Folk wisdom holds there’s some magical amount of water that should be consumed daily, especially on a sweltering day such as this.
While conventional wisdom holds that six-to-eight glasses should do, the Department of Health today on this hot and awful day went beyond the pale to urge the public to drink no fewer than 20 glasses “to replenish body fluids.” That’s an awful lot of drinking.
“Department Director General Pornthep Siriwanarangsan recommends that people drink cold water and shower regularly to moderate their body temperature on warm days,” it reads, dryly.
Not to shoot a well-intentioned messenger, but bad science is a leading cause of bad policy.
And erring on the side of overhydration would be commendable were it not itself potentially harmful. Drinking too much water disrupts metabolism and sodium levels, among other side effects.
Pornthep, who is nominally identified as a doctor, goes on to advise folks to avoid alcohol “because the alcohol increases body temperature and can eventually contribute to heatstroke.”
He’s half right on that one. While it is another myth that alcohol raises body temperature, it can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature.
While there’s no consensus and little peer-reviewed research on the subject, the best wisdom seems to be: Drink some water, and if you’re thirsty, drink some more.
See: Dept of Health recommends drinking 20 glasses of water per day during summer
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