How many glasses of water do you drink on a daily basis? Our guess is one or two. Maybe three, tops...
A new study has found that the majority of people drink just one glass of water each day, as opposed to the recommended eight glasses that we should be drinking.
This comes after the government urged people to drink more water as opposed to sugary drinks, tea and coffee. Their reason? To improve health. After all, what good's a country full of dehydrated people?
The drinking habits of 30,000 people were studied as part of the research. It found that less than 1% of people drink eight glasses of pure water each day.
Meanwhile, six in ten people drink one glass of tap or bottled water, two in ten drink two glasses, and one in ten drink three.
The study also found that Britons drink 12.4 billion glasses of tap water at home every year, compared to 29.4 billion cups of tea and 13.1 billion cups of coffee. Squash, juice and carbonated drinks also count for 16.4 billion glasses.
According to The European Food Safety Authority, women should drink roughly 1.6 litres of fluid each day and men should consume 2 litres.
Water makes up about two-thirds of the weight of a healthy body. Often water is lost through breathing, sweating or urinating so it's unsurprising that one glass of water a day is not enough to replace that.
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The NHS notes that water is also the healthiest choice for quenching your thirst. It has no calories (winner!) and contains no sugars that can damage teeth.
Dr Nitin Shori, medical director of the Pharmacy2U Online Doctor service said: “Our bodies are made up mostly of water and drinking too little each day can lead to dehydration. Symptoms of which can include headaches, fatigue and constipation.
"If the dehydration becomes more severe, it can damage your liver, kidneys and muscles, and lead to hospital admission.
"If you drink too little water, you can also tend to eat more, which makes weight control more difficult. An easy way to monitor your hydration is the frequency which you pass urine each day and its colour. Dark, infrequent urination is often a sign of dehydration."
Giles Quick, director of Kantar Worldpanel, concludes: "We need to raise awareness of the need to drink water, as most people are not counting the amount they consume in the same way as with the five-a-day for fruit and vegetables."
[H/T Telegraph]