Water-sipping quiz contestants 'ruin their chances'
Quiz show contestants who take sips of water between questions may be ruining their chances of striking it rich.
A new study suggests that drinking too much water can impair mental performance in challenging situations.
Psychologist Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol, reached his conclusions after testing the reactions of 60 volunteers by asking them to press buttons in response to prompts on a screen.
Participants either drank nothing before the test or had a cupful of tap water chilled to 10C.
Dr Rogers' team found that people who were thirsty at the start of the test and took a drink performed 10% better than those who drank nothing.
However, the hit rate of those who were not thirsty to begin with dropped by 15% after a drink. The researchers concluded that drinking too much water might affect one's ability to perform intellectually-demanding tasks.
Their findings, published in the journal Appetite, have been reported by New Scientist magazine.
They suggest that drinking water on quiz shows such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? might not be a good idea.
