Avoid dehydrating drinks such as tea, Coca-Cola and coffee – if you do drink them, compensate with an extra glass of water.Where you get your water from makes a difference too. Recent research has found tap water to contain up to 6,000 chemicals including pesticide residues, oestrogen-mimicking molecules and residues from as many as 60 commonly used pharmaceutical drugs.Filtered and mineral water is purer, but according to Derek McConnell, director at the Pure H2O Company, even bottled water can contain heavy metals such as arsenic and cadmium and other chemical impurities. Carbon filters improve the taste of tap water by removing some chemicals, but many remain. The best source of water for the body, he insists, is rainwater. "It has a lower surface tension so is 'wetter' – the water molecules enter cell membranes more easily, so hydrate your body at a deeper level," he says.Fine for those who've nothing better to do than stand in the rain with a bucket. But what about normal people? For a similar price to bottled water, there are water purification systems, McConnell explains, that create the equivalent of your own rainwater, on tap.

Fitted under your sink, they eliminate all known chemical impurities and heavy metals through a process called reverse osmosis. The filters also remove water's negative charge – a property that makes red-blood cells clump together.As for your water requirement, a key yardstick is urine colour If it's dark yellow, you're probably not drinking enough. If it's virutally colourless and you're on the toilet all the time, you might be overdoing it. Don't cut down too much though – according to Holford, peeing releases endorphins, feel-good chemicals in the brain. It makes you high. For further info on water purification contact the Pure H2O Company on 01784 221188 or go to www.purewater.co.uk. "What do unemployed pop stars do?" ponders Kim Wilde on an unseasonably sunny afternoon in Hertfordshire. "That question haunted me throughout the Eighties." She's lovingly tending to a basket of what, to my ignorant eyes, are giant dandelions but to Wilde are something far more exotic.

And the answer to her question, in Wilde's case at least, is lovingly tending to baskets of giant dandelions For money On telly. "What do unemployed pop stars do?" ponders Kim Wilde on an unseasonably sunny afternoon in Hertfordshire. "That question haunted me throughout the Eighties." She's lovingly tending to a basket of what, to my ignorant eyes, are giant dandelions but to Wilde are something far more exotic. And the answer to her question, in Wilde's case at least, is lovingly tending to baskets of giant dandelions For money On telly. She knows her stuff, does Kim She's studying Gardening History at the local college. Last year she designed 20 gardens, this year she's done 25, and her own, of course, is immaculate.