I don't see how drinking water before eating "aids digestion"

If anything, drinking water before eating dilutes your gastric juices which could negatively affect digestion. That's why the whole "drink a bunch of water with your meal to trick your body into feeling full!" is such a bad idea.

This is a hoax, scroll towards bottom of Snopes post.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/water.asp

WATER KILLS! 10000 out of 10000 people (100% mortality rate) had died. They all drunk water! :D

Way off base on nighttime urination (a/k/a nocturia), and I believe that the mechanism described in the email is incorrect.

It's much more likely to be a symptom of sleep apnea. From Stephen Park, MD's website:

"We’ve know for many years that frequent bathroom trips at night are not due to bladder or prostate problems, but mostly due to breathing pauses that make you wake up and and think that you have to go. Numerous studies have shown that most men and women who have to go to the bathroom often at night or have overactive bladders during the day actually have sleep apnea.

A new study confirms these findings again, but points out that the presence of frequent trips to the bathroom is as sensitive in predicting obstructive sleep apnea as snoring!

Sleep apnea also makes the body produce more urine, and because you wake up every few hours, you’ll want to go, but you won’t have a completely full bladder. Sudden shifts in blood flow into the heart after an obstructive event increases production of atrial natriuretic peptide, which makes you produce more urine. One study found that diluted levels of urine during these episodes is also predictive of having obstructive sleep apnea."

One study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8604961

Nocturia can also be caused by loss of the ability to elaborate a concentrated urine of low solute content in the nighttime hours, a sign of chronic renal disease or congestive heart failure. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK293/

Note that "water intoxication" from drinking too much water is a real phenomenon, and can be fatal: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1770067/

"Water intoxication can occur in a variety of different clinical settings but is generally not well recognised in the medical literature. The condition may go unrecognised in the early stages when the patient may have symptoms of confusion, disorientation, nausea, and vomiting, but also changes in mental state and psychotic symptoms. Early detection is crucial to prevent severe hyponatraemia, which can lead to seizures, coma, and death."

So you can send that back to your sister.

Eh, I'd ask her for some credible evidence; the email just makes a bunch of statements with no backup, so I don't think the burden of proof is on you!

I've come to believe that pretty much any chain email regarding health is most likely a hoax, especially when it has a lot of explanation points.

2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs

You know what activates the internal organs? Eating good food and getting some darn exercise. If either of those activities makes you thirsty, then by all means, drink some water :-)

And drinking water before going to bed to reduce leg cramping will have the opposite affect. You get nocturnal leg cramps due to a potassium deficiency, and adding more water to the blood will only dilute it. Same with drinking before a meal will dilute your stomach acids and not help in digestion. Seems like the article is BS.

2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs.

I believe this one somewhat. I don't think any of it sounds terribly credible, and even for the one I like, "activate internal organs" sounds kinda ridiculous.

Years ago when I had lower GI issues, I decided that training myself to have a BM at least once a day (and if possible in the morning) would be a good thing. I had read in some Ayurvedic literature that a cup of water left in a copper glass on the bedstand and drank in the morning could/would help these kinds of issues. Also, walking for a few minutes.

So I tried it for a while. Drank a glass of water, walked around doing a couple morning chores, and within 30 minutes, then soon 20, then soon 10 I would have a BM.

These days I hop out of bed, take a sip of water, and I'm ready to go. :-)

FWIW, working out in the morning both empty-of-bowel as well as fasted is a nice experience.

THERE MUST BE A LAW AGAINST STUPIDITY,EVEN SHEER GUILEBILITY!!!

This is on a different level of silly.

"2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs"

Oh God. I hope my internal organs don't deactivate every night!

Logically enough it sounds correct that water enters into our system and makes the blood thinner. Thereafter it goes to clean the kidneys. This means that we need not depend on blood thinning medicines like Ecospirin / Ecospirin gold where the later is prohibitive in cost. Kicking off the natural God given process why should we depend on the artificial medicines at a cost is the question? The saying that copious water if drunk would create undue pressure on the heart which is a burden to the heart, thereby causing failure needs correction. On the other hand, the heart will find it easier to pump because the water would act as a cleansing and thinning agent. No doubt the logic would go a step further to say that a heart patient should not suddenly resort to drinking copious water but increase the intake gradually over a period of time.

At least this way you get 4-5 glass of water in a day:)

So much good information. And yet I am always desperately seeking relief from severe nocturia. No real help so far, and I try to take all the obvious precautions, e.e., limit liquids after 6:00.

It gets even better (or worse, depending on how you look at it). Women who drank two or less glasses of something other than water – such as tea, a soft drink, or juice – had a 147% greater risk for a fatal heart attack than women who drank five or more glasses of water. (Guys, you had a 46% greater risk if you skipped the water for another drink.)

What kind of idiots post these kinds of things without first investigating their veracity?

No regimen in the universe will apply equally to each and every person who practices it. The gene pool is so varied and diluted that what applies to your own sister may work well for her and cause your demise. Standard practice for me is to do as much as I can and then rest, eat when I am hungry, run when I need to get fresh wind, bicycle on a pretty day, sleep when I am tired and enjoy what life there is in each day. I drink when I am thirsty and that is all. If the doctor disagrees then we shall put her impressions to the test; whoever lives longer owns the bragging rights. Over and out.

No not a hoax and Snopes did not say that. The Kale University lists the article on their site and it is word for word as in the "email". Maybe everyone should read this one.

Well Pilgrims you need to go to the well at least six glasses a day for the most efficient functioning of your bod. The health & wellness folk, MDs, exercise proponents etc have been touting water consumption for ever! Whut kin it hurt Pilgrims? Try it you might like it!