英國專家:每天喝多少水才健康?
我們常常聽說，多喝水可以避免腎臟遭受損害，還有減肥的功效，同時也能降低血液的濃稠度。
But experts now warn that drinking eight glasses of water a day is not good for you after all – and could be harmful.
不過現在又有專家挑出來警告我們說，每一天喝足八杯水的量對健康不但沒有好處，反而還是不利於人體的。
They say that scientific claims behind long-standing government guidelines are worse than ‘nonsense’.
他們表示，官方所宣傳的健康指導意見背後的科學依據基本上都是“沒有道理”的。
The NHS – along with leading doctors and nutritionists – advises the public to drink about 1.2 litres (or two-and-a-half pints) of water per day.
英國國家衛生局，連同頂尖的醫生和營養學家對公衆發出建議：每天飲用水的量最好在1.2升左右。
However, a report describes the danger of dehydration as a ‘myth’ and says there is no evidence behind claims that water prevents multiple health problems.
儘管如此，一份研究報告指出由於脫水而引發的健康危險的其實並不明確，同時也沒有足夠的證據可以表明喝充足的水更夠避免衆多健康問題的發生。
Glasgow-based GP Margaret McCartney says the NHS Choices website’s advice that people should drink six to eight glasses a day is ‘not only nonsense, but thoroughly debunked nonsense’. She adds that the benefits of the drink are often exaggerated by ‘organisations with vested interests’ such as bottled water brands.
學者Margaret McCartney表示，英國政府機構向民衆所倡導的每人每天需要喝6到8杯水，這其實是“毫無根據”的。她還指出，罐裝水的生產商常常還會誇大飲水的益處，說是“對細胞組織有各種好處”。
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr McCartney also points out that research shows drinking when not thirsty can impair concentration, rather than boost it, and separate evidence suggests that chemicals used for disinfection found in bottled water could be bad for your health.
McCartney教授發表於《英國醫學期刊》中的文章指出，在不口渴的情況下喝水，不僅不能刺激血液濃度，而是會打亂其健康值。另外也有證據表明，罐裝水中可能含有的化學物質對於人體的健康是有害的。
Drinking excessive amounts can also lead to loss of sleep as people have to get up in the night to go to the toilet, and other studies show it can even cause kidney damage, instead of preventing it.
大量的飲水同時還可能造成失眠，因爲人們不得不常常在夜裏起來去上廁所，另有研究表明，喝水過量不僅不會保護腎臟，反而會使其遭受損傷。
Worryingly, Dr McCartney also warns that taking on too much water can lead to a rare but potentially fatal condition called hyponatraemia, which sees the body’s salt levels drop and can lead to swelling of the brain.
McCartney博士還警告到，令人擔憂的是喝太多的水可能會導致一種非常罕見但足以致命的病症發生，也就是所謂的低鈉血癥：機體的鹽分急劇降低，會引起大腦的水腫。
n 2003 actor Anthony Andrews, who starred in the ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, was hit by the illness after drinking too much water during rehearsals for a West End role.
2003年，演員Anthony Andrews在出演ITV電視臺的新版《故園風雨後》時，在排練時因爲喝水過量而患上了低鈉血癥。
Another doctor quoted in the article adds there is no basis for claims that water helps people to lose weight by suppressing their appetite. Professor Stanley Goldfarb, a metabolism expert from the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S., says: ‘The current evidence is that there really is no evidence.
另外一位醫生也在文章中指出，有人稱喝水可以幫助減肥，是因爲其降低了人們食慾，這種說法是沒有根據的。美國賓夕法尼亞大學的新城代謝領域專家——Stanley Goldfarb教授說：“目前看來不存在肉任何證據。”
‘If children drank more water rather than getting extra calories from soda, that’s good ...[but] there is no evidence that drinking water before meals reduces appetite during a meal.’
“如果孩子們喝更多的水，而不是從蘇打飲料中獲取熱量的話，這的確是一件好事。不過現在真的沒有證據表明在每餐飯前喝水能夠降低人的食慾。”
About 2.06billion litres of bottled water was drunk in Britain last year, compared with 1.42billion litres in 2000. Despite this increase we still drink three times as much tea, and five times as much beer.
在去年，英國人喝掉了20.6億升的桶裝水，在2000年時，這個量僅爲14.2億升。儘管如此，他們喝掉的茶是這個量的三倍，啤酒則是五倍之多。
