The Importance of Water
Nearly three-quarters of Earth's surface is covered with water but many do not know its role and effect on life. Water is the most vital substance on this planet. Simply put, our existence depends on it. We can survive for weeks without food, but on average only about 100 hours without water. Water is the largest single constituent of the human body and is essential for cellular homeostasis and life. The quantity and quality of the water we drink have a dramatic impact on our health.
The human body is a water machine, designed primarily to run on water and minerals. Every life-giving and healing process that happens inside the body happens with water. In just the last decade, medical science has begun to focus more on the tremendous healing ability of the body and how much that ability depends on water. The body instinctively knows how and strives to sustain youthful longevity, and in its every effort, water is the key. The human body is made up of more than 70% water. The blood is more than 85%, the brain more than 80%, muscles more than 75%, and the liver is 96% water.
Some of the "basic" functions of water in the human body are: Delivering oxygen and nutrition to the cells; removal of carbon monoxide, toxins and waste material (detoxification) which helps dissolve minerals and other nutrients to make them accessible to the body; moistening of tissue (i.e. skin, mouth, eyes nose, lungs); protection of bodily organs and tissue; prevention of constipation; joint lubrication; and body temperature regulation.
Why Drink Water
Americans seem to carry bottled water everywhere they go these days. In fact, it has become the second most popular drink (behind soft drinks). Drinking water (either plain or in the form of other fluids or foods) is essential to your health. When your water intake does not equal your output, you can become dehydrated. Fluid losses are accentuated in warmer climates, during strenuous exercise, in high altitudes, and in older adults, whose sense of thirst may not be as sharp.
Reasons to make sure you're drinking enough healthy water every day:
1. The function of every cell in the body is controlled by electrical signals sent through the nervous system from the brain. Nerves, in reality, are an elaborate system of tiny waterways. If the fluid inside the nerves thickens due to dehydration or is contaminated with synthetic chemicals or toxic heavy metals like lead, the vital signals can get distorted. Many experts now believe that the distortion of these signals may be the root cause of many degenerative diseases and neurological illnesses including attention deficit disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, depression and even Alzheimer's disease.
2. Considering the major role that water plays in the function of the brain and nervous system, its purity is possibly the most basic and essential key to healthy longevity. Proper digestion and nutrient absorption depend on a healthy intake of water. In order for our bodies to get the nutritional value from the foods and supplements we eat, we must consume plenty of good water. Since sugars and carbohydrates are absorbed more rapidly, even a slight degree of dehydration can cause us to get calories without nutrition from the foods we eat.
3. Our energy level is greatly affected by the amount of water we drink. It has been medically proven that just a 5% drop in body fluids will cause a 25% to 30% loss of energy in the average person. A 15% drop in body fluids causes death! Water is what the liver uses to metabolize fat into usable energy. It is estimated that over 80% of the population suffers energy loss due to minor dehydration. An increased intake of healthy water will help metabolize and shed stored fat resulting in more energy and less fat.
4. Detoxification is probably the single most important component of long-term health and one that relies almost exclusively on an adequate intake of good water. Water is the body's only means of flushing out toxins, the key to disease prevention. In our industrialized chemical society, we are exposed to literally hundreds of harmful substances daily. Unfortunately, we can't keep toxins from getting into our bodies, but we can help our bodies get rid of them by drinking plenty of healthy water. The more water we drink, the more we allow the body to purify itself. Almost all degenerative disease is the result of toxins building up in the body.
5. The quality of the water we drink is equally as important as the amount. If water already contains chlorine and other chemicals, it has less ability to carry toxins out of the body. If we consume water that contains traces of synthetic chemicals, then we force our liver and kidneys to be the filter, ultimately damaging or destroying two of our vital organs. With an abundant intake of clean, healthy water we allow the body to perform all the healing processes that it is naturally capable of.
6. For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn't have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help. What works with weight loss is by choosing water or a non-caloric beverage over a caloric beverage and/or eat a diet higher in water-rich foods that are healthier, more filling, and help trim calorie intake. Food with high water content tends to look larger, its higher volume requires more chewing, and it is absorbed more slowly by the body.
7. Water Helps Energize Muscles. Cells that don't maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. When muscle cells don't have adequate fluids, they don't work as well and performance can suffer.
8. Skin contains plenty of water, and functions as a protective barrier to prevent excess fluid loss. By drinking plenty of healthy water it will helps keep the skin looking good and healthy. But don't expect over-hydration to erase wrinkles or fine lines. Dehydration makes the skin look more dry and wrinkled, which can be improved with proper hydration. But once one is adequately hydrated, the kidneys take over and excrete excess fluids.
How Much Water Should I Drink?
Although we are exposed to numerous warnings on the news, in newspapers and in magazines about the importance of drinking plenty of water, many people still do not consume the recommended minimum amounts each day. However, if you consider that up to 70% of a person's body weight is water, the importance of consuming enough water soon becomes obvious.
An increased intake of pure water will enhance virtually every aspect of better health.
For years we have been told that we should drink a "minimum" of 8 eight ounce glasses of water each day. If the goal is to maintain a minimum level of health this eight glass rule is correct. If the goal is to achieve an enhanced level of health, we must consume some level of water above our minimum daily needs.
