Do we really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day? According to Stanley Goldfarb, MD, it ain’t necessarily so. There seems to be no clear scientific evidence for either benefits, or lack of benefits, from drinking 8 glasses of water daily, for healthy people, whose kidneys function well. Dr. Goldfarb points out that people who live in hot dry climates, or engage in vigorous exercise, need to drink more water to prevent dehydration.
The article goes on to expand on 5 different claims for drinking water that have no scientific base, or inconclusive studies, including this one:
Claim No. 3: Drinking Water Reduces Food Intake and Helps You Lose Weight
Drinking more water is widely encouraged to help weight loss, the theory being that the more water you drink, the fuller you will feel and the less you will eat. “The [medical] literature on this is quite conflicted,” Goldfarb says.
“Drinking before a meal might decrease intake [according to one study], but another study found [it did] not.”
Even so, Goldfarb calls this claim one of the most promising for further study.
So, go ahead, drink water (you do need it), but don’t expect super health, and beauty, benefits from it, the jury’s still out on that.