Drink to Your Health
Proper hydration is essential for a healthy immune system and at this specific point in time concerning the global pandemic it is of paramount importance for us all.
Even mild dehydration can decrease…
“Water your roots, so your soul can blossom.”
Life cannot exist without water!
Proper hydration is essential to a healthy life. Water comprises over two-thirds of our body weight and is one of the most essential elements of maintaining well-being. Water is important in every physiological process. Water helps your body with circulation, assimilation, digestion, elimination, and temperature control.
Researchers estimate that about 75% of Americans are chronically dehydration. This can lead to many health issues such as fatigue, joint pain, headaches, weight gain, type 2 diabetes, ulcers, and high blood pressure. Chronic dehydration may affect your organs and lead to kidney stones, cholesterol problems, constipation, and liver and muscle damage.
Water and Immune Function
Proper hydration is essential for a healthy immune system and at this specific point in time concerning the global pandemic it is of paramount importance for us all.
Even mild dehydration can decrease salivary rate and decrease the concentration of salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA), which is one of the first lines of defense of the immune function on pathogens.
Maintaining healthy skin is another primary barrier to potential pathogens. In addition to providing a passive physical barrier against infection, the skin also contains elements of the innate and adaptive immune systems which allow it to actively fight infections. Proper hydration is a prerequisite for healthy skin.
Staying hydrated helps the body naturally eliminate toxins and other bacteria that may cause illness. Dehydration reduces the overall volume of blood and lymphatic fluids that are integral to a healthy immune system.
Lymph flows throughout the body to collect bacteria and waste. It transports collected waste to the lymph nodes which serve as filters. Drinking water works like a waterfall for lymphatic organs. The higher the amount, the stronger the push to the edge. In this scenario, water pushes bodily waste into the lymph nodes where lymphocytes destroy them. Eliminating toxins and waste materials become a difficult task when dehydrated. Not being able to remove this debris, your body is more susceptible to infection. Not staying hydrated diminishes energy levels, leading to a lack of exercise and a weakened immune system.
Water is vital for the functioning of all of your organs, and it’s a huge part of keeping your immune system functioning at an optimal level,” says Dr. Jyothi Tirumalasetty, assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergies. “We are made of 60 percent water. If we are dehydrated, the whole system of immunity could start breaking down.”
Water is not just a beverage choice
Water is not just a beverage choice; it is our most essential nutrient. When we think of water in this way it becomes apparent that we must drink enough each day. We can live for 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water!
Be Healthy by Choice.
Water Matters 2020
Please join us and invite guests for a Water Matters master class on Tuesday January 28th at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. Together we can all help anyone Be Healthy by Choice.
“Pure water is the world’s first and foremost medicine.”
The Facts of Life
Life cannot exist without water! It is the most important nutrient we consume every day of our lives. Water comprises over two-thirds of our body weight and is one of the most essential elements to maintaining well-being. Water is important in every physiological process. Water helps your body with circulation, assimilation, digestion, elimination and temperature control. Proper hydration is essential to a healthy life.
Unfortunately, most of us live our lives in a state of chronic dehydration. Researchers estimate that about 75% of people in the U.S. have chronic dehydration. Dehydration is a global problem with 80% of Britons, 75% of Australians, 50% of Germans and 75% of people in France suffering from chronic dehydration.
“Dehydration is the Mother of ALL EPIDEMICS and it is THE FIRST STEP we need to take in addressing chronic disease.”
Failure to drink enough water can lead to many health issues such as fatigue, joint pain, weight gain, headaches, ulcers, diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure. Chronic dehydration may affect your organs and lead to kidney stones, cholesterol complications, constipation, liver and muscle damage.
Part of the problem lies with a misunderstanding of how important water is and how much we need each day to be healthy. Water is not just a beverage choice; it is our most essential nutrient. When we think of water this way it becomes apparent that we must drink enough each day.
“Water is not just a beverage choices. It is an essential nutrient.”
Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated. Anyone may become dehydrated, but the condition is especially dangerous for young children and older adults.
We lose water everyday through processes such as breathing, temperature regulation and excretion. If our water intake doesn’t replenish these losses, we become dehydrated. It takes less than a 1% deficiency to trigger our thirst response. Just a 2.5% percent reduction in our hydration can result in a 25% reduction in energy and efficiency including short-term memory loss, trouble with performing basic math, and challenges in focusing. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is mild dehydration.
