Articles Health and Beauty

Water Needs: True and False

One of the only ways you will ever have clear skin and eyes for your big day is to keep your insides clean and fresh so that you can radiate on the outside. Follow our advice and you will look fabulous on your wedding day - and even shed a few pounds in the process.

As a nation we are certainly sold on the idea that water is good for you - last year Britons drank 1.4 billion litres of still and sparkling mineral water - a 300 per cent increase on a decade ago. There's no doubt that maintaining our fluid levels is very important. Fluid cushions our joints, keeps our eyes and mouth moist, helps us swallow, allows us to absorb nutrients, helps get rid of waste and helps regulate our temperature.

Here we assess some common beliefs to see if they hold true.

Adults need to drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day.
Experts agree that around 1.5-2 litres of liquid a day is enough for most people (with more needed in hotter weather, if you exercise a lot, or do physically demanding work). But the key point here is the word liquid. Fruit juice, soup, squash and milk all count towards the total, just remember for weight loss water has no calories but other liquid does.

The 2 litres a day rule is based on medical reasoning: Adults lose around 3 litres of fluid a day, but that doesn't mean you need to drink three litres as solid food alone gives us around a litre of liquid, and another 300-500mls of water are produced as a by-product of digestion, leaving us with just the 1.5-2 litres of liquids experts recommend.

If you drink coffee, tea or alcohol, you need to drink even more water.
Caffeine in tea, coffee and coke has a mild diuretic [urine increasing] effect, but there is a net gain of fluid when you drink a cup, so you do not need to drink extra water to compensate. Unless tea, coffee and coke are your only fluids, in which case you should swap a few cups for plain water. Remember no more than 4 cups of tea or coffee each day.

Alcohol, on the other hand, does dehydrate you; although usually it takes more than one glass to cause noticeable dehydration, but you should increase your water intake redress the balance.

Drinking more water helps flush out toxins, giving you better skin, hair and nails.
False. Healthy kidneys are particularly efficient at removing toxins, drinking more water than you actually need won't remove any more toxins, it will just mean more trips to the loo. But you do need to be healthy to have healthy kidneys, which means some water intake.

Mineral water is better for you than tap water
False. Mineral water contains small amounts of minerals, but not enough to make a significant contribution to your diet. Tap water is no less 'pure' and no worse for you than bottled mineral water.

It's impossible to drink too much water.
False. Drinking a lot of water over a short time can upset the body's sodium balance, and cause a potentially fatal condition called hyponatremia, or water intoxication. Symptoms include nausea, bloating, and lapses in consciousness and seizures due to swelling of the brain.

Long distance runners are particularly at risk because they often consume a lot of water and lose a lot of salt through sweat. Worse, exercise releases an anti-diuretic hormone, so urine output is reduced, limiting the body's ability to correct the imbalance. Drugs such as ibuprofen can also make the problem worse because they reduce urine output, too.

You only need to drink when you're thirsty.
By the time you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated, usually this isn't a problem, because we drink and replace the lost fluid. But in older people the thirst response can be blunted, leading to more serious dehydration. Although the kidneys can function if people drink less than one litre a day, there are huge advantages to drinking a higher level of fluid. A high fluid intake can reduce the risk of kidney stones, bladder cancer and urinary infections.

Older people with incontinence problems should restrict their fluid intake.
False. This is a dangerous misconception. Dehydration is a common problem for elderly people, especially if they have senile dementia and live on their own. But it is very important for them to get enough liquid, especially if they are on diuretic drugs. Dehydration can lead to chronic constipation and, in more severe cases, confusion and co-ordination problems that can be mistaken as general signs of ageing.

People worried about having to make frequent trips to the bathroom at night should make sure they drink enough liquid during the day, then restrict their intake in the evening before they go to bed.

You can tell by your urine whether you're drinking enough liquids
True. The colour of your urine is probably the easiest way to monitor whether you're getting enough liquids. Basically it should be clear and copious, if you find your urine is dark in colour and you're only passing small volumes, you need to drink more.

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