Home > Skin Myths > Skin Care Myths: Drinking More Water Will Hydrate Your Skin

Skin Care Myths: Drinking More Water Will Hydrate Your Skin

January 17th, 2008

This is a popular one, perpetuated by fitness and fashion magazines.

Only one study ever linked drinking water with skin hydration. That study used expensive mineral water, not plain bottled or tap water, and the study didn’t have a control group.small-glass-of-water.JPG

No study has ever shown regular water has any impact on your skin and no controlled study has ever shown that any type of drinking water has an effect on your skin.

From a physiologic perspective, drinking water could only have a negligible impact on your skin’s hydration. In fact, patients who have too much water in their tissues (edema) do not have healthy skin. For example, patients with venus insufficiency who have swollen, fluid filled legs have skin that is often dry, itchy, and scaly.

The amount of water in your skin after a 5 minute shower is magnitudes higher than you could achieve by trying to hydrate it from the inside out. The key is to apply a cream or ointment when your skin is still wet to seal in the moisture.

Then drink as little or as much water as you like.

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  1. kina
    August 12th, 2008 at 08:32 | #1

    Hi !
    I’m not sure about what the article says about the negligible impact on the skin by drinking water. Because my doctor said that when a person is dehydrated if you pinch the skin it is going to take longer time to go back in place (less elasticity) and the eyes of a dehydrated person will look more shallow (inside their holes) so I think that there is a huge impact on the skin by drinking water. average quantity for an adult: 2 l./day

  2. Virender
    September 23rd, 2008 at 01:57 | #2

    2L looks very small amount.

  3. Jessica
    May 4th, 2009 at 22:54 | #3

    Drinking plenty of water has made my skin beautiful. I get compliments on my skin every day. A week after drinking 60 oz a day, all my red spots disappeared, thin wrinkles vanished, and my skin looked dewy and beautiful. Because I drink water I do not need foundation.

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