What is the health benefit of water?

All my life, I heard that "your body is about 70% water" - but that didn't mean a dang thing to me. I thought, "Well, isn't that special!" I had no clue about any health benefit of water or that drinking water to improve and maintain my health was something I should even do!

Why should you be drinking water for your health? Well, water is the second most important thing that our bodies need to survive, oxygen being the first. The body could survive for some time without food, but deprive it of water and it would only last a few days. Virtually every job that the body performs requires water. It would seem then, pretty logical that a health benefit of water would be to drink it!



Here are only a few of the health benefits of water:

• Water is required for digestion and absorption of food
  Water is needed to regulate body temperature and blood circulation
  Water in the bloodstream carries nutrients and oxygen to cells
• Water is necessary for the kidneys to remove toxins and other wastes

The health benefit of water is very powerful, but for a long time has been undervalued. Unfortunately, we generally haven't been very well educated about it. The main point of this article is to offer a basic understanding of why it's vital to be drinking water for your health. I will point you to more information about the health benefit of water at the end of this article.

What is dehydration?

The body uses about 10 - 12 cups of water a day, through such things as breathing, digestion, elimination and perspiration. So we need to replenish it daily or our bodies will become dehydrated.

"Dehydrate" means "to lose water, become dry."

I always thought I was dehydrated only when my lips started cracking and my mouth got super dry. Wrong answer! Those are signs that your body is extremely dehydrated. It only takes a small deficiency of water to throw the body into "dehydration mode."

"Dehydration mode" makes it necessary for the body to ration an insufficient amount of water to run properly. The body must economize on its use of water to prevent it from being lost. Dehydration can definitely aggravate many health conditions.

Improve many conditions by drinking water for health


A health benefit of water would be the improvement of many conditions by drinking water for your health, such as:

• Exhaustion
  Constipation
  Asthma
  Headaches
  Diabetes - blood sugar level management
  Heartburn
  Angina (chest pain)
  Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  Joint and muscle pain
  Immune diseases
• Depression can be helped by ensuring that you drink enough water for your health.

I've had (or have) several of the health conditions listed above and from my personal experience and observation, all of them have been improved or alleviated when I drink enough water. When I found out that angina (chest pain) is at least partially caused by dehydration, I drank some water the next time I experienced mild angina. I was very pleased that the chest pain subsided and eventually vanished rather quickly!


Drugs and drinking water for health

If you take prescription and/or over-the-counter drugs, it's even more essential to drink enough water for your health. Not only are many drugs dehydrating (they need to suck up some water to work don't they?) but all drugs, no matter how well they appear to work, are toxic to the body. Your kidneys need plenty of water to help them flush out toxins, especially when it's getting overloaded with them.

The secret to fat metabolism

Another health benefit of water is its role in fat metabolism. The secret to fat metabolism is to drink adequate amounts of water! Why? The kidneys need water to filter out waste and toxins from our bodies. If we don't give our bodies the water it needs, the kidneys "dump" some of their workload on the liver.

One of the liver's jobs is to assist in fat metabolism. If the kidneys can't do their job due to insufficient water (dehydration), some of their work is given to the liver. You may know what it's like if you have to do someone else's work. You can't do all of your own!

When the liver is doing some of the kidney's job, the liver can't do its own job of metabolizing fat very well.
So one specific health benefit of water is that you will have more energy from fat being metabolized or "burned" - and a lot of people would like some spare fat metabolized!

How much water should I drink each day?

We commonly hear "Drink 8 glasses of water a day for good health" - but that never made sense to me. You mean a 100 pound petit female needs the same amount of water as a 300 pound athelete? I don't think so!
The amount definitely does depend on your weight. The goal is 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water. For example, someone weighing 170 pounds needs to drink approximately 85 ounces per of water per day. That equates to 2.5 liters.

There's a really great on-line calculator that converts ounces to liters and tons of other calculations, like weight, distances and other measurements at CalculateMe.com.
Things that stop us from drinking water for health

It helps if you can take a look at what ideas you have that might be getting in your way of drinking plenty of water. For example, one of my friends said that she "hated water." That would get in your way!

Actually, when you are dehydrated, you lose your natural sense of thirst. As you get your body more and more hydrated, your "natural thirst" will return. I have definitely experienced that! And not all water is the same.

