at least 8 glasses of water" for goodhealth. Honestly, I am not a "natural" big water drinking person, so whenever I realize that I have not taken water for a while, I take a glass of water and gulp it down my throat regardless I am thirsty or not.

Well, it turns out I do not necessarily have to do it that way anymore according to a recent study.

How much water should we drink every day ?

Drink water when you feel thirsty, and if you feel you are drinking too little water (or consuming less fluids) then drinking a glass or two extra is a good idea.

WHY SHOULD WE DRINK ENOUGH WATER:

Well majority of our body composition (about 70%) is in some form of water and we therefore need a constant supply to replenish it. We can live longer without food but without water we will die relatively much more quickly. Our body cells needs water to function in a healthy way. Every day we lose water from our body in form of urine, sweat and as vapourfrom our lungs when we breathe. Our body uses water to turn our food (or fat) into energy.

QUICK FACTS:

* People who exercise need more water than the ones who don't.

* If you are exposed to higher temperature(ex: during summers), they need more water too.

* Dehydration can make you feel tired, lossof concentration and even headaches. Too little fluids / water can even be harmful to many of your organs like kidney.

* You do not necessarily drink to much of pure water but things like juices, milk, soft drinks, beer, tea, coffee, fresh fruit and vegetables also contain a lot of water.

* Most of the extra water we forcefully take is anyway taken out of the body naturally (via urine) and does not harm. In contrast, drinking outrageously

excess amounts of water can be dangerous, resulting in water intoxication, hyponatraemia, and even death. Infact if the quality of water you are consuming is not good or if it has been too much chemically treated, then you may be exposed to higher volume of pollutants.

NEW STUDIES SUGGEST 8 GLASSES OF WATER IS PROBABLY A MYTH / OVER EXAGGERATION:

The study suggests that the following are most likely myths too

Myth 1: Drinking extra water helps constipation.

Myth 2: Dark urine always means dehydration.

Myth 3: Waiting until you are thirsty means you're already dehydrated.

POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF 8 GLASS OF WATER MYTH.

* In 1945, the Food and Nutrition Board of the United States National Research Council wrote: 'A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters daily in most instances. Most of this quantity is in prepared

foods.'

* There was another similar statement by nutritionist Frederick J Stare in 1974 which suggested drinking 6-8 glasses of water but much of it is already

present in fruits, milk tea etc..

But over the years it we somehow started believing that we need 8 glasses of water on top of all these too. We will not discuss or reveal the detailed study here, but will recommend you to visit the original sources (see references) for a complete experts opinion and research.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:

Medical myths - British Medical Journal

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7633/1288

American Journal of Physiology

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/283/5/R993