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Introduction To Good Hydration

As strange as it sounds most of us are walking around in a state of dehydration. A person of average size should be drinking some three liters of water each day, which is a lot of water. How much do you drink that each day, have you ever measured it ? Try an exercise, measure the fluids you take in for just one typical day, the chances are you will find your total intake is about three liters is you live in the industrialized west, now measure how much of that is plain water, and for every 250ml of tea, coffee, soda or alcohol you drink subtract the same amount from your measured water intake, because what you are left with is your effective hydration.

Fact 1: Tea, coffee, sodas, and alcohol do NOT hydrate you, they dehydrate you, for every one of these subtract 250-300ml of water from your effective daily intake.

Fact 2: The training of Doctors does NOT teach them that water is the only effective hydrator of the body, it does not teach them that fluids do not equal hydration, only water does.

There is a further problem in that many of the fluids we consume actually have a dehydrating effect on us, so while we maybe drinking the result is a net loss of fluid, tea, coffee and alcohol for instance. Soda's are another source of problems for our body's, while they put in fluid there are almost always so acidic that they cause us far more harm than good, and that is before you consider the effect of all the sugar they contain. One can of 330ml (11fl oz ) of cola can make you body so acidic that it would take TWENTY FIVE LITRES of water to correct the Ph balance.

Being properly hydrated is key to the long term good health of the human body. Many of the chronic illnesses we suffer are the result of the build up of toxins, and the chemical and alkaline balance (Ph) of the body. You will have seen us quote' We are what we eat ' but we are also in a very large part what we drink.

Read about the hidden traps in your tap water here

Read about Ionised water - the best possible water you can drink

Ten Reasons Why We Need Water

1. We can live for weeks without food, but only a few days without water.
2. Dehydration is a common cause of minor health complaints such as lethargy, headaches, mood swings, muscle cramps, cystitis and constipation.
3. Water is one of the best natural beauty aids, and helps to moisturize dry skin. In a very real sense good hydration reduces the effects of aging on the skin and supportive tissues.
4. Like yoghurt, natural mineral water is a live product containing probiotics (or good bacteria), which we need to survive.
5. Over 85% of the brain is water: effective hydration helps us concentrate, feel brighter and perform better.
6. Water is essential for regulating our internal organs. Every function in the body requires water: digestion, absorption, circulation, and excretion.
7. Drinking water helps our bodies build new tissues efficiently and reduces the risk of toxins building up In our bloodstream.
8. Drink water to keep your kidneys happy, your urine should be a pale straw colour not dark — if it’s light it’s all right.
9. Lack of water combined with our very acid modern diet results in our body's becoming acidic. A diet high in acid foods such as meat, dairy, grains, high sugar fruits, and bread, causes acid wastes to build up in the body. When acid wastes enter our bloodstream, the blood system will attempt to dispose of these wastes in liquid form through the lungs or the kidneys. If there are too many wastes to handle, they are deposited in various organ systems like the heart, pancreas, liver, colon, and other locations. The breakdown of this disposal process of acid waste could also be called the aging process. To slow down and reverse this process, one must begin by removing this over-acidification of the blood and tissues by including liberal amounts of alkaline water in the diet. Alkaline water has a pH between 9 and 11, and will first neutralize harmful stored acid wastes and gently remove them from the tissues.
10. Drinking water before a meal helps fill the stomach and reduces the risk of overeating - it’s easy to confuse hunger and thirst. In fact prolonged and chronic dehydration adjusts the body’s physiology so that eventually it makes you feel hungry when you are in fact thirsty resulting in you over eating and driving the cycle even deeper.

Important Note **: ALL medical conditions are in some and to a greater or lessor degree impacted by poor hydration. We also age more quickly when poorly hydrated because cellular metabolization waste products are not flushed adequately from the body causing us to ' rust ' (oxidize) faster.

