I'm working on my second 20 ounce bottle of filtered tap water!  (I use a brita filter only because the tap tastes too chlorinated for me) I believe that my water consumption has always benefited my overall health.  God knows, I've experienced dehydration from hikes and runs that have nearly lead me to the hospital! 

I have watched the debate for years:"you can't consume enough and then that reversal of "you can consume too much!"  As someone who has been into distance running and long hikes, the worst days I can have are those when I don't consume enough water!  When I work at Boston Marathon, which I have done for over 12 years, athletes drink to rehydrate. And to the general public it looks like an excessive amount. 

A few coaches ask them to do the liter test, where they have to pee into a liter bottle for a day to see if they can fill it to determine their hydration level. While this is the extreme, it is also interesting to note the ratio of food to water.  If an athlete is hungry, they often grab water first and eat second.  In the case of these fabulous marathon machines it is not about weight, but about keeping that precious machine, called the body, in good working order. Without proper hydration from plain water, their performance will suffer. I've never known athlete who had a healthy well balanced diet that didn't include ample amounts of water and come out on top for the effort!

So let's embrace some good from this and cheers (with a glass of water )!