Water is of utmost importance in our daily diet. Our bodies need for water is second only to oxygen. Without enough water we can die in just a few days. Yet, with adequate water intake we can thrive. The significance of water has been greatly ignored and misunderstood in the minds of many. It is common in my practice to see people who have, for years, ignored their body’s need of water on a daily basis. Many people think that the water they get in tea or coffee is meeting their requirements. Others just simply say they don’t care for the taste of water. These individuals often present with degenerative arthritis and disc degeneration as well as headaches, fatigue, and digestive disorders not realizing that all these conditions can result from a condition of chronic dehydration. Even today many health professionals will still tell patients that the onset of dehydration is evident with thirst; which is not accurate.
Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., describes in his book, A Bodies Many Cries For Water, that there is a water delivery system in the body that parallels the operations of a hospital emergency room triage system.1 He explains how the body is constantly giving priority distribution to the more critical areas of our body. For instance, the brain is directing the function of all the other organs. It is composed of a higher percentage of water (85%) than the rest of the body, which is about 70% water. If there is a condition of chronic dehydration the body will give priority distribution to the brain and then the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys. This results in more severe dehydration in non-life or death areas in the body and can result in development of chronic degenerative diseases. Dr Batmanghelidj is known to have successfully treated many conditions without drugs but rather with increasing the body’s intake of water. In his book he describes his successful improvement of conditions like colitis, dyspeptic pain, hiatal hernias, rheumatoid arthritis pain, headaches, constipation, asthma, allergies, and lower back pain with only a increase of water consumption.
Water intake is a challenge for many due to lifelong habits to the contrary. I am thankful that as a child it was the primary liquid served at our meals. It has become a habit in my life to drink water and I enjoy it! It is energizing, an absolute requirement in clear thinking and a tremendous help in the maintenance of a youthful countenance. Adequate water intake is one of the easiest anti-aging solutions available to us. Furthermore, daily sufficient water consumption is a terrific way to maintain a healthy weight and is an appetite control aid.
How much water should we drink is a common question. The general rule of thumb, among many, is half your body weight in ounces daily. This of course needs to be adjusted in hotter climates and higher levels of physical exertion as well as with individuals who consume large amounts of substances like caffeine and alcohol, which increase the loss of water from the body.
Please consider the source of the water you are drinking. Water may look pure and clean but looks can be deceiving. Tap water has repeatedly been found to be loaded with toxic chemicals in numerous studies. The reason for this, according to the Kellogg Report in 1989 issued by the Institute of Health Policy and Practice, is the growth of industry in the twentieth century, which has been responsible for the introduction of complex pollutants in our water supplies.2 Water testing facilities have lagged behind in keeping up with the over abundance of these new chemicals that have been introduced into our environment. In addition, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the following chemical load is released yearly into our environment:
Over 500 million pounds of industrial chemicals are dumped into the pubic sewage systems.
More than a billion pounds of chemicals are released into the ground which can contaminate ground water aquifers which provide about 50% of the water supply for drinking.
Close to 200 million pounds of chemicals are discharged into surface waters. Rivers, streams and reservoirs are the source of the other 50% of drinking water.
Nearly 2.5 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are emitted into our atmosphere.3
Other environmental watchdog agencies have repeatedly reported violations of clean water standards in various locations throughout our nation.
Our water concerns should not just be limited to the barrage of industrial chemical pollutants. More common substances like the addition of chlorine and fluoride to water are issues we should be concerned with. Chlorine is not really a safe substance. When it combines with organic compounds it can form trihalomethanes, which have been linked to cancer, birth defects and miscarriages. It is important to remove the chlorine from the water we drink and shower in. This can be easily done with filtration devices at the kitchen sink and on the shower. Be aware that it is almost easier to absorb the chlorine in hot showers. In a hot shower, contaminants form a gas that is easily absorbed through the lungs, in addition through your skin. Fluoride is another known toxin, yet is added to our water supplies. It has been linked to bone loss and suppression of the thyroid gland. Additional toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and aluminum have been found to exceed standards in municipal water supplies.
What is the answer to this toxic soup? Water filtration within your home should be a strong consideration for health. I am not a fan of bottled water. Bottled water is considered by many to be the best alternative for household drinking water. I, as well as many other health providers, disagree. The regulation of bottled water does not exceed the standards of tap water. Water can be bottled and sit in the bottle for many months before it is consumed. Water is a universal solvent and it can dissolve the plastic of the container it finds itself in resulting in the leaching of toxic chemicals into the water. Water is generally bottled in plastics that are the easiest to recycle; they breakdown more rapidly than other plastics. (For this reason it is my suggestion to avoid purchase of liquids for consumption in plastic containers when possible.) The source of bottled water is often processed tap water. In 1999 the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned the FDA for higher bottling standards based on a four-year study performed on the bottled water industry. Their conclusion was that bottled water was not necessarily safer than tap.4 There are various types of water filtration devices available for the entire home as well as smaller devices limited to just the kitchen sink and showers. They range from reverse osmosis, distillation, and various types of carbon filters. All of the above are probably better alternatives than drinking or showering in tap water. There are pros and cons to each system. I prefer a system that filters well but in addition creates alkaline water. Let me explain.
It is important to remember that when considering healthy water impurity elimination is not the only criteria of good water. One of the most overlooked properties of drinking water is evaluation of its pH. The pH scale measures alkalinity and acidity. The scale ranges from 1 to 14. A pH reading of 7.0 is neutral with anything less than 7.0 is acidic and anything over 7.0 is alkaline. The further away from the 7.0 neutral, the more acidic or alkaline the pH reading. Our blood has a relatively constant pH of 7.4. A healthy body has tissues that are slightly alkaline. A majority of Americans have acidic tissues from poor diets, which include the practices of regular intakes of sugar, white flour, processed and fast foods, trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, as well as exposure to environmental toxins, pesticides, and heavy metals. Research has clearly documented a high correlation of tissue acidity with a higher probability of disease development especially that of cancer. Remember our bodies are 70-80% water. Properly pH balanced water is an essential requirement for health. Regularly drinking water with an acidic pH is counterproductive to your families’ health. When considering which water filtration device is best for your family, remember to consider the pH of the filtrated water.
Personally I use a duel water filtration system. First I use reverse osmosis (RO) which is one of the best filtration systems available. It filters out all of the pharmaceutical drugs and sunscreens (which have become more recent concerns) in addition to filtering out the other previously discussed toxins. The downfall of RO water is that it is acidic – clean but acidic. I then use an alkaline filter which adds minerals back into the water and creates an alkaline pH which is necessary for optimal health.
Make Sure You and Your Family are Daily Drinking Enough Clean Alkaline H2O !
References:
1. Batmanghelidj, M.d., F. Your Body's Many Cries for Water. 2nd ed. Vienna: Global Health Solutions, Inc., 1997.
2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1991. Toxics in the Community: National and Local Perspectives; The 1989 Toxics Release Inventory National Report, Office of Toxic Substances, Washington, D.C.
3. "Cause of Aging." Health Span Max. 15 Dec. 2007
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