Cholesterol & Water

At a cellular level water literally holds our cells together (we are 75% water), however when we become dehydrated there is not enough water for the cells to use so the body starts seeking alternatives. The alternative to using water for binding is cholesterol so the body starts making more cholesterol. It is little surprise then that we start gaining weight and cholesterol levels climb. You may wonder why if you body needs water that you do not feel thirsty, but the truth is that you do, at least initially. In our modern world we tend to deal with thirst by drinking coffee /tea drinks, sodas, and alcohol, but these do not satisfy our need for fluid, they merely deal with the thirst while at the same time having a net dehydrating effect on us, so our body makes still more cholesterol. Eventually our thirst response is overcome while we are still dehydrated and so our body resorts to it's next level of desperation and increases our appetite and so many people start to spiral toward obesity.

Hydrating Yourself Properly

General

To get the most health, enjoyment, and safety out of your water, here are some additional family water tips:

Drink water-rich foods. Many foods, such as juice, soups, fruits, vegetables, and milk are 80 to 90 percent water. While it's healthier to get in the habit of drinking a lot of plain water it can be hard to drink it all the time, especially for children, but you should be aware that soft drinks /sodas such as Cola, so called fruit drinks etc are for the most part full of sugar and chemicals, as well as actually being dehydrating agents – READ HERE.

Watch out for water robbers. Caffeine-containing coffee, teas, and colas, along with alcoholic beverages, as these have a diuretic effect, causing your body to eliminate more water. This precaution is especially important if your hydration is already marginal, such as while you are exercising or if you are sick. Sugared drinks can also rob you of water, since sugar may lessen the absorption of water from the intestines. Drinking large amounts of juices that are high in sorbitol (such as prune and pear juice) or even overdosing on apple juice can produce diarrhea and increase water loss from the intestines.

Make water your fluid companions. Get in the habit of taking along a bottle of water when you ride your bike, drive in the car, and especially when you go on outings with active, thirsty toddlers. When water is close at hand in your purse, diaper bag, or front seat, you're likely to drink more of it. Keep a glass of water or water bottle on the night stand next to your bed and drink 300ml as soon as you get up.

Provide plane water. While traveling in, especially in airplanes, you may notice that your nose and mouth become dry and your breathing harder, you may notice you are feeling tired and thinking less clearly - what is happening is that you are getting dehydrated. The dry cabin air has only around seven percent humidity, which dries out your breathing passages and sucks water out of your body as it tries to moisturize them. Ffill up with at least two glasses of plain water or juice around 1/2 hour before boarding the plane. Always carry some bottled water in your carry-on bag. Avoid alcoholic or caffeinated drinks while flying since as diuretics they contribute to dehydration. Adding water to your body during plane travel stimulates frequent treks to the bathroom, but even these trips down the aisle are good for your body.

Try waterless meals. It's best not to consume too much fluid with meals. The body normally produces its own fluids to help digest food, beginning with saliva in the mouth and digestive juices in the stomach and small intestine. Drinking too much fluid with a meal can dilute these natural digestive juices, contributing to indigestion, so it is better to drink most of your fluids between meals. However alcoholic beverages, such as wine, which are best consumed with food, since the food in the stomach and intestines slows the absorption of alcohol, minimizing blood sugar swings and reducing the risk of intoxication. If you like water with meals, it's best to drink a little room-temperature water, ice water slows digestion. If you do get indigestion it is better to buy some digestive enzyme capsules from your health food store than use the indigestion remedies so heavily pushed by advertising – SEE HERE for more information.

Start you day with water, beginning your day with several glasses of water rehydrates you after the night when you sweat off surprisingly large amounts of fluids and helps your body begin the day in better biochemical balance.

Alkalise your body - drink alkised / ionised water and follow a more alkaline diet, see the Alkalising page for more information.

Children

Water contributes to health by helping the kidneys flush toxins out of the body. If you keep your kidneys are working optimally, other organs of the body, especially the liver, are more in balance. Teach your children to acquire a taste for water, our bodies are more than 50 percent water, we need to continually replenish our fluids. We always have cool, filtered, ionized water readily available for are children throughout the day. We keep it in a a special cobalt blue glass pitcher in the refrigerator and that pitcher is always washed separately from everything else and takes center place on the table at each meal. This makes it seem more special and conveys to the children the level of importance that we attach to it’s contents. It is a small psychological trick but it has worked very well, as does an attractive cup or glass and maybe some ice cubes or a twist of lemon peel.

Lower your body PH and protect your health; Read More Here

There are hidden traps in tap water; Read More Here