Tap water from the faucet contains all kinds of stuff that makes it not quite enjoyable to drink. (I've had some very enjoyable water actually!) Tap water can also defeat the purpose of drinking water for your health due to chemical additives and other toxins.

Try different types of water and find one that makes you happy! This includes water that you filter at home of course.

Water retention and bathroom attacks

Another one of my friends said that she couldn't be running off to the bathroom every 10 minutes - that problem was keeping her from the many health benefits of water. She had also been losing some weight but was on a plateau.

She solved the bathroom problem by deciding to drink a small amount, just 1 cup, at the beginning of each hour. That helped her a lot! The addition of sufficient water to her weight loss plan got her going in the right direction again.
The body will "let go" of the water it's been retaining during dehydration when it starts getting what it needs - so going to the bathroom frequently is only temporary until the body adjusts to being hydrated.

Yes, water retention, contrary to what I thought for years, isn't from too much water. It's from not having enough, causing the body to "hang on" to the little water it has. When you drink enough water, the body can let go of what it has been retaining.


Substitutes for water?

A myth about drinking water for your health is that coffee and sodas "count" as drinking water. Sorry Charlie! Any drink that isn't just pure water has a different chemical structure than water and thus reacts differently in the body.
But some great news is that that the water in fresh vegetables and fruits does indeed contribute towards hydrating the body. Hmmm... maybe that celery is healthier than just being "low calorie!"

I used to be a diet soda junkie until I found out that artificial sweeteners are toxic, and discovered that I needed to drink water for good health. I have a Brita� water filter pitcher and I get a 16 - 24 ounce bottle and fill it up with filtered water 3 or 4 times a day. I've replaced diet sodas with water now, and it was not difficult because I did it little by little and just kept at it.
I also found that it's easy to drink the amount that my body needs when I keep the water bottle at my desk and just take a swig every once in a while. And I am definitely experiencing that I really want water now, my natural thirst has returned.
Don't take my word for it, test this information for yourself! If you drink less than 8 cups per day, find out for yourself if increasing your water intake improves your health and energy levels.
Make drinking enough water fun...

Have some fun with this aspect of improving your health and energy. Make it a game for yourself to drink enough water, maybe get your friends or co-workers together and create a water drinking club, find a water drinking buddy... heh heh heh, you get the idea!
This article is by no means a complete look into every health benefit of water. My goal is to provide enough information to demonstrate that water is absolutely vital to good health.
For more information, have a look at "The Healing Power of Water" - an eye opening and enlightening interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj M.D about the health benefit of water and why we don't really get this information from conventional doctors.
The late Dr. Batmanghelidj was a pioneer in researching and clinically testing the health benefits of water and is the author of "Your Body's Many Cries for Water" and "Water for Health, For Healing, For Life."
To our health! *clink*

https://www.improving-health-and-ener...-of-water.html

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

I dont agree with all of the above regarding water and this article I wrote a few weeks ago will explain why.

Water is the elixir of life. It is required for every metabolic function within the body. Fresh clean clear water is requried every day to maintain health and clarity of mind. This artilce will tell you what kind of water you need to drink and how much.

We have been taught over the years that water consumption should be upwards of two to three liters per adult daily.I do not agree with this point of view. Most people do not even drink one liter never mind three, instinctuallyl. This large consumption of water does not correspond to traditional access to water over the ages. Humanity has largely had to pack and carry water. The human system is developed so that such large amounts of water are not required. But is does need a consistent quality water supply. Your skin tone will help you to determine how dehydrated you are. Skin should be supple, moist and resiliant. These qualties will generally decrease with age. Musus membranes should be moist also.

One and a half liters is about right for most adults. More can be taken with physical work and heat and sun exposure. Your water needs to be fresh and alive without added chemicals, pollutants, chlorine or fluouride. It should not only look clean but smell clean.

You can't really know for sure the quality of your water unless you have it tested. General standards for water purity are too low. Seek a water that has an absolute minimum of toxins and heavy metals. There is no safe level of arsenic and lead in water. If you don't have access to clean water consider a reverse osmosis sytem or use professionally distilled water. To each of these you should add trace minerals to help restore the water to its natual form, c more similar to that found in mountain streams and springs. Quality water will assit your body to flush a multitude of toxins out through the organs of elimination - the kidneys, the intestines, the lungs and the skin. Without sufficient water the lymphatic system, as well as the blood can become thick and sluggish.
We have been taught in our culture to drink water during meals. This is a great error for digestion and I will explain why.

