Water - facts and myths

A Why do we need to drink water?

We all know that our bodies need water. Water cleans our body, controls our temperature, and helps to keep us healthy. About 70% of our body is water.

B How much water do we need to drink a day?

We often read that we need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day (about two litres). The idea probably came from mineral water companies! In fact, how much water we need depends on the weather and on what we're doing. When we are hot, of if we do sport or exercise, we need to drink more. Some experts say that, in normal conditions, we only really need about on litre a day.

C Do people need less water when the weather's cold?

No. When temperatures are very low we also need to drink more than on a normal day. This is because we wear a lot of clothes so we sweat a lot and lose water.

D Can we get the water we need from other drinks or food?

Yes, of course. We get water from food, especially fruit and vegetables (an apple is 85% water, an onion is 87%). We can also get water from other drinks like fruit juice, coffee and colas, which contain a lot of water.

E Do Coke and coffee makes us dehydrated?

No. In experiments in America some people drank only water and other people drank water, cola, and coffee. Their levels of hydration were more or less the same.

F Can we drink too much water?

Yes. It can be dangerous to drink a lot of water.