This doc says it’s not about drinking more water, but drinking less soda and other sugary drinks. The idea that drinking more water will make you healthier is an urban myth:
CNN – The truth about water, first lady Michelle Obama says, is that drinking more can make you healthier. Except some health experts are critical of the advice, arguing that it simply doesn’t hold water.
Obama this week was joined by the Partnership for a Healthier America in encouraging Americans to “drink up.”
According to a release, the campaign is meant to “remind people that drinking more water helps you have more energy to do more, longer and with better focus.”
Not so fast, experts told CNN.
“There’s no good evidence that drinking extra water is going to lead to a healthier existence,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania.
The White House “decided to sort of support some of these urban myths that have been really debunked over the years,” Goldfarb said.
Experts contacted by CNN said that Obama was on the right track but may have missed the mark. Health through hydration is not really about drinking more water for the most part, it’s about drinking less soda and other sugary drinks.
Dr. John Dooley of Foxhall Internists had nothing but praise for the first lady’s previous health campaign, arguing that it has a lot of science backing it up. The same cannot be said for the “drink up” campaign.
“The claims about extra water itself leading to extra health benefits, that’s a bit overstated,” Dooley said.