Dehydration has been called the Mother of ALL Epidemics and is the first step we need to take in addressing chronic disease.
How Much Water Should We Drink?
There is no perfect answer to this question as it depends on your age, health status, level of physical activity, body type and ambient surroundings.
Everyone has heard drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day. This is insufficient in my opinion for proper hydration for most us. A good rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day of water. So, if you weigh 160 pounds, 10 glasses or 80 ounces per day is a good rule to follow. For the metric system the rule of thumb is to drink 3.3% of your body weight in kilograms in liters of water per day to stay hydrated.
Quality Water
The next subject to address is water choices. We are lucky in the U.S. and many other countries that we have choices as to water, but some choices are healthier than others. This topic will be included in our next Healthy by Choice broadcast. The class will cover the problem of dehydration, the solution and what and why some water choices are healthier than others.
Be Healthy by Choice
What is Magnetized Water?
Exposing water to a magnetic field results in a smaller molecular structure. Magnets can activate water molecules to change their structure to a hexagonal configuration making the water more bioavailable and easily absorbed into our cells.
Water is essential for life and we have blogged extensively on its importance. It is the primary solvent and conveyance element in our bodies. Nutrients are carried into our cells on water. All waste is carried out on water. Our blood flows because of water; our nerves transport electric charges via water. Proper hydration is essential to a healthy life. Water comprises over two-thirds of our body weight and is one of the most essential elements to maintaining well-being. If you consider our composition in terms of molecules, we’re practically all water, nearly 99 percent!
Water is important in every physiological process. Water helps your body with circulation, assimilation, digestion, elimination and temperature control. But not all water is created equal.
What is magnetized water and why would this be important.
I get this question frequently as all our Nikken water products utilize magnetic energy to enhance the water that we consume and bathe in.
We really can’t magnetize water. What we are really doing is exposing water to a magnetic field. Therefore, we are in essence treating water with a magnetic field and some interesting results ensue.
“Drink half your body weight in ounces every day of healthy bioavailable water.
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Bioavailability
Although all water consists of the same basic H20 molecules, water varies as to how these molecules bond together to form "water molecule groups". Simply stated, it is the size of these molecular groupings that change when exposed to a magnetic field. Water is a very polar molecule consisting of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, hence H20 forms very large groupings. The larger the groupings the more inefficient water is at being absorbed.
The smaller the groupings, the more bioavailable the water is and the more easily it can pass through cell membranes to transport nutrients and remove waste.
Exposing water to a magnetic field results in a smaller molecular structure. Magnets can activate water molecules to change their structure to a hexagonal configuration making the water more bioavailable and easily absorbed into our cells. In addition, there's a strong secondary benefit. Applying a magnetic field to water can not only make it more bioavailable, but it can also raise its pH (up to a full point, depending on the water), resulting in a more alkaline water.
As stated by Gina Bria, Cultural Anthropologist, “Dehydration is the mother of all epidemics and it is the first step we need to take in addressing chronic disease.”
I concur and add, drink half your body weight in ounces every day of healthy bioavailable water.
Be Heathy by Choice, not by Chance.
Bottled Water vs Tap Water: Blind Taste Test Edition
For today’s The Impetus let’s examine if bottled water really tastes better than tap water. Given that this is an individual choice or preference, let’s look at blind taste tests that have been conducted by many organizations and in many different geographical locations.
“Water is the driving force of all nature. ”
Water Choices
One of the most important aspects of the Wellness Home is to provide ourselves and our families with clean, healthy water.
Water is not just a beverage choice, it is an essential nutrient. We have been saying this for years and the reason why is we tend to choose just about everything else to drink other than water. That is the main reason why over 75% of us walk around dehydrated every day. In a recent article in the Epoch Times, Gina Bria states, “Dehydration is the mother of all epidemics and is the first step we need to take in addressing chronic disease.”
“Dehydration is the mother of all epidemics and is the first step we need to take in addressing chronic disease.”
We have choices for different types of drinking water: tap water, filtered water and bottled water.
Many people, nearly 75% of us drink bottled water. Over 25% drink only bottled water. It has puzzled me for years why people would pay more than 2000 times the cost of bottled water than tap water. Consider that 4,787 bottled waters could be filled with tap water for $2.10 and every time you buy a bottle of water for $1, you are paying 2,279 times what you would if you filled that same bottle with tap water. Spending $1 on a bottle of water every now and then isn’t that big a deal, but when you make a regular habit of it, it really adds up. If you buy just one $1 bottle of water each day, your annual spending on bottled water comes to $365. Getting the same amount of water from your tap would cost you less than $0.10.
