What’s Happening: More Water?

Americans this week are being blasted with a new public health campaign: drink more water. On the face of it, this sounds reasonable, but when you look a little closer, it’s so ridiculous it’s almost funny. First of all, none of the “health officials” involved can actually tell you how much is “enough” water and whether people are or aren’t drinking enough already. And then there’s the fact that it’s all sponsored by beverage companies, so representatives aren’t even allowed to say “drink water instead of Coke” (which would actually be useful advice); they have to simply keep repeating “drink more water!” like a broken record.

In case you were worried about this, don’t be. You already drink plenty of water just by drinking when you’re thirsty. You should drink water instead of sugary sodas, but there’s no reason to go chugging down glass after glass in the name of health. For further reading:

• Marion Nestle’s take on the politics of the campaign.

• A writer at The Atlantic tries to find out why, exactly, we’re all supposed to be drinking more water. Nobody associated with the campaign could answer him.

In less frustrating news this week:

• In a guest post at The Healthy Home Economist, Paula Jager explains why you should warm up and stretch before every workout. If you’re short on time, skimp on your workout itself, not the warm-up!

• If you’re worried about switching to Paleo while on prescription medications, this post from the Whole9 blog tackles insulin, blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, blood thinners, and statins.

• After a controversial guest post last week, Mark Sisson takes on dietary fiber and gut health: skip the Metamucil, but don’t worry that your salad is about to kill you.

• A skeptical blogger at Science-Based Medicine takes a critical look at the Kitavans (a famously healthy traditional culture who ate a lot of starchy vegetables and saturated fat), and ends up cautiously optimistic.

• In a guest post at The Paleo Parents, one mother meditates on the value of teaching her children to love real food.

• The latest podcast at Modern Paleo interviewed Christian Wernstedt about stress: what is it, why is it dangerous, and what can you do about it?

• Steve Kamb at Nerd Fitness wants to help you help the people you love. If you’re worried about someone in your life who’s stuck in unhealthy habits and refusing to change, check it out.

How do you talk to your friends and family about your new lifestyle? Any great tips for helping someone, even when they just don’t want to be helped? Let us know on Facebook or Google+!