No evidence' for 8-a-day water advice

This news item was added on 4th April 2008

Health advice to drink at least eight glasses of water a day appears to have no scientific basis, experts have claimed.

A review of existing research into the health benefits of drinking water has revealed that few of the claims made about the practice are backed up by evidence.

Experts in the University of Pennsylvania's Hypertension Division found that athletes, people in hot, dry climates and individuals with certain diseases do indeed need to drink a large quantity of water.

However, they found no clinical benefit for normal, healthy patients drinking eight glasses a day.

For example, no studies found any benefit to organs, suppression of appetite, reduction in headaches or improvement in skin tone - all of which have been cited as health benefits associated with high water intake.

The researchers' editorial is published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Dr Stanley Goldfarb, a kidney specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Guardian: "Some people feel this is something they need to do to promote their health."

However, he noted: "There isn't any real data that could support that idea."