Do you keep a glass of water next to your bed, refilling it every night without washing it? Or maybe you have a favorite water glass and use it for days, never bothering to put it in the dishwasher. After all, it’s just water, does it really need to be washed away?
According to doctors, Yes. In fact, failure to do so could lead to a nasty disease, they say. “Norovirus, which is a highly contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, can survive for a week or more in unwashed glass without proper cleaning,” Dung TrinhMD, founder of the Healthy Brain Clinic, says Better life. Read on to find out what he and other doctors have to say about the hygiene issues of using the same glass of water for a week (then go fill your dishwasher!).
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Drinking plenty of water is great for your body: A recent study linked good hydration habits to longer life and fewer chronic health problems. Sure, you have plenty of drink options when you’re thirsty (although you might want to avoid diet sodas), but water is the best choice you can make for your health. Going even a day without drinking water can lead to dizziness, fatigue, digestive issues, and more.
Nevertheless, it is important to take precautions with regard to the path You drink water. One of them, doctors say, is to make sure you’re not exposing yourself to harmful bacteria and inadvertently increasing your risk of disease by drinking from a dirty glass.
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Whether you use a refillable water bottle or prefer to drink from a regular glass, not washing it between refills is a common practice, doctors note. “Reusing the Same Glass Without Washing It Is Common in Many Homes,” Says Naturopathic Physician Pierre Devin, ND, founder of bioReigns. “Sometimes the ease of just filling our glass comes before thinking about the related hygiene issues.”
But some pretty gross things can happen if you get into this habit – and once you know them, chances are you’ll be scrubbing your water glasses a lot more often.
“If you use the same glass for a week without washing it, bacteria will start to grow on the surface of the glass,” Pierre-MichelMD, VUE’s Chief Medical Officer, says Better life. “It’s important to wash glasses frequently to prevent this buildup with soap and water, not just water alone.”
How about finishing the water and refilling it again? Will it protect you from bacteria? Trinh says no. “Even if you fill the same glass with fresh water, any bacteria present can multiply rapidly and become dangerous,” he explains, citing norovirus as one of the most nasty viruses that can live on a glass of water. unwashed water. And Stone says that over time, bacteria can create a colony called “biofilm.”
“Without washing and scrubbing these glasses, the bacteria remain harbored in the film, giving them the opportunity to reproduce and grow in numbers,” Stone says. “It exposes us to unwanted microbes.”
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Even if you regularly wash your glass of water, leaving water out can be problematic, according to all the doctors we spoke with. “A glass left in the open can be exposed to airborne bacteria from dust particles or other sources,” says Trinh. For that reason alone, keeping a water bottle with a lid on your bedside table might be the best idea. (It will also prevent spills, for the more accident-prone among us.)
Whatever container you use for your water, remember to replenish it with fresh H2O daily. “Bacteria can also grow in water if it’s not changed often in as little as a few days, so don’t leave uncovered water next to your bedside table,” warns Stone.