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I was at a friend’s 30th birthday party recently when someone struck up a conversation about cholesterol, and how to go about lowering it. (A not-inappropriate venue for such a conversation; my peers seem to get more health- and age-obsessed as we approach the realm of birthdays starting with the number three.) I’ve got some family history of cholesterol myself, so my ears perked up as this person went on to claim that a friend of hers (this is called “hearsay”) lowered her cholesterol 100 points in a year by drinking a whole gallon of water every day.
And indeed, a quick internet search seemed to verify the connection between drinking water and lowering one’s cholesterol — at least, according to random blogs and websites for companies that want to sell you powerful water filters. Then I ran across this on the Cleveland Clinic website: “The [director of nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic] says there is no correlation between water consumption and cutting cholesterol,” though she goes on to recommend drinking eight glasses of it a day. But now that the cholesterol claim has been called into question, I’m skeptical … what other water-based urban legends are floating around out there?
According to WebMD, the health benefits of drinking water have been taken on a kind of mythic status, and for years so-called experts have been claiming — with few studies or hard evidence to back them up — that drinking copious amounts of water can dramatically improve kidney function to flush toxins from your body, help your organ work better generally, helps you lose weight, improves skin tone and cures or wards off headaches, among other benefits. But researchers say evidence is lacking.
Which is not to say you shouldn’t drink lots of water every day (many people recommend eight glasses), as there’s no proof that it’s bad for you. Better advice would simply be to replace other beverages in our diet, such as sugary sodas and giant lattes, with water; it’s estimated that 20% of the calories in American diets now come from beverages. Chronic, often unwitting dehydration can also be a problem, and the negative effects of that have been well-documented. So there are plenty of reasons to drink water — but good ol’ H20 seems not to be quite the panacea we had hoped it was.
“Rubbish!” I thought. “This Riggs character can’t have done his research at all! I’ll debunk his claims with 5 minutes of googling!”
However, ’twas I who would be debunk’ed! Indeed it would appear that even the 8 glasses rule is not much of a guide! Googling for “health benefits of water evidence” returned a slew of articles saying that anecdotal evidence is pretty much what these things are based on. My humble apologies for doubting both Ransom and the almighty mental_floss.
PS: As anecdotal evidence is the order of the day, I would claim to feel better when I drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (more if I exercise).
posted by Steve on 7-9-2008 at 3:14 am
The dubious claims of water’s health benefits have no doubt been perpetuated by the Water Lobby. Make no mistake, Big Water has a stake in keeping you coming back for more.
posted by Ira on 7-9-2008 at 7:56 am
True though it is that water will not make you lose weight, become pimple free, lower your cholesterol or any of the other claims that have been made over time, but think about it another way - as a gateway drink.
If you choose to lay off the sugary sodas, coffee and other drinks and only drink water, chances are you will soon find yourself thinking twice about that greasy slice of pizza and turning to other, more healthy, alternatives.
posted by Jennifer on 7-9-2008 at 7:57 am
I’ve also heard that there is no known source for the 8-glasses-a-day myth.
However, I recently read that drinking ICE water can help you lose weight, and I decided to give it a shot. What I read was that for someone of average weight, drinking 64 ounces of ice water a day can burn around 200 calories because of the energy it takes to raise it up to body temperature.
I’ve lost 10 pounds in the last three months without changing much else in my diet and exercise routine.
posted by bre on 7-9-2008 at 8:06 am
I have always been curious as to what toxins are being flushed out? Also, just as a note, too much water can be bad…in fact it can kill you. But we are talking copious amounts but to say there is not proof that drinking lots of water is bad for you is not quite true.
posted by td on 7-9-2008 at 8:08 am
Hyponatremia (drinking so much water that you knock your electrolytes out of whack) is a rare event encountered mostly with extreme endurance competitors and obsessive behaviors. It’s not a significant threat.
Your body needs water to circulate nutrients and assist in chemical reactions that make it run. We’ve replaced water with soda, coffee, tea, energy drink and sugar laced substitutes. Although based upon water, the other ingredients may interfere with the water uptake, and we’re teaching our kids to shun water for more heavily hyped potions.
Water’s no panacea, but we do need to make sure we get the clean water our body needs. This probably varies with individuals, activity levels and climate. Better to err on the side of sufficiency.
posted by Tom on 7-9-2008 at 8:32 am
@ Tom - Ah yes, water intoxication.
It also can occur after consuming large quantities of water in a short period of time.
There’s one case of hazing in my former hometown university that involved a kid dying from overconsumption of water. But, we’re talking gallons in mere minutes.
So, really, as with anything: Moderation, moderation, moderation.
