"Will drinking water keep my skin moist?"  This was a recent question on the About.com website and the answer was so misleading - well just plain wrong - I feel compelled to put the record straight. 

According to About.com Drinking water has absolutely no effect on skin moisture levels.  Drink water if you want but only to keep your 'insides' healthy was the advice given.  

This is a very surprising answer since just about every dermatologist out there tells us we should drink water for skin health and to hydrate the skin. I did a quick review and found that respected dermatologists like Daniel Maes (Head of Research for Estee Lauder), Nicholas Perricone, Dr Murad and countless others less famous but no less qualified all say drinking water is important to keep skin hydrated.  And hydrated skin is younger looking skin as we all know.

The fact is skin - just like any other part of the body - is made up of cells. All the cells in our body are interconnected. You simply can't separate your 'insides' from your 'outsides' and say they are somehow different.

And skin cells like any other cell in the body are almost entirely made up of water. Without water the organs in the body - and the skin is the biggest - won't function properly.

Loss of hydration in the skin shows in all sorts of ways - dryness, tightness, flakiness. Dry skin has less resilience and is more prone to wrinkling. Water is essential to maintain skin moisture and is the vehicle for delivering essential nutrients to the skin cells. As water is lost in large quantities every day - it stands to reason you have to replace it somehow.

Taking water into the body by drinking sufficient during the day is important but most dermatologists will tell you that to maintain the skin's moisture levels you need to keep it there too.

 "The Water Principle is not just about drinking four, eight or 12 glass a day, its about getting water into cells and keeping it there"

Dr Murad, Clinical dermatologist and creator of Murad Skin Care 

Here's a quick summary of the main points of a recent interview with Dr Murad:

• drink water throughout the day at regular intervals
• eat fresh fruit and vegetables which add a lot of water to the diet as well as antioxidants and fiber
• drink milk and fruit juice as additional sources of water
• take essential fatty acid supplements like evening primrose oil or flaxseed
• take glucosamine supplements to hold moisture in cells
• use a good daily moisturizer

Another of my favoritie skin care advisers is Dr Todorov at Smart Skin Care Dr Todorov has a Phd in Biology and an MS in Molecular Biology, and between you and me - he knows a thing or two about skin.  Dr Todorov recently got asked the same question as About.com by one of the visitors to his site and here's what he had to say:

"It is true that drinking lots of water helps keep the skin moist. However, it is best to drink most of your water during the day, and not drink excessive amounts of fluids at night, particularly within 2 hours before going to bed. Otherwise, many people tend to get morning puffiness that promotes facial sag."

Dr Todorov 

That last point is a great tip for preventing puffy eyes - how many of us (me included) go to bed with a glass of water by the bed.  That's OK as long as you save it till first thing in the morning.

So - how did About.com get this so wrong? Difficult to say unless it's the common problem of of trying to say something startling or different to attract readers.

My view is simple.  So many skin care experts are unlikely to be wrong. If highly qualified people with real knowledge and experience tell me that drinking water helps to hydrate my skin - I'm going to believe them.   And anyway isn't that just what your plain old common sense tells you too?

Now - there's still a long time to go till bed-time - so where's that bottle of mineral water?

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