Water Matters 2020
“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
