At any given time the human body is about 75-85% water. You require water for basic metabolic functioning – to energize, to maintain health and to heal. Water also conducts electricity. You may not realize it, but we are electrical beings, just consider your nervous system. In order for every system and cell in the body to work, you must have enough healthy water.

Water has two basic functions: (1) To give life and (2) to sustain life.

Many illnesses are rooted in chronic dehydration – one controversial example is juvenile diabetes where the insulin producing cells of the pancreas are sacrificed as a result of chronic dehydration. Others are cardiovascular disease, childhood asthma and other autoimmune issues that can even lead to autoimmune issues and cancer in adulthood.

Your Body’s Many Cries for Water – You’re Not Sick; You’re Thirsty, is an interesting book on the subject of water and correct hydration. The author explains that when you feel tired or even exhausted it is a signal from your body that something is out of balance, and often times a lack of water is the reason – here are just some of the bodily issues that are often due to dehydration:

  • Headaches
  • Aching muscles & muscle cramps
  • PMS
  • Exhaustion
  • Foggy thinking
  • Mood swings
  • Dry hair
  • Dry Skin
  • Nails breaking easily
  • Dry vaginal area
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • High blood pressure

If you have these symptoms — you might want to adjust your water intake, it is likely to be a part of the problem.

The first sign of dehydration is fatigue and moodiness. We need to replenish about 3% of our body weight in water daily. A quick way to calculate it is to divide your weight in pounds by two and that’s the number of ounces you need to drink daily for basic metabolic function. For example, if you weigh 150 lbs, you need a minimum of 75 oz of spring water per day. If you drink coffee, tea, or soda, then you will need more to compensate for the diuretic and toxic load. If you are physically active, you will also need more to feed the extra metabolic load. If you exercise for 30-60 minutes, you must increase your water intake by about 16 ounces. A healthy adult’s kidneys can handle approximately 8 oz of water every 30 minutes. The next time you feel tired you should reach for a tall glass of clean water.

Here are a few tips to get you started to maximize the benefits of drinking water:

Tip # 1: Drink 8-16 ounces of water upon waking up. It’s best to start the day off right, with 1 quart of water upon rising, and at least 30 minutes before breakfast. This can promote a bowel movement and begin hydrating you immediately.

Tip #2: Drink between meals, and on an empty stomach. Don’t drink too much at meals, only a small glass for supplements, etc. It dilutes stomach acid and inhibits digestion.

Tip #3: Store and carry your water in either glass or stainless steel. Avoid plastic water bottles of all kind. Even BPH free bottles contain other chemicals that leach into the water and cause harm, especially hormone imbalances, exhaustion, memory issues and even cancer.

Tip #4: Avoid certain tap waters. Here are some of the disadvantages of tap water. These include contamination with metals and toxic chemicals, and the addition of more toxic chemicals used to sanitize the water. Among the contaminants are small quantities of toxic metals and hundreds of toxic chemicals depending on the location. Another important contaminant is the residue from dozens of medical pharmaceutical drugs that aren’t removed at the municipal water plant, and go right back into our drinking water. Arsenic and lead, which are found in many pesticides and herbicides, also find their way into the wells and other water supplies.

Medical drugs in tap water: Today, most city water also contains residues of many medical drugs that do not break down fast enough and are recycled in the water supply. This is a complete horror that has not received nearly the publicity it deserves. Most medical drugs including many antibiotics, heart medicines, birth control pills, and hundreds of others pass right through the body unaltered.

Tip #5: Contrary to popular belief, Fluoridated water is NOT good for us. Fluoride is a toxic chemical added to water. It isn’t actually pure fluoride but hydro-fluosilicic acid, and only about 30% fluoride. It is a waste produce from toxic fertilizer factories. It binds to receptor sites on your thyroid gland so that the natural hormones aren’t able to, and you may get thyroid disease or other symptoms such as exhaustion, hair loss, weight gain, dry skin and constipation.

Chlorination of tap water is also harmful: It’s used to remove bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. In America, almost all city water companies add chlorine to their drinking water and it works, but with terrible side effects or “other effects”. Chlorine is highly toxic to humans and animals. Would you ever take a sip of chlorine? First it would burn you and then create toxic damage to your body. Some research has shown that the chlorination of drinking water correlates to a drastic rise in heart disease. It also likely contributes to cancer and other serious illnesses.
Alternative: Ozone. A few American cities including Los Angeles, and some parts of Europe, use ozone to purify their water supply. Ozone is O3, known to kill almost all pathogenic organisms. It is however an unstable form of Oxygen and doesn’t last as long as chlorine does in water. It is much safer than chlorine and also less expensive. I hope it comes into wider use in municipal water facilities as scientists admit the harmful effects of chlorine.

Check back next week for five additional tips and everything you need to know about the benefits of drinking water, plus the best type of water for you to drink.

Blessings of Vibrant Health,

Kristin Grayce McGary

Health & Lifestyle Alchemist