When I ask someone the question, why do you drink bottled water? The three common responses are:
1. Bottled water is healthier than tap water.
2. Bottled water is convenient.
3. Bottled water tastes better than tap water, (the most common).
For today’s The Impetus let’s examine if bottled water really tastes better than tap water. Given that this is an individual choice or preference, let’s look at blind taste tests that have been conducted by many organizations and in many different geographical locations.
Bottle Water Versus Tap Water Taste
In a blind water taste test by Good Morning America, New York City tap water came out the clear favorite among testers:
New York City Tap: received 45% of the vote
Poland Spring: received 24% of the vote
O-2, Oxygenated Water: received 19% of the vote
Evian: received 12% of the vote
And this test was no fluke. Time after time, tap water is rated as good or better tasting than bottled water blind taste tests. You can see similar results in numerous cities, both in the U.S. and abroad:
In 2011, Boston University conducted a blind taste test to compare tap water with Vermont Pure bottled water, the brand used in the student lounge’s water cooler. Dozens of students sampled both waters and were asked to determine which was which. Of the 67 testers, only one-third of the respondents correctly identified the tap water sample. Another one-third thought it was the bottled water, and the rest said they couldn’t tell the difference.
Washington, D.C. The Center for Nutrition, Diet and Health at the University of the District of Columbia conducted a blind taste test with 218 participants, most of whom said they preferred to drink bottled water at home. Testers tried samples of four waters – tap water, spring water, distilled water, and mineral water – and ranked them in order of preference. Tap water wasn’t the top pick, but it came in a close second, with 30% of the vote.
Cleveland. ABC’s NewsChannel5 Cleveland invited residents to try samples of three waters: Sam’s Choice Purified bottled water from Walmart, Aquafina bottled water, and Cleveland tap water. Once again, tap water wasn’t the favorite, but it came in a close second to Aquafina. Both samples were preferred by more than two to one over the Sam’s Choice water – which most people guessed was tap water.
San Francisco. In 2009, testers at Mother Jones magazine compared samples of their local San Francisco tap water – both filtered and unfiltered – with samples of eight different bottled waters. The unfiltered tap water came in third, beating out expensive brands such as Voss, Evian, and Fiji Water.
Belfast, Ireland. In a BBC News story, pedestrians sampled three different waters. The first, “harvested from icebergs in the Canadian Arctic,” sells for more than 26 pounds, about $40 per bottle; the second, made from the sap of maple trees, costs the equivalent of $24; and the third came from the tap. Most tasters couldn’t correctly identify the expensive waters from tap water, and one described the $40 sample as “horrible.”
Let’s face it, many people prefer bottled water as a result of excellent marketing by bottled water companies. This was hilariously exemplified a few years ago by popular magicians, Penn and Teller. This YouTube clip shows an elaborate con in a “very trendy Southern California restaurant,” where they created a phony “water list” of six different imported bottled waters selling for as much as $7 per bottle. All six bottles, from “Mount Fuji” to “L’eau Du Robinet,” which is French for “tap water” were filled with a garden hose on the patio. Restaurant patrons claimed to be able to taste distinct differences among the various brands, and consistently agreed that they were much better than tap water, which is exactly what they all were. Consumers think it tastes great as long as it’s served in a fancy bottle and with a fancy price.
Bottled Water Vs. Tap Water Conclusion
Tap water tastes as good, it’s as pure, it’s better for the environment, and costs under 1/2,000th as much. In my opinion, it’s justifiably nuts to pay for and drink bottled water, unless you have no other choice.
The solution to our global water issues and the plastic pollution of our planet is very complex and people often wonder what they can do as individuals to make a positive impact. One thing we all can do is to not to contribute to landfills by filtering tap water rather than purchasing bottled water. In recent blogs we have talked about the pollution problem with bottled water and about how to choose a water filtration system.
Filtering our tap water is convenient, cost effective and the best way to provide ourselves and our families with healthy water. Our personal choice for water filtration is the Nikken Waterfall. Imagine if we could create fresh spring water in our own home or office? This is the strategy behind the Nikken Waterfall.
Water Matters and is a vital component of every Wellness Home.
Be Healthy by Choice, not by Chance.