(Recaptcha: too Michie) Hmm….
posted by ACute Angle on 7-9-2008 at 9:23 am
Haha, thanks Jennifer. I’ve never thought of water as a “gateway” substance before, but there’s probably some truth to it. Granted, I still require caffeine to be a pleasant person to be around before 10am.
posted by Jennings on 7-9-2008 at 9:34 am
I think that the myth about losing weight by drinking lots of water comes from the fact that we often get the munchies or feel hungry when we are slighty dehydrated. So if you drink water instead of going for a snack it would help you lose weight.
posted by stephW on 7-9-2008 at 9:44 am
“water intoxication” occurs when you’re drinking large amounts of water in a very short period of time. You can actually drink a surprising amount of water if it’s spread out over the course of the day. I drink 3-4 liters over the course of a workday. And yes, my office is adjacent to a bathroom.
posted by mike on 7-9-2008 at 10:04 am
Another reason that water aids in weight loss is that, when you drink water, you feel full, and are therefore less likley to eat an entire pan of brownies.
posted by Kate on 7-9-2008 at 10:55 am
I don’t know how people manage to drink so much water. I recently replaced most of the fluids in my diet with water, and I still only drink about 3-4 glasses a day. Are people out there chugging water all day or what?
posted by Heather on 7-9-2008 at 11:00 am
Heather, I’m with you. I drink water almost exclusively and I can’t manage to get that much water. I’ve heard of drinking half of your body weight in ounces and that’s what I try to do. For me it comes out to 60 ounces a day and I feel great. I think I’d have to move into the bathroom permanantly if I tried any more.
I also agree with Jennifer on the gateway drink thing. I’ve felt better, wanted to eat better and laid off soda as much as possible since I started drinking water.
posted by Tricia on 7-9-2008 at 11:21 am
As a kid I was sick a lot of the time; think Exorcist to get the correct green visual. So I’ve always been a drinker over an eater because my body dislikes solids. I can easily consume 90 plus ounces of water in a day. And no, I don’t need to be in the bathroom all the time. I’m pregnant and that number is well above 100 ounces (and I’ll tell you that’s how much I need because I’ve almost passed out twice in the last 2 weeks from dehydration).
I think my point is to know your body. Sugar and caffeine make your body work harder to stay hydrated. That doesn’t mean you don’t need some sugar in your life but maybe not from a can of soda (which I love). That’s where I agree with Jennifer, water just really makes you reconsider what your eating. Having a burger and fries is a lot less appealing with water instead of Coke.
posted by Diane on 7-9-2008 at 12:11 pm
I think all of the ties with drinking water and lowering cholesterol come from the tests… The tests they use for cholesterol, body mass index, etc, can have varying results based on whether you are dehydrated or not.
To be fair, though, the biggest change is usually seen in the index. I can’t believe you could actually change your cholesterol by 100 points that way.
posted by kp on 7-9-2008 at 12:18 pm
You know what just occurred to me that I think is kinda funny? For centuries, drinking water was considered to be unhealthy. And it was. Sanitation was poor and people were often getting water from the same source that they were dumping their waste into (still do to some degree) and contaminated water leads to all manner of nasties including dysentary, cholera, and typhus. Beer, coffee, tea, and any other beverage that required some amount of either fermentation or boiling of liquids were really the only things considered safe for consumption.
And now, it’s the opposite. Amusing, no?
(passes busily… ::g::)
posted by ACute Angle on 7-9-2008 at 12:52 pm
I knew that. I’ve gotten into many arguments with people who think coffee doesn’t count as water.
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-9-2008 at 1:21 pm
The eight glasses of water means eight glasses of any liquid-coffee, milk, etc.
posted by katie on 7-9-2008 at 2:00 pm
Your first bout with a kidney stone and water will be your new best friend. Trust me. I know.
The latest one just before I was drinking plenty of other fluids, but i KNEW I wasn’t drinking enough water, and sure enough the little devil reared its ugly little, sharp head.
I still say 8 glasses is a good guideline to adhere to, in my opinion.
posted by mesilla on 7-9-2008 at 3:32 pm
Hm..it may not be a ‘miracle drink’ per se, but since we know that dehydration is bad, and many other drinks have negative health effects, water is therefore good for your body.
How much water most likely depends on the person. I know that I feel exhausted during the day if I don’t drink enough water.
posted by Dawn on 7-9-2008 at 5:38 pm
The anecdotal admonitions to drink X glasses of water a day - note that this implies that you do so whether you’re thirsty or not - under normal (read: not trekking / working in high heat) circumstances is, in my opinion, a recipe for exacerbating the already-endemic global shortage of potable water. It’s patently irresponsible - bordering on criminal - to exhort the population to consume a resource irrespective of their actual need to do so. Drink when you’re thirsty, period. Works for every other water-drinking creature on the planet, why shouldn’t it be good enough for you?
posted by h2no on 7-10-2008 at 3:58 pm
H2no, Please tell me that you are just being sarcastic because if you really think that some people drinking 64 oz of water a day is going to make that much diference in the “global shortage of potable water” then maybe you are dehydrated and having hallucinations. You need to have some water.
posted by wheel on 7-23-2008 at 1:36 pm