Another Dietary Myth Goes By the Way

I've heard since I was a little kid that I should drink eight glasses of water a day, something I've probably never done (though water is often my preferred beverage at home). Scientists now say the benefit from such water intake cannot be proven:

The idea that drinking eight glasses of water a day is good for your health has been dismissed as a myth.

Scientists say there is no evidence drinking large amounts of water is beneficial for the average healthy person, and do not even know how this widely held belief came about.

Specialists in kidney conditions in America reviewed research on claims eight 8oz glasses of water help flush toxins from the body, preventing weight gain and improving skin tone.

Dr Dan Negoianu and Dr Stanley Goldfarb, of the Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division at the University of Pennsylvania, said no single study indicated average healthy people needed to drink this amount of water - a total of 3.3 pints - each day.

"Indeed, it is unclear where this recommendation came from," they say in a review in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

And so, water drinking goes the same way as oat bran and other dietary fads.

There was one other item in the article that hit home:

Headaches also are often attributed to water deprivation, but there is little data to back this up, claim the scientists.

They may not be able to confirm that with the general population, but with me water does make a difference. If I get myself too dried out I'll wake up with a headache that's difficult to get rid of unless I drink a lot of water (and take several Motrin).

I used to have this problem when I was singing all the time. Singing for 90 minutes will dry you out pretty well, and then we'd go hit a restaurant and I'd drink iced tea, which just amplifies the effect because the tanins in tea cause you to lose even more water. Sometimes on the mornings after a concert I'd wake up with a doozy of a headache, similar to what someone would experience after drinking too much alcohol (which also dries you out). I've never had an alcohol-induced hangover, but I've had plenty of singing-induced headaches.

For me, at least, keeping hydrated helps keep headaches away. Otherwise, it appears the benefit of drinking lots of water just can't be proven.