Water, Water, Everywhere

Water is immensely important to our bodies. It makes up about 66-75% of our bodies, similar to the earth's surface and most living creatures and plants. Every cell processes requires water and humans can not survive more than 2 to 3 days with water.

Water is an unusual molecule which is an ideal carrier of organic and inorganic substances, which is ideal for bodily processes. The downside of water being both widespread and an excellent solution for dissolving is that it is easily contaminated on it's way from the groundwater through our water systems and to our taps. The best drinking water is contaminated with at least 350 ppm of toxic contaminants per million of water. The worst is estimated to be 1000 parts per million. And for each part per million of toxin the body must filter the entire body's amount of water. Remember that approximately 3 pounds per person per year of agricultural chemicals are dumped into the groundwater in the US, and the amount is likely to be similar for other industrialized countries. Industry also deposits it's share into the groundwater. As many as 500 new toxic chemicals are found in tap water in addition to the 12 000 new toxins introduced in the past 20 years.

Current water supply systems do not allow for the removal of these substances, and they usually add chlorine, which is adds to the chemical load. (Chlorine contamination is an issue in itself, since it has been linked with coronary disease and strokes via cholesterol interaction.) It is pretty much impossible to fully understand the implications of such contamination on health, since data is most certainly incomplete and the data that does exist is often characterized by uncertainty.

What is certain is that even substances that are helpful in a low concentration, such as calcium, magnesium and the other trace minerals, are usually not beneficial in a large amount. It should be said, however, that the U.S. National Academy of Sciences have shown that there is an inverse relationship between water hardness and mortality from cardiovascular disease, meaning that persons drinking soft water, which is deficient in magnesium and calcium generally appear more susceptible to disease. Soft water has also been linked to elevated rates of cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), cerebrovascular disease and cancer.

What should you do about your drinking water?

City water, in my opinion, should be appropriately filtered to remove the bulk of toxic substances if possible. The best way to do this is with a high efficiency distillation or carbon filtration. The cheaper but less effective method is to use a gravity filter jug like that on the market today or a tap filter. If you draw water from awell, get it analyzed for contaminants, particularly if you are near agricultural activities.

Purchased mineral water is not evaluated for these contaminants, as a caution, and I do not know enough about contamination in these waters to recommend against their use, but I would not make them my primary water source unless I knew that information.

What must also be kept in mind is that as noted above, water is often the source of minerals that have a directly positive effect on the health of the population that consumes them . There have been a few studies, however, that show that you absorb organic minerals from your food more efficiently when the water you drink is purified. So you will have to decide for yourself based on the information that you receive from the supplier of the water.

The Effects of Inadequate Water Consumption

Inadequate water consumption is implicated in many conditions. Conditions that will often respond to appropriate water intake include:

Constipation
Lower back pain
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Diabetes
Headaches
Asthma
Allergies
Colitis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Depression
High blood pressure
High blood cholesterol
Alcohol dependency
Neck pain

Many people are taking medications when they are really just dehydrated. They have no idea that they are dehydrated, as the symptoms are not obvious.

Many diseases of the elderly are often caused by the consequences of a settled-in dehydration. These may be prevented with proper water drinking.

Water and Your Weight

Water can be an important part of maintaining an appropriate weight. Many people find themselves snacking throughout the day; in fact, I have seen patients for whom this is the primary weight control issue. The problem is, that often such individuals are mistaking thirst with the need for a snack. Once they got used to drinking some water, waiting twenty minutes and THEN seeing if they were still hungry, they find that the urge to snack is gone! When you think about it, it takes a lot of snack food to satisfy your thirst - snack foods are often dry and filled with salt, which just makes us more thirsty as water is drawn away by the body's dealings with the salt being ingested.

Water and Toxins

Water is incredibly important for removing wastes from the body. Think of it this way: you wouldn't try to clean the floor with soda pop. If you did, it would be all sticky. Water that is just plain water is different than water with sugar and flavors and colors in it.

Drinking water

You should drink a minimum of 64 fluid ounces of water per day, and 8 ounces more for every 20 or so pounds overweight. That is, PLAIN water, preferably filtered.

And if you are exercising, you will require more to replace the sweat you're producing, which can be an astounding amount of water! Drink every 15-20 minutes as you exercise to keep hydrated.