Beyond satire: “Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month. …NHS health guidelines state clearly that drinking water helps avoid dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.” [Telegraph] A writer in the Guardian defends the ban.
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If only I had known this during my marathon days. I could have shaved a few minutes off my time.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-84oly-trackwm1_dv5xzbgy.jpg,0,4129162.photo
I think that your statement that a writer in the Guardian defends the ban is a slight exaggeration, given the contents of the article.
Just when I thought the world couldn’t get any stupider. The Guardian article is *stunning* in it stupidity.
When reading the article by Martin Robbins in the Guardian defending the rule, I am reminded of the old saying “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”. If I were to say that his argument was pure sophistry I would be given him much more credit that he deserves.
Firstly, “regular consumption” of water doesn’t reduce the risk of dehydration any more than eating a pork pie a day reduces the risk of starvation. If I drink half a pint of bottled water while running through a desert in the blistering sun, I’ll still end up dehydrated, and if I drink several bottles today, that won’t prevent me from dehydrating tomorrow.
So this is what passes for a logical argument by the leftists defenders of the EU bureaucracy? I would expect a more cogent argument from a 8 year-old child.
While it has been known for some time that the intake excessive quantities of dihydrogen monoxide can cause death; it, dihydrogen monoxide, or fluids that are composed primarily of dihydrogen monoxide, is the only thing capable of preventing dehydration. Probably this dichotomy so flustered the great minds of the EU that their only choice was to take the negative. I’m a bit surprised that they didn’t ban dihydrogen monoxide outright, given that the majority of deaths of young women at the competition of arduous foot races is attributed to their consumption of only pure dihydrogen monoxide during the event.
The FDA will not permit drug companies to state that Vitamin C will prevent scurvy on their bottles or in their vitamin advertisements.
I have the impression that this is more about preventing medical claims on ordinary foodstuffs. No one with a brain doubts that consuming enough water is essential to staying alive. However, dehydration is a medical condition, and may require medical intervention.
No, dehydration is a biological condition, not a medical condition.