The Wonders of Water
Are you dehydrated?
The sub-title of Dr. Batmanghelidj’s “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water “ expresses an often forgotten but fundamental truth; simply put “you’re not sick, you’re thirsty”.
In captivity and in poor conditions at Evin prison in Teheran, the resident physician having nothing else to assist sick prisoners, found that the treatment with several glasses of water taken at prescribed regular intervals often relieved chronic symptoms.
Batmanghelidj subsequently found through research that water prevents and helps cure1 :
heartburn
arthritis
back pain
angina
colitis
asthma
high blood pressure
adult-onset diabetes; and
lowers blood cholesterol
WHAT DOES WATER DO IN THE BODY
Up to 75% of the body's weight is made up of water. Water is thus the critical element of the body and adequate hydration is a must in order to allow the body to function adequately.
All the below processes commonly function in water:
Nerve impulses
Acid and digestive enzymes for digestion
Hormones
Blood circulation; and
can only do so effectively in this particular medium.
“Nerve impulses cannot transmit their messages efficiently if they are not properly hydrated.
If circulation is lacking in volume; it simply does not deliver oxygen, nutrients and other essential substances to the tissues as well as it might. Poor circulation to the kidneys means that toxins are less readily removed from the system. Dehydration jeopardizes all of the most basic processes and systems in the body.”2
HOW DO YOU GET DEHYDRATED?
It does not take much fluid loss from the body for it to impact on our well-being. There is evidence that as little as 1 per cent dehydration (about 500mls of fluid for a 70Kg adult) can impair the body’s physiological and biochemical processes.
Through activities of daily living, the average person loses about 3- 4 liters (about 10-15 cups) of fluid a day in sweat, urine, exhaled air and bowel movement. What is lost must be replaced by the water we drink and the food we eat. We lose approximately 1-2 liters of water just from breathing. The evaporation of sweat from the skin accounts for 90% of our cooling ability.
Exercise, sweating, diarrhoea, temperature, or altitude can significantly increase the amount of water we lose each day.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE DEHYDRATED?
If you are thirsty, it means your cells are already dehydrated. A dry mouth should be regarded as the last outward sign of dehydration. That’s because thirst does not develop until body fluids are depleted well below levels required for optimal functioning.
Monitor your urine to make sure you are not dehydrated:
- A hydrated body produces clear, colourless urine.
- A somewhat dehydrated body produces yellow urine.
- A severely dehydrated body produces orange or dark-colored urine.
The effects of even mild dehydration include decreased coordination, fatigue, dry skin, decreased urine output, dry mucous membranes in the mouth and nose, blood pressure changes and impairment of judgment. Stress, headache, back pain, allergies, asthma, high blood pressure and many degenerative health problems are the result of UCD (Unintentional Chronic Dehydration).
HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED TO DRINK? WHEN TO DRINK?
For average day to day needs, we should aim to consume about 30mls of water for each kilogramme of our body weight. A 70Kg adult should drink just over 2 litres (30 x 70 = 2100ml =2.1litres). Drink more if it’s hot. During exercise, such as playing sport on a hot summer day, you can lose up to 2 liters per hour of fluid per hour.
WHAT SHOULD WE DRINK? WHAT SHOULDN’T WE DRINK?
We are designed to drink pure, natural water.
- Avoiding sodas/soft drinks to provide your fluid needs. The high sugar content and artificial flavors in soft drinks are harmful to your health.
- Tea, coffee, soft drinks contain water; but the diuretics contained in these caffeinated beverages flush water out of your body. Don’t count on them to replenish fluid loss.
- It is OK to drink artificial drinks occasionally; but if you drink them constantly and don’t drink enough pure natural water you are severely compromising your long-term health.
- Natural pure water is the best choice. If you are committed to a healthy lifestyle and long-term health; make water a habit and a priority in your life.
In a study it was found that increased fluid consumption reduced the risk of colon cancer in women. This association was true only for water; not even fruit juice appeared to have a protective effect.
CAN WE DRINK TOO MUCH WATER?
Ironically, drinking too much water depletes you of minerals as your kidneys flush these out whilst producing urine, and you can feel weak and fatigued. Thus don’t drink too much water. As so often in life, the right balance is important.
DRINKING TIPS FOR HEALTHY HYDRATION:
Start your morning’s right: Morning is when you are most full of toxins and dehydrated. Reach for a big glass of water as a first in the morning – even before coffee. This water in the morning really gets the blood flowing.
· Drink a glass of water when you get up and another when you go to bed.
· Take regular water break breaks.
· Avoid relying on sodas to provide your fluid need.
· Drink water before and after food; ideally drink a glass of water half an hour before you eat your meal and half an hour after the meal. You can drink water with meals..
You should always drink water prior to eating, and after eating. This to support the digestive process. The stomach depends on water to help digest food, and lack of water makes it harder for nutrients to be broken down and used as energy. The liver, which dictates where all nutrients go, also needs water to help convert stored fat into usable energy. If you are dehydrated, the kidneys turn to the liver for backup, diminishing the liver’s ability to metabolize stored fat. The resulting reduced blood volume will interfere with your body’s ability to remove toxins and supply your cells with adequate nutrients.
Keep a water bottle by your side. Use filtered water and carry it with you everywhere, to the gym, in your car, to your office. Start by adding water to your daily regiment, during the first week, and then incorporate more as needed. The point is not to wait until you’re thirsty to drink. A great idea is to use a “Cheeki” stainless steel water bottle; as plastic tends to leach petrochemicals into the water.
CREATE YOUR OWN “LIVING WATER”
Natural water is a living medium, an essential life force and source, containing many essential trace elements including minerals and oxygen. It is important to note that while filtration may be useful in filtering out harmful elements such as fluoride; too harsh filtration leaches out these essential elements and you are left with “dead” water. In drinking, this in turn re-claims lost elements and oxygen from your body before exiting , in fact depriving you of essential elements. If you are looking to turn your tap water into purified, oxygenated, ionized, and pH Balanced water go to http://www.thefountainhead.co.za/therapywaterionizer.asp for more information on the “Alphion Water Ionizer”.
You can optimize your drinking water by drinking it at a cool temperature. Near 4ºC is optimal as this is when it is densest and has the best carrying ability. You can also give it a good swirl with a spoon and allow it to reform its natural vortex structure (water in fact has its own memory composition) before swallowing it down. You can even energise water utilizing colour vibration. Amazingly, in placing water into a glass of a specific colour or surrounding the glass with a paper of that colour and then placing same in the sun for the day; water will re-energize. Example: drinking a glass of solarised red water is great in encouraging vitality, creativity and for healing of blood disorders.
References:
2. Ultimate Health by Dr John Briffa ISBN 0718144988
Recommended web articles to read:
http://www.thefountainhead.co.za/waterionizer/whatiswater.asp
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