Water and the Body

Water is your body's most important nutrient. It is involved in every bodily function, and makes up 70- 75% of your total body weight. Water helps you to maintain body temperature, metabolize body fat, aids in digestion, lubricates and cushions organs, transports nutrients, and flushes toxins from your body.

Detoxification is one of the most important components of long term health. With an adequate intake of quality water, our body‘s are more apt to flush out toxins‚ the key to disease prevention. In our chemical society‚ we are exposed to literally hundreds of harmful substances daily. Everything we touch, foods we eat and the air we breath contain traces of harmful chemicals. The more water we drink, the more we allow our body to cleanse itself. Almost all-degenerative disease is the result of toxins building up in our body.

The body benefits from water in many ways.

We have listed some of the rewards!

• Water strengthens the immune system.
• Water aids the body in digestion and elimination
• Water rids the body of toxins
• Water increases oxygen absorption in the blood.
• Water increases alertness and coordination
• Water dilutes negative effects on the body: caffeine, sugars, alcohols, toxins and stress
• Water improves focus and behavior
• Water adjusts the body's temperature and through urination and perspiration rids the body of toxins.
  

There is a surprising connection between the quality of our water and healthful longevity. There are many health benefits of increasing the amount and quality of the water we drink. All over the world and throughout time‚ wherever you find the healthiest, most contaminant-free water... you find the healthiest‚ most vibrant civilizations.

Remember too, the water you shower in, cook with, drink diluted products with all affect your health. Water is the foundation of our body, and like any structure... if the foundation is of poor quality, strength and longevity will not be achieved.

The Breakdown of the water in our bodies:

The human body is made up of over 70% water. Blood is more than 80%, our brains are over 75%, blood is more than 80%‚ and the human liver is an amazing 96% water!

It has been medically proven that just a 5% drop in body fluids will cause a 25% to 30% loss of energy in the average person. A 15% drop in body fluids causes death. It is estimated that over 80% of our population suffers energy loss due to minor dehydration.

• It is most important to obtain the best quality water possible for your body to function at an optimal rate.
• Consuming water with chemicals forces our organs to be filters. The buidlup of toxins can be flushed and diluted in the body with pure clean water, allowing the organs to function more appropriately.
• The best water to drink is alkalized or ionized water, which is produced by running normal tap water over a positive (anode) and a negative (cathode) electrode. This creates positive and negative ions in the water that are then separated, creating two different waters, one that is alkaline and one that is acidic. To ionize simply means to gain or lose an electron. Basically, the ionization process robs an electron from one molecule and donates or transfers it to another molecule.
• Alkaline and acid water, although very different, each have their benefits. Alkaline water is for flushing out internal toxins, scavenging free radicals, and oxygenating the body. Acid water, which is really a by-product of ionizing water, can be used externally for cleansing the skin, cleaning any surface and watering your plants.

The best water to drink is alkalized or ionized water, which is produced by running normal tap water over a positive (anode) and a negative (cathode) electrode. This creates positive and negative ions in the water that are then separated, creating two different waters, one that is alkaline and one that is acidic. To ionize simply means to gain or lose an electron. Basically, the ionization process robs an electron from one molecule and donates or transfers it to another molecule. Alkaline and acid water, although very different, each have their benefits. Alkaline water is for flushing out internal toxins, scavenging free radicals, and oxygenating the body. Acid water, which is really a by-product of ionizing water, can be used externally for cleansing the skin, cleaning any surface and watering your plants.

There are a number of water ionizers on the market that can divide your tap water into acid and alkaline water. The water ionizers were developed in Japan in the 1950's and they were approved by the Japanese Government as "health improvement medical devices".

The importance of drinking clean, boiled water:

Boiling water kills germs
Boiling water kills germs. So, if possible, water drawn from sources such as ponds, streams, springs, wells, tanks or public standpipes should be boiled and cooled before drinking.

Boil water meant for infants and children
It is especially important to boil and cool the water which is given to babies and young children; they have less resistance to germs than adults.

A natural way to make water safe
If boiling or disinfecting water is not possible, it can be made safer by using sunlight. Choose containers made of colourless or light blue glass or plastic. You must be able to see through them. Remove all labels, fill with the clearest water available, and cover the containers to keep out dirt and insects. Put them in an open space where the sun can shine on them all day. Spread them out so that they do not shade each other. Leave the containers in the sunlight for at least a day. The longer the containers are in sunlight, the greater the chance that the water will be safe. This method of making water safer does not work on cloudy days. (Source: UNICEF)

Use Clean water to prevent Illness

Families who have a plentiful supply of safe piped water, and know how to use it, have fewer illnesses.

Families without a safe piped water supply can reduce illnesses if they protect their water supply from germs by:

Keeping buckets, ropes and jars used to collect and store water as clean as possible (for example by hanging up buckets rather than putting them on the ground).

Keeping faeces and waste water (especially from latrines) well away from any water used for cooking, drinking, bathing or washing.

Keeping wells covered.

Keeping animals away from drinking water.

Families can keep water clean in the home by:

Storing drinking water in a clean, covered container .
Taking water out of the container with a clean ladle or cup.
Not allowing anyone to put their hands into the container or to drink directly from it.
Keeping animals out of the house.
(Source: UNICEF)

Do you know what the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue is? It's really quite simple- a lack of water. Here are some more interesting facts about the beverage we all know as water.

• Over 75% Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Most likely applies to half the world population.)
• In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
• Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
• One glass of water, shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters, according to a University of Washington study.
• Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
• Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
• A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty in focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
• Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.
  

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