- Drinking water to lighten skin and smooth wrinkles is a popular skin care hack on TikTok.
- A dermatologist debunked the myth and emphasized the importance of hydration.
- She also noted that swapping soda or caffeine for water might be the reason your skin improves.
Between retinol testimonials and skin cycling reviews, there is one skin care hack cropping up in every online skin care community: Drink more water.
A clear influencer they’ll claim it’s their biggest skincare secret, and top commentators are loath that the same trick won’t work for them. Some of the most popular skincare posts on Reddit will include before and after photos demonstrating the wonders of drinking more H2O, while your best memes and tweet screenshots scoff at this tip.
For one thing, it’s the most affordable skin care tip out there: water is easily accessible to most people in the US, and drinking enough of it is already crucial for good health. Besides, feel true, as if you were removing all the impurities that could clog your pores. But will drinking more really make acne go away and smooth out wrinkles?
“I’m one of those guys who thinks it’s a myth” Dr Cameron Rokhsara board-certified dermatologist and associate clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, he told Insider.
Your body is designed to tell you how much water you need.
“Our body’s thirst mechanism is quite robust,” Rokhsar said, noting that someone who has access to clean water is unlikely to be unaware that their body is telling it that it is thirsty.
As for drinking more than the recommended eight glasses of water a day: Rokhsar said it won’t give you much, other than more frequent trips to the bathroom. “Our kidneys are pretty good at determining the concentration of our urine,” he said, pointing out how clearer urine it just means there is more water in the urine. “If you drink too much water, you’re going to pee all of it anyway,” with no added benefit.
Further, Are there risks of drinking too much water?: Your kidneys won’t be able to process all that fluid, which can lead to life-threatening conditions like hyponatremia.
While your urine is pale yellowyou should be getting enough water by now.
Swapping sugary and caffeinated drinks for water could be the reason your skin is improving
One of the reasons why people’s skin lightens or smoothes with more water is that they also cut back on drinks like soda, sugary drinks, coffee, or tea.
According to Rokhsar, sugar is “pro-inflammatory” and can exacerbate acne, while caffeinated drinks are diuretics and will dehydrate you.
What is often missing from quick social media posts is how drinking water fits into the person’s existing habits. If you’re swapping Coke or iced tea with water (instead of just drinking more), you’re cutting back on substances that can make your skin worse.
Hydration is the key to true skin hydration.
It’s true that dry, dehydrated skin can lead to more prominent acne breakouts and wrinkles. Rokhsar said the best thing to do is to moisturize, particularly right after showering so that you can “trap the moisture” that’s still on your skin.
Using hydrating skin care products also helps you address your skin’s specific needs. For example, Rokhsar said that people with eczema have dysfunctional lipid barriers, which means their skin dries out much more easily. That’s why it’s important to find the right moisturizers or hydration routines like skin flooding to get the dew,”glass skin“Look at the water alone could never give you.
If you routinely forget to drink enough water a day, you can take one of those water bottles with the times marked on them. Drinking enough water every day is the foundation of healthy skin. It’s just not a magic bullet for everything else.
