US First Lady Promotes “Drink Up” Message

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The First Lady wants you to drink more water.

On a call announcing Michelle Obama?s newest healthy living initiative Wednesday, Let?s Move Executive Director Sam Kass explained that the White House is working with cities, private companies and public taps to promote the message to ?drink up.?

Participating companies include Brita, Poland Spring, Evian, Dasani, Voss and others, which will carry a ?Drink Up? logo on their bottles, and participating cities include Chicago, Los Angeles county, Houston and, appropriately, Watertown, Wis., where the First Lady is visiting Thursday to kick off the initiative.

?Every participating company is only focusing on drinking water,? Kass said, and not on why its particular brand of water is ?better? than another.

Kass cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that show 43 percent of Americans drink fewer than four cups of water a day, and about one in four kids don?t drink water at all on a given day. An author of the CDC study, Dr. Alyson Goodman, said the first finding ?likely indicates that many people either choose less healthy beverages to satisfy their thirst or drink little water daily.?

Noticeably absent from the new campaign to drink more water are the reasons whypeople should do so. Hydration is vital to a healthy, well-functioning body because it maintains body temperature at a normal level, promotes removal of waste from the body (through urination and perspiration), lubricates joints and protects the body?s tissues. And drinking water instead of sugary drinks is a good way to decrease daily sugar consumption, which has been linked to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Yet Kass explained that the tone of the initiative will purposely not emphasize these factors, unlike some past public health pushes. Instead, the campaign is focusing more on ?being positive and not getting [into] details about what a glass of water can do,? he told reporters on the call.

A positive campaign ?to inspire people to drink more water is the most effective way to get people to get water that they need,? Kass said. ?We think people respond really well to positive messages ? Water is the simplest, most accessible choice that people can make if they?re trying to make a healthy choice. Encouraging that is the most effective strategy.?

HOW DRINKING ?MORE WATER? AFFECTS HEALTH

The National Institutes of Health notes on its website that ?experts usuallyrecommend drinking six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily.? But there aren?t actually any official guidelines for suggested intake. In fact, that advice to drink eight glasses of water a day is generally regarded as outdated, with mostly bottled water companies pushing the notion, a recent British Medical Journal article noted.

The Institute of Medicine says most people actually do get enough water to meet their bodies? needs every day ?by letting thirst be their guide.? According to a 2004 report by the IOM, there are no ?exact requirements for water,? but the institute?s Food and Nutrition Board did set recommendations for women ?at approximately 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of total water ? from all beverages and foods ? each day, and men an average of approximately 3.7 liters (125 ounces daily) of total water.? The panel did not set a limit for water consumption.

People also receive some hydration through the food they eat, particularly fruits and vegetables, said Stanley Goldfarb, M.D., F.A.C.P., a nephrologist and professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Of course, that doesn?t take away from the importance of maintaining proper hydration throughout the day. Dehydration, when mild, can lead to headaches and feelings of sluggishness. When more severe, it can lead to complications such as heat injury if you don?t hydrate properly while exercising, kidney failure, brain swelling, seizures, coma and even death.

Particularly at-risk groups for dehydration include elderly people and babies, Nestle said, as well as athletes and people who live in higher altitudes.

There?s no particular harm in drinking extra water for most people, and the only real effects may be needing to urinate more often during the day (though increased nighttime urination could disturb sleep), Goldfarb noted. And there are some people who could stand to benefit from drinking more water, such as those with kidney stones.

But overall, the experts agree that there isn?t much benefit to drinking more H20 if you?re already hydrated. ?I don?t think there?s any good evidence that that will produce much in the way of health,? Goldfarb said.(HUFF POST)

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