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The Evils of Water
by Dusty R. Green,
M.Ed., Research Scientist/Author
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Most of us are Chronically
Dehydrated
Problems ranging from low back pain to
constipation and
headaches can be causative factors for low water intake. Many
of us were raised on
sodas and fruit juices to satisfy our thirst. Even though
these have a high water content, they will not meet your need for water
intake. They may even cause other health problems . . . not to
mention the excess calories you consume while trying to quench your
thirst.
We Are Already Dehydrated if We Depend on Thirst
as the Signal to Drink
The amount you consume depends on
many factors such as temperature, humidity, and how much exercise you
are getting. If you are not urinating every 3 hours, then yes, you
are quite possibly dehydrated. A dehydrated muscle can mean a 10
percent loss of strength and 8 percent loss of speed according to
Dr. Michael
Colgan of the Colgan Institute. That loss can be the
difference between first and last in athletic competition.
Water Retention Will Become a Thing of the Past as You Increase
Consumption |
Just like fat, the body is finally letting go of
that which it is being starved. As you feed your body
five
fist-sized or smaller meals per day, the body does not perceive the
threat of starvation and releases fat more readily for fuel. A
similar thing happens with water. In addition, water is used for
cooling, hydration, and helps rid the body of wastes. The stress
on the liver and kidneys is alleviated and they, in turn, are more
efficient at processing fats and expelling wastes respectively.
Hunger ... Thirst In Disguise?
Popular media mislead
us to believe that