Hydration
Are
you drinking enough water? It is important to drink a healthy amount
of water every day, but exactly how much water you need depends on
many factors including body weight, physical activity level and environment
humidity. Your muscles produce waste products as they are used, which
reduce function and strength if left in the muscle tissue. If
you are dehydrated by as little as 4%, your physical performance is
reduced by 25%!
75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 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 by as
much as 3%. One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for
almost 100% of the dieters in a Washington University study. Lack
of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. Preliminary research
indicates that 8-10 glasses of water per 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 focusing on the computer screen or
a printed page. Drinking 5 glasses of purified 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. Are you drinking the amount of water you should every
day? For more complete information, please read the book “Your
Bodies Many Cries for Water.”
While some people can tolerate moderate amounts of juice, tea, coffee,
soft drinks and fitness waters, these drinks do not count
towards your water intake for the day. Pure water, lemon water, chlorophyll
water or green drink “count.” Non-caffeinated herbal teas
with no sweeteners also “count.” To calculate your daily
need of water, divide your body weight by half and drink
that many ounces per day, but no more than 100 oz. If
your body weight requires more than 100 oz to meet the intake requirements,
eat servings of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables to receive the
remaining balance needed.
Water
is absorbed into the body in the small intestine, which can only
absorb approximately 8 ounces every 30 minutes. Adding 2 drops ’Natures
Fresh enzymes to each 8oz glass enables better
cell absorption and hydration. To receive the most benefit, plan
your drinking as follows:
Upon
arising: Drink 16 oz of purified water to gently cleanse and awaken
the digestive system.
Approximately
15-30 minutes before each meal: Drink 8 oz of water to provide the
necessary hydration for good digestion. Drink no more than 8 oz
during your meal.
Complete
the required balance sipped throughout the day or drank in 8 oz
portions.
Drink
reverse osmosis purified water. Nature’s Sunshine provides
a Nature’s
Spring home purifying RO unit, which can be purchased
for your convenience. Wal-Mart has a machine to fill clean water
jugs with RO water for $0.33 per gallon. The best storage containers
are #7 plastic or glass. If you choose to drink distilled water,
please be sure to supplement with a high quality mineral supplement
such as Mineral
Chi Tonic, Vita-Wave
or Herbal
Trace Minerals.
This
may be copied for educational purposes and free distribution.
Does
Your Water Need Washing? Water, water everywhere
– but is it fit to drink? The safety of culinary water has
become a concern for Americans. The origin of various diseases has
even been traced to municipality water systems! Most assume the
water supply in the U.S. is the safest in the world and even if
true, “safest” may not be safe enough. Water makes nearly
70% of the human body, whose bones remarkably enough, consist of
up to 50% water. Moreover, health experts recommend drinking two
quarts of water a day to maintain metabolic processes. Water is
used for many body purposes including energy production. Therefore,
it pays to be conscientious about the quality of water we drink.
Dangers lurk in several places – polluted ground water near
agricultural or industrial sites, air-borne radioactive particles
that settle on open water used for drinking, and commercial beverages
utilizing compromised water sources. In Jasper, Indiana, there are
frequent warnings in the newspaper that pregnant women and children
should not eat large fish from Patoka Lake due to mercury toxicity
in the fish. These fish have lived long enough in the water to absorb
enough mercury in their tissues to pose a hazard to the developing
nervous systems of babies and small children. This fear is warranted
as mercury and other metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and aluminum
are known to have cumulative effects, specifically on the nervous
system. Cumulative means a little bit over a long period of time
builds up to cause its effect. What water do the people of Jasper
get to drink? Water from this same lake, and unless they choose
to purify with home reverse osmosis systems, they too will experience
the same cumulative effect the fish of the lake have.
One reason people have not recognized the importance of clean water
is this slow reaction to some types of poisoning. For example, it
may be years before some people show signs of chlorine poisoning.
In others, chlorine sensitivities can develop a few days after taking
a dip in a heated indoor swimming pool, where the room is filled
with a high concentration of evaporated chlorine gas. Many may never
directly link chlorine with any specific problem they experience,
yet did you know that giving chlorinated water to livestock (especially
horses) can upset their digestive flora very quickly, causing even
death? Study the value of intestinal flora in the human body and
you will find drinking chlorinated water regularly affects health
more than previously thought. Local governments use chlorine in
water to kill dangerous bacteria, but chlorine also kills certain
body enzymes, and can damage cells after ingestion. Chlorine may
also combine with organic substances in a reservoir to create dangerous
trihalomethanes. In the last few years these compounds have been
shown to cause cancer in test animals. Cancer is a deadly form of
damaged cell mutation. Another major problem that mystified the
medical community for a long time is a common water parasite called
Giardia lamblia; this danger has grown the last few years with symptoms
of diarrhea, gas, bloating, foul-smelling stools and abdominal pain.
Along with the above problems, the EPA has identified more than
700 pollutants commonly found in municipal, well or spring drinking
waters. The EPA requires less than 20 to be tested for in drinking
water. Many people have tried to resolve this problem by buying
bottled water. Several scandals in this industry have made customers
wary with complaints like, “water smelled and tasted like
chemicals,” and “high arsenic levels found in water.”
One company used water straight from the tap and sold it as “pure
spring water.” While many companies offer a good product,
how is a consumer supposed to know? Filtered water is another option,
but can be expensive and still not fully acceptable. Activated charcoal
is a wonderful purifying agent, but it becomes saturated after a
while, losing efficency each day it is used by allowing more and
more toxic matter to pass through without hindrance. In addition,
these filters may allow Giardia, which are 9 by 5 microns, to pass
on through. These parasites will not get through a reverse osmosis
membrane, however. Distilled water tastes flat and most distilling
equipment can actually repollute the water as toxic chemicals evaporate
and condense back into the finished product! Over time, the cost
of drinking distilled water can exceed the cost of a reverse-osmosis
unit with a carbon filter, including filter replacement. There are
many home water treatment appliances available for home and office
use. Given the large amount of water every family should drink each
day, small amounts of toxic matter or parasites can turn into big
problems later on. What will you do to protect your family? Purchase
your Nature’s
Spring home unit today!
May
be copied for educational purposes and free distribution. Material
modified from NSP ‘Health Update’ educational article.
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