During the eating process and immediate digestion your body releases enzymes and hydrochloric acid to digest your food. The body knows exactly what to do with food digestion and water is not required during the meal. You require concentrated enzymes and acids at this time. You came with no instructions that said to please water during feeding. Adding water to the mix dilutes the acids and enzymes and keeps them from accurately and efficiently doing their job. The correct time to add water to the digestive process is throughout the day so the cells of the stomach and intestines are prehydrated and the blood is fluid. Once meal time is past by one hour some water can be taken. This will quickly move down into the intestines and help with movement of nutrients across the intestinal wall now that after the particles are well on their way to being broken down and ready for transport.

That water glass provided on the table should be greatly reduced in size or eliminated all together and water should only be taken during meals if there is swallowing difficulty. If you drink a lot of water during meals and have digestive issues try eliminating it and seeing what happens. Be sure you hydrade at other times of the day.
There are correct times of the day to drink water. Water can be taken up to thirty minutes before a meal or one hour after a meal is completed. One of the best times of the day to drink is upon first rising in the morning. Taking eight to ten ounces of water at this time will awaken your body and start stimulating the bowels to move. There really is no better time.

Children need to learn to drink water starting at an early age. Juices should be largely avoided even if they are watered down and never should be given in a baby bottle. Juices should be of good quality without added sugar or corn syrup. You can sweeten with stevia some if you like. Offer juices near meal times in small amounts and instruct the child that juices of good quality are potent foods, not snacks or pacifiers. Only milk, formula, or water should be put into baby bottles. Between meals offer the children fresh clear water in their bottles. If you never get them started on juices in bottles they will never miss it and they will be better hydrated.

The following book is now a classic regarding one man's experience in how he found out how important water is to health. I highly recommend it to help you understand further your need for water.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=your+bodies+many+cries+for+water&x=13&y=2 1 - Your Bodies Many Cries For Water

A better water for your body and for agriculture - www.photonicwater.com

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i am really focusing on telling everyone i know with diabetes about drinking enough water. 2 people in particular my mother and mother in law have it and the common thread is they both rarely drink water. both may drink 1 full glass in day if that much.
my mother took my advice and on her next visit to the doctor he said he really noticed a difference in her blood sugar levels.

You can also tell if your drinking enough water daily by the color of your urine. It should be just lightly
yellow. If darker then you should drink More water.

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May you always have..Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends that Care!

ok i didnt read All of what is written...just my 2 cents here,what i have been doing for just a week or two now...

Keep all water in Glass bottles Only...

After refilling my glass bottles i leave them with the cap off for 30 minutes - 1hour for any chlorine to evaporate...

Sun charging my water every day 4-8 hours...

Keeping the bottles after the sun goes down at room temperatures(room temperature water is closer to body temperature so it is absorbed easier by the cells,and the body dont need to tire itself to warm up the ice cold water one can drink)(thats not to say that i dont drink cold water when i go out or even at home,i just try to drink room temperatured water)

after a documentary i watched about water i actually put stickers on my water with words like love,thank you,passion,health,trust,success,vitality etc etc etc...paranoid i know,but f' it why not,i mean if its true that water is alive,has memory and all i saw in the documentary,well its definitly beneficial and costs 0 cash...

the water i use its not tap water,we have this ''wells'' everywhere in the city,its like a big machine filled with water,and you go with your balloon and cheaply fill it,i guess you can say its bottled water,so if it contains any chlorine it evaporates(i hope),the suncharging charges my water with energy,we all know that without sun theres no life,i cant say it does something but it might,and thats enough,and free...same thing for the stickers,it might be hype but its free and it could be beneficial,and actually sometimes before drinking my water or dealing with my bottles,i thank my water hahhaha thats bcuz of the documentary...

eventually im gonna buy a water filter or ozonator or ionizer,but for now its the ghetto setup

Aren't you in the UK? Is there any sun there?

