Many of my French friends were outraged at a recent U.S. study, which claims there is no evidence that drinking eight glasses of water a day is beneficial to health. The same study purports that most water requirements are met through our daily intake of coffee or tea, fruits and vegetables (implying that drinking extra water beyond these means is unnecessary). However, the study failed to mention that most people don’t eat enough of veggies and fruit to begin with! It also did not take into account the fact that even though you are consuming water in coffee or tea, the caffeine actually dehydrates you! So please compensate by drinking additional water, even if you eat your fruits and veggies. This reminds me of my first doctor in New York City (a no-nonsense Polish woman in her fifties, highly recommended by my women friends in Manhattan) when I first arrived to this country. She warned me that every week another study comes out that contradicts the previous one…and it’s all commerce! A simplistic way of putting it maybe, but she noted milk, bran and many more examples. She even had the sick patients to prove this was crazy.

A Good Morning Ritual

Water…cold or warm? Years ago, I learned to appreciate warm water while visiting Japan first, then Hong Kong and China. There is a Chinese theory that in order to rapidly hydrate us after a night of sleep, our first glass of water must be at our body’s temperature (30-40 degrees Celsius). My Chinese friends in New York always order warm water at restaurants. Recently, I asked a Parisian friend what she thought. Being a doctor, she recognized that more and more French opt for the warm water, especially first thing in the morning, as it awakes the digestive system and may make it easier to assimilate breakfast thirty minutes later.

So many of you who followed my advice on starting with a glass of water first thing in the morning in French Women Don’t Get Fat have noticed the difference. For me it’s simple: if I don’t drink enough water one day, I feel it. A few days, and it only gets worse; I feel and see it in my skin and hair. A famous French doctor (you may remember him as Dr. Miracle) said it best: a glass of water first thing in the morning jumpstarts the metabolism and its functions. Plus, we are naturally dehydrated after a night of sleep, not to mention the horizontal position of sleep causes toxin accumulation in the body. Just one more reason to drink water to start the day properly.

Your Mind Needs Watering, Too!

If you love water you’ll probably enjoy the book Water, Memory of Our Emotions by Masaru Emoto. One of her (many) invaluable tips is to drink water with an intention, such as “I drink calm, I drink harmony.” According to Dr Emoto, such a message is transmitted to our cells via organic liquids and brings us what we need for our body… and mind. Try it in particular when returning home at the end of the workday. The oft-common craving to munch before dinner can become an enjoyable water experience.