How much water do you drink?
It's long been a health belief that we've taken seriously and tried to adhere to, but is drinking eight glasses of water a day at all necessary?
According to a Australian academic, no.
People should be consuming two litres of fluids a day, including tea, coffee and juices from fruits and vegetables, explains Spero Tsindos, a researcher at La Trobe University.
"If you are feeling thirsty then drink by all means a beverage. It doesn't have to be water," Tsindos said in an editorial published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't drink water. I'm saying the need to drink two litres of water on a regular basis is a complete myth," he wrote.
He explained that the NHS had reinforced the notion that two litres or eight glasses of water a day was good for your health 'without any substantial evidence to support it'.
If people drink two litres of water in a hurry to make up their daily allowance it will not hydrate the cells that need it - but simply dilute the urine, he pointed out.
He said: "Thirty years ago, you didn't see a plastic water bottle anywhere - now they appear as fashion accessories.
"We should be telling people that beverages like tea and coffee contribute to a person's fluid needs and, despite their caffeine content, do not lead to dehydration."
It has also been implied that drinking water could help weight loss, reports the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
But Dr Tsindos said: "Drinking large amounts of water does not alone cause weight loss. A low–calorie diet is also required. Research has also revealed that water in food eaten has a greater benefit in weight reduction than avoiding foods altogether."
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