At last somebody has had the courage  to openly deride the nonsensical advice given to us on water consumption.  Dr Margaret McCartney, writing in the British Medical Journal, stated what most people with any degree of common sense have been saying for years, namely that the advice of the NHS to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day is complete codswallop – she actually used the word nonsense but both words apply!
For years now we’ve been bombarded with advice from successive Governments  (who presumably have been acting with the best of intentions) and the giant bottled water companies (who presumably have not!) to drink ridiculous amounts of water just to stay alive. The result has been that many impressionable folk never leave home without taking with them a large bottle of Evian presumably just in case they collapse choking in their local high street. Railway stations, airports and even shopping malls are full of people clutching plastic bottles as though preparing for a walk across the desert or an assault on Everest. Joggers, walkers and gym-goers are rarely seen without this life-saving implement prompting many of us to wonder how on Earth we survived all those water-free years of running, cycling, rugby and football training without ending up on life support machines.
Although it’s absurdly funny to observe the gullible clutching their plastic bottle like some cool and trendy  fashion accessory that is not the main issue. There is a serious point here and that is that we should listen to the advice of environmental groups who warn us of the damage caused by the disposal of billions of plastic bottles worldwide and the deaths of thousands of sea creatures like turtles, dolphins and whales who mistake bottles, along with plastic bags, for food. That might cause a few to splutter into their drinks.