The world we live in today is much different than it was 70 years ago when this rule was first published in medical journals. Each day we are exposed to a multitude of toxic chemicals and environmental pollutants that didn't exist 70 years ago. We live more hectic and stressful lifestyles. We consume processed and preserved foods. All these factors require an increased intake of healthy water to offset the damage.
Water is the body's only way to flush out toxins and wastes. The following table shows a recommended intake of water for enhanced health.
Hydration
The human body is 60-70% water and needs to be hydrated regularly by consuming water daily. Most people do not realize this and tend to reach for a soda pumped full of syrups and sugars for hydration. While soda may quench the dry throat symptom of thirst, it does not properly hydrate the body. The primary reason for this is the high quantity of sugar and sodium found in carbonated soft drinks, which counters the hydration of the water in it.
When water is 100% pure and free of contaminants, chemicals, and additives, consuming the proper daily amount may benefit your health in many ways (coupled with a healthy food diet), such as improving your energy, increasing your mental and physical performance, removing toxins and waste from your body, and allowing proper digestion to occur. Studies have shown that drinking pure water may also improve how you look due to the fact that it helps you maintain a proper body weight and keeps your skin healthy and glowing.
Water is especially important for pregnant women and nursing mothers (since they are drinking for two). For athletes or those who exercise regularly, drinking water reduces cardiovascular stress and improves performance. Water reduces body temperature making exercise safer and more effective.
Water is also important for people with a history of kidney stones. Since water dissolves calcium in the urine, consuming at least 8 glasses daily reduces the risk of stone formation. Drinking water is also valuable in preventing urinary tract infections in both men and women, flushing impurities out of the system.
Even mild dehydration may make you more susceptible to viruses. Do not wait to drink water when you feel thirsty because when you feel thirsty, most of the time, you are already dehydrated. So, drinking water habitually may increase your chances of fighting off colds and illness.
In addition, proper hydration may assist in:
- Weight loss
- Healthier skin and hair
- Faster recovery from physical activity
- Improved physical and mental performance
- Supporting the immune system to function optimally
Purity
How Clean is Your Water?
Just because water comes from the tap or in a bottle, does that necessarily mean it's clean?
No. Water purity varies greatly depending on the source and whether it's a purified, distilled, spring, mineral, artesian, or some other type of water. But how is water purity measured?
Water purity and quality are directly related to the amount of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) found in the water. This includes anything present in water other than the pure water (H20) molecule such as suspended solids like minerals, salts, or metals. TDS is expressed in units of milligrams per unit volume of water (mg/L), also referred to as parts per million (ppm). Dissolved Solids can come from 3 different sources 1) organic, 2) inorganic and 3) metals.
1. Some dissolved solids come from organic sources such as leaves, silt, plankton, and industrial waste and sewage. Other sources come from runoff from urban areas, road salts used on street during the winter, and fertilizers and pesticides used on lawns and farms.
2. Dissolved solids also come from inorganic materials such as rocks and air that may contain calcium bicarbonate, nitrogen, iron phosphorous, sulfur, and other minerals. Many of these materials form salts, which are compounds that contain both a metal and a nonmetal. Salts usually dissolve in water forming ions. Ions are particles that have a positive or negative charge.
3. Water may also pick up metals such as lead or copper as they travel through pipes used to distribute water to consumers.
The EPA Secondary Regulations advise a maximum contamination level (MCL) of 500mg/liter (500 parts per million (ppm)) of total dissolved soldis for safe drinking water. Numerous water supplies exceed this level. When TDS levels exceed 1000mg/L it is generally considered unfit for human consumption. A high level of TDS is an indicator of potential concerns, and warrants further investigation. Most often, high levels of TDS are caused by the presence of potassium, chlorides and sodium. These ions have little or no short-term effects, but toxic ions (lead arsenic, cadmium, nitrate and others) may also be dissolved in the water.
Tap Water
The Health Effects of Drinking Contaminated Water
The following report summarizes factual information on tap water quality and the effects of tap water on human health. For information on bottled water quality and the misconceptions surrounding it, refer to the lifestyle tab above.
The causes of tap water contamination are many, ranging from agricultural runoff to improper use of household chemicals and everything in between. Few of us realize the extent or impact of these low level synthetic chemicals in the water we use. While the standard use in our society of over 80,000 different synthetic chemicals has led to added convenience and productivity in our lives, these come at a tremendous price... drastic increases in degenerative disease. In the early 1900s, before the prevalence of chlorine, pesticides, herbicides and the tens of thousands of other chemicals that we are exposed to every day, the average American had a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer, today one out of three people can expect to get cancer in their lifetime, one out of two males.
Bottled Water
Bottled water has become one of the largest industries in the world. The public is concerned about tap water safety and quality, and, with much encouragement from the bottled water industry's aggressive marketing, views bottled water as a purer, safer option.
Sales and consumption of bottled water have skyrocketed in recent years. From 1988 to 2002, the sales of bottled water globally have more than quadrupled to over 131 million cubic meters annually. Bottled water sales worldwide are increasing at 10 percent per year, while the volume of fruit drinks consumed is growing less than 2% annually and beer and soft drink sales are growing at less than 1% per year. More than 50% of Americans drink bottled water occasionally or as their major source of drinking water.