These moisturizing pastilles who want to seduce despite an absence of interest
Opinion (with AFP)
Paris – For days of great heat, after an evening too watered or even to relieve headaches: effervescent pastilles promise to “boost” and “optimize” our hydration, but actually have no interest according to professionals. “My secret to go out every night without being tired: Hydratis, a lozenge that will hydrate your body,” says a tiktok user in a video seen more than 150,000 times. This alleged “remedy” for evening aftermath would also be useful for heat waves, according to many pharmacists who promote it on social networks. Well positioned next to the body in the pharmacies or cups in the corridors of the Paris metro, the hydration pastilles – the Hydratis brand in mind but also Waterdrop or LXIR – are inevitable this summer. Dissolved in a glass of water, these tablets – mixture of sugar, salt, potassium, chloride, magnesium and zinc – ensure offering “better hydration” and prevent the risk of dehydration. With the sale argument that the French would not hydrate enough. While the National Food Safety Agency (ANSES) recommends drinking between 1.5 and 2 liters of water per day, 78% of French people do not reach this recommendation, according to an IFOP survey carried out last June for the Hydratis brand. But this recommendation is only a benchmark and does not mean that three quarters of people are dehydrated, underlines the Dietician Violette Babocsay. “The food also brings about 1 liter of water because many products contain: fruits or vegetables, it is 80 to 90% of water, red meat is 60 to 70% of water,” she specifies to AFP. “Pure and simple marketing” depending on the brands, their pastilles would also compensate for the loss of electrolytes via perspiration, more abundant in athletes or days of heat. However, “it is not after 30 minutes of sport that you need electrolytes”, nuance Ms. Babocsay. “This can be useful for marathonists who run for 4 hours and cannot eat, but a normal person recovers electrolytes in their diet,” she explains. “Even for workers exposed to heat – who will sweat several liters of water -, the general idea remains that this is not necessary,” adds to AFP Basile Chaix, research director at Inserm. In any case, to stay hydrated, nothing beats a glass of water, insist the professionals. For Arnaud Cocaul, a nutritionist doctor, these pastilles therefore have “no interest”, and their promises are “only pure and simple marketing”. And with their playful aspect, it fears that these products will move fundamental principles. Kiwi flavors, fishing or wood fruit: “By getting into the habit of adding aromas, people can no longer drink water, and that’s a problem,” points out the doctor. “False beliefs” on his side, Violette Babocsay protests against the idea of adding sugar and salt in water “while people are already consuming too much, it makes no sense”. The young woman, who attacks nutrition disinformation on her Instagram account @Violette.diet, also denounces “false beliefs” on which these brands surf. Like those who want “that water is not enough for optimal hydration or if you are thirsty, it is that you are already dehydrated, and that that’s why you are tired or that you can have a headache”. Which is “completely false”. Just like the conviction that the more you drink, the better, according to the dietician, which recalls that it is as dangerous to be too hydrated as not enough. For Basile Chaix, by pretending to “optimize hydration”, these pastilles can even have “perverse effects”. “People may think that a glass of water with a lozenge is more effective and therefore less paying attention to hydrate,” warns the researcher. And even without direct danger to consume these products, it is for Arnaud Cocaul of a “bad public health signal”. Chloé Rabs © Agency France-Presse