Saturday Quack – Water!

All you people who can’t be separated from your bottles of water – listen up! First, there’s no medical need for you to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily – that is, unless you are an athlete or live in a very hot place. The study is published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The authors of the study (who came from the University of Pennsylvania) examined published information on the supposed benefits of drinking large amounts of water: clearing toxins, improving kidney and other organ function, suppressing appetite, maintaining body weight, combating obesity, reducing headaches, and improving skin tone. None of these supposed benefits possessed any conclusive evidence to support them.

Second, those bottles you carry may be dangerous! A piece in Time Magazine reported that using any of the 4 common types of water bottles may carry unexpected risks. The ‘single-use’ bottle –exemplified by Dasani – made of PET (polyethelene terephthalate) can host germs if used more than once. The thermoplastic polycarbonate (e.g. Nalgene) can leach a possibly harmful substance that resembles a synthetic hormone – bisphenol-A, or BPA. Another Nalgene product, the Nalgene Trail Product, which is made of high-density polyethylene, presents no such problems. Finally, stainless steel; this is also safe for repeated use, and is as reliable as glass. Nevertheless, if you must drink a lot of water, get it from the tap and use a glass (it needn’t be the 8-ounce size).