Five Myths About Drinking Water
April 3, 2008 by adamsteward
Take this, Eric:
Myth No. 1: Drink Eight Glasses Each Day
Scientists say there’s no clear health benefit to chugging or even sipping water all day. So where does the standard advice of drinking eight glasses each day come from? “Nobody really knows,” says Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a kidney expert at the University of Pennsylvania.
Myth No. 2: Drinking Lots of Water Helps Clear Out Toxins
The kidneys filter toxins from our bloodstreams. Then the toxins clear through the urine. The question is, does drinking extra water each day improve the function of the kidneys?
“No,” says Goldfarb. “In fact, drinking large amounts of water surprisingly tends to reduce the kidney’s ability to function as a filter. It’s a subtle decline, but definite.”
…Goldfarb’s advice: Just drink when you’re thirsty.
[NPR: Five Myths About Drinking Water, by Allison Aubrey]
Ha! That’s fine, I’ll still keep drinking it as I do. I’m not too concerned if it isn’t really healthier for you. My primary reason for drinking water as much as I do is simply that I really like it. I just always feel thirsty and the thing that is most satisfying for me is cold water.
I am surprised though that it isn’t really healthier for you. I also find it really funny/surprising that my water drinking habits seem to be such a point of interest to you. It seems normal to me.
James,
I take the skeptics position on this one, “How do you know?”
However, I do agree that excessive consumption of water is bad for the liver.
No Eric, it is completely ABnormal.
Well James, it’s science, isn’t it?
I love that last line: …Goldfarb’s advice: Just drink when you’re thirsty.
Even though I don’t I don’t believe those two points are myths, that quote is priceless.
Is the same science that tells you one year that coffee is bad for you, then the next that it is good for you?
1. Hi adam.
2. I find it really odd that I read this on the DAY I vowed to start drinking more water. Your arguments didn’t dissuade me, however. I just feel better when I drink more water. Less coffee, less beer, more water.
3. I stumbled across this today and you HAVE to see it (its the meeting of Christian theologians with LOL cats). There’s lots of different pages of em, I’ll leave you with the early church:
http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2007/10/09/i-can-has-theololgians/