Nigella, the aquaholic

She is a self-confessed “aquaholic” who has admitted in the past to drinking three litres of water before going to sleep at night.

Yesterday it emerged that “Domestic Goddess” Nigella Lawson has been repeatedly warned about the health risks of her excessive water drinking by family doctor Peter Wheeler.

The revelation from the 51-year-old TV cook’s brother, Dominic Lawson, follows recent criticism by Glasgow-based GP Dr Margaret McCartney of an NHS website suggestion that people should “try to drink about six to eight glasses of water a day to prevent dehydration”.

Mr Lawson, 54, wrote in the Sunday Times that “at the risk of breaking both medical and family confidences” he could “reveal that Dr Wheeler has frequently warned my sister about the risks to her health from an excessive intake of water”.

He went on: “Nigella admits to being an ‘aquaholic’”: it really is true that those who habitually drink many litres a day suffer the sensation of being thirsty, even when they are more than fully hydrated.”

Mr Lawson told how Dr Wheeler - who was Princess Diana’s private doctor - had saved the life of actor Anthony Andrews after he overdosed on water in 2003.

Andrews had been drinking five litres of water a day, believing it would keep his vocal cords fresh, while starring as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady in the West End. However, he became delirious backstage and Dr Wheeler’s speed at identifying the life-threatening cause helped him survive.

Dr McCartney had warned in the British Medical Journal that the NHS website recommendation “could be harmful in precipitating potentially dangerous hyponatraemia”, when too much water in the body excessively dilutes sodium levels. - Daily Mail