First of all, it's been widely been said that it's recommended to drink 8 glasses of water a day. However, recent studies have concluded this may be a bit exaggerated. There hasn't been any conclusive evidence to show that drinking those 8 glasses of water a day, has any significant health benefits of water. On the flip side, there is no evidence to show that drinking 8 glasses of water per day, does any harm either. One common myth is that drinking a lot of water will help excrete toxins and improve kidney function. Recently, doctors did a study with 12 healthy young people, to find out how if drinking more water made any improvements. This study concluded that there was a decrease in their glomerular filtration rate. Another study was done, and it showed that there an increase in water consumption effected the emptying of some substances in the kidneys. However, the doctors pointed out that any toxins in the kidneys may just be simply diluted by drinking the extra water. Therefore, there is still no conclusive evidence to support the claims of helping to excrete toxins or improve kidney function.

Another popular myth is that drinking water will help you lose weight and reduce food intake. Recently 2 studies were done to see if this myth was a fact or just fiction. In one study, it showed that drinking water did decrease food intake by the subjects, however, in the other study, it did not. Therefore, once again, there was no conclusive evidence to support the claim. Other myths have stated that drinking water improves skin tone. Yet again, according to doctors, there has been no clear evidence to support this theory.

So with all these myths about the health benefits of water, is there any reason to drink more water than necessary? According to doctors, it's really up to you. If you feel that drinking extra water makes you feel or look better, then go ahead and do so, this may be known as the "Placebo Effect". However, it has been proven that drinking water is very important if you're living in a dry and hot climate, where you may become dehydrated. Also, drinking water is very important if you're doing vigorous exercise. So if you enjoy drinking lots of water, then by all means, continue to do so, but if you're still a healthy person without drinking all that extra water, then there really isn't any significant medical benefit for you to increase your intake.