Water and tea are two of the liquids that people around the world drink daily, along with coffee, notes the Harvard School of Public Health. Both are basically healthy, with some exceptions, but they also are the basis for a number of myths. Medical research has found quite a bit of benefit to drinking tea, while the advice to drink eight glasses of water each day has become not so reliable. The addition of sugary drinks to the normal daily fluid intake has also spurred researchers to form an advisory panel regarding beverages. Overall, though, water and tea have retained their healthy reputations.
Beverage Guidance Panel
In 2006 a group of researchers from the University of North Carolina and several other universities formed the Beverage Guidance Panel. Their purpose was to look at research and guidance regarding what people should and do drink. They divided beverages into several levels, with water at the top as the healthiest possible drink, and tea and coffee at the next level. Tea was highly ranked because of its apparent effect on heart health and other conditions; the researchers looked at tea made from tea leaves and not herbal teas. The panel did note, however, that “it is not possible to provide clear guidance regarding specific quantities.”
Eight Cups Each Day
A few years prior to the Beverage Guidance Panel, researchers were already looking into the claim that you’re supposed to drink eight glasses of water each day. A November 2000 article in the “Los Angeles Times” found that the eight-a-day rule was apparently made up. The article references Dr. Robert Alpern of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas as noting the idea that there is dehydration everywhere, which is one of the reasons the eight-a-day rule is quoted so often, “has no basis in medical fact.” The better indicator of how much you need to drink is whether your body feels thirsty, although if your ability to tell if you’re thirsty isn’t very strong, you may have to make yourself drink more. Water intake also comes from soups and fruits, so the amount of extra water you have to drink each day will vary.
Tea -- Green and Diet
Tea, especially green tea, has been lauded for its antioxidant content and its apparent effects on weight loss, heart disease, cancer risk, cholesterol and a host of other issues. The flip side of tea is the diet teas that claim they make you lose weight quickly. These types of teas are herbal mixtures that provide a laxative and diuretic effect along with added fiber to make you feel like you don’t want more to eat. A major problem with these teas, notes Columbia University, is that if you drink too much of them, you risk overdosing on laxatives.
Boiling Tea for Safety
Tea has another advantage espoused by doctors. Hot tea requires boiled water, and if you are traveling in an area where you’re not sure of the water quality, MedlinePlus notes that drinking boiled hot tea is a safer alternative to cold tap water, along with bottled water and coffee. If people in the area tell you not to trust even boiled tap water, though, listen to them and find bottled water.
References
- MedlinePlus: Traveler's guide to avoiding infectious diseases
- Columbia University Health Resource; Go Ask Alice; Herbal "diet teas" for weightloss -- herbalicious?
- Los Angeles Times: For years we've been admonished to chug eight glasses of water a day--for our skin, for our weight, for general good health. But--surprise!--experts say that advice is simply...
- Harvard Health Publications: Benefit of drinking green tea: The proof is in -- drinking tea is healthy, says Harvard Women’s Health Watch
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: A new proposed guidance system for beverage consumption in the United States
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