I have a stainless steel drinking bottle that I use to carry water while away from home. Stainless steel is - stainless. If I'm away for a while, I do resort to plastic bottles.

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- Jim
�Look! Out the window! There is a flying cow!� St.Thomas Aquinas looked, and they all burst into laughter. He calmly replied, �I would rather believe that the cow is flying than that my friends would lie to me!�

no actually im in greece,its pretty sunny around here...

no dont put them in plastic bottles,use glass bottles,and they can always be reused so what i personally did was bought a 6-pack of glass water bottles and i keep reusing them,washing them occasionally too...

great info here. as a kickboxer, doing high-intensity cardio, the "skin condition" method for detecting hydration is something i've found extremely beneficial. im also trying to develope an intuition for this kind of thing as there are more subtle ways of detecting this also.

simple ratio's for figuring out how much water i need per day simply don't work because it's quite different each day depending on the nature of the exercise i do. i should note that days that i dont work out it is fairly consistent though. it's generally between a half gallon and a gallon. i weigh 135-140 lb.

i believe for athletes though, there should be some kind of disclaimer, as with high intensity workouts, it can be easy to dehydrate oneself with too much water.

i think an equally important aspect to hydration is electrolytes. and more than just sodium and potassium too. calcium, magnesium, chloride, hydrogen phosphate, and hydrogen carbonate, in their respective proportions are all crucial for optimal hydration.

We had someone come out to tell us about water filtration for the house. It only uses activated charcoal which won't get rid of metals. So, I'll keep searching. Photonic water doesn't filter out the metals so that's not going to work for us.

With reverse osmosis water or distilled you can buy drops of minerals for the water. I put 1/8th tsp. of sea salt and a pinch of cal/mag citrate with vit. C in each liter.

Most folks on this health forum seem to be in detox mode or what I call the destroy phase of healing. I appreciate your insight as an athlete. You are in rebuild mode more of the time. When we detox or destroy, we must remember to drink more water in order to assist the elimination of toxic wastes. But in the process, as you say, we must be careful to replace our electrolytes. This is why I find it important to supplement with a broad range of minerals. Such a broad range of minerals can be found in sea salt as trace minerals. So, drinking highly filtered or distilled water would benefit with a little sea salt added.

interesting point; i can see that.
yes, i always use a natural sea salt. in it you can see the different color grains, it contains many different minerals, iodine included.

i'm interested in your take on the "detox/destroy 'phase'". could you elaborate on the association that you make there? i've never considered the two terms related to each other, maybe you could shed some light on it for me.

I recognize 3 phases of healing. Destroy, rebuild/repair, maintain. Simply, after you diagnose a health problem, you first determine the factors to destroy the cause. It may be bacterial, fungal, cancer, parasites, etc. When that is accomplished, you need to rebuild. Meaning: reintroduce probiotics, healing creams, strengthen organs and glands, etc. Maintain: meaning vitamins, probiotics, adaptogens, etc. Since this is highly individualized, the strength of the healing devices will be different.

With your athletic program, I'm mostly ignorant here, but I'll surmise that you breakdown your muscle fibers, then allow them time to repair, then provide them nutrients as maintenance. Of course this is not a healing crisis. Just an example of the phases.

ok, i see. with (my) training it is slightly different, but for the most part you are spot on in terms of the cycle itself. after muscle breakdown, nutrients are key for repair. it goes, water first, to fill the cells back up with liquid, then simple sugars and electrolytes from easy to digest foods like fruit. only a very small amount though, as the goal is only to give a small burst of energy to regain normal function again. it is after some time (hour or so) more complex carbohydrates like nuts/grains as well as veggies are consumed. this is generally only a small portion, not a full meal. after this ones body is equipped to perform some quality self-healing and rest becomes important.

i personally view maintenance as the need to continue working out my body in different ways so as to keep it diversified in terms of muscle development. the "so what's next?" in the cycle if you will.

I really like your reasons for drinking lots of water and the benefits. Can i add one more item? A natural product called Mineral Neutralizer that balances the PH in our bodies so that the acid balance that encourages problems, is prevented! Also when our Ph is in balance, nutrition is more readily absorbed and energy is restored! Thanks for sharing!

I must try and drink more water I have a couple of glasses first thing in the moning and one at lunch time but the rest is in a cups of tea.