“You should drink 8 glasses of water (64 oz.) a day” that’s what all the healthy people say. Pop and coffee doesn't count. (Damn!) well why is this?
  1. It will help you get fit: water suppresses the appetite and helps you to metabolise stored fat.
  2. You are always running out of it: About 60 percent of your body is water, and you must constantly replenish the supply or your body will retain water making you feel bloated.
  3. It may make you smarter: if you’ve lost 2 percent of your body weight in water, your brain power and performance level may start to weaken.
    1. If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables you may not need a full 8 glasses . . . but it can’t hurt:
      Bob Condor, Chicago Tribune, May 16, 1994
      A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters (83 ounces) daily in most instances, the book states. An ordinary standard for diverse people is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.

      Somehow, the final sentence was lost in the translation. Most doctors and nutritionists say people don't need to drink every one of those eight glasses of water if they eat the proper foods.
Eight is a completely arbitrary number here. There is actually no evidence to support having to drink this much water a day. You need to take in as much water as you lose in day and that can vary greatly for different people. Most experts come up with 4-6 glasses at the most. "83 ounces" seems completely insane. I couldn't drink 10 glasses of water a day if I tried.

What's even more interesting is this whole "Pop and coffee" don't count bit. The common claim is that these things contain caffeine which is a diuretic. The water lost because of this is very small though. If you're a regular coffee drinker it won't have any effect at all on you. On the other hand, you are getting extra sugar and other junk so plain water is better for you.

You actually get a great deal of water from the food you eat and don't really need to take in any extra. Drinking water does seem somewhat helpful when dieting though. In general, you should just drink something when you're thirsty and you'll be fine.

Thanks to the defenders of truth and justice, www.snopes.com.

The thing that most people get wrong is they quote it, "Drink eight glasses of water a day." However, if you read any journals, or ask a doctor he will say, "Drink eight cups of water a day."

There is a difference between glasses and cups. A glass can be any size that a person wishes. A cup, however is a unit of measurement.

In actuality, this statement comes from the quack health manual Your Body's Many Cries for Water, written by one Dr. F. Batmanghelidj. He starts with the valid premise that Americans are overweight and goes on to claim that hunger is actually the body calling for water,that when one feels thirsty dehydration is already far advanced, and other such claims. Hs assertions are unproven, and it is possible to drink too much water and injure oneself. He actually does not mention prepared foods.

Exposure to this "fact" was provided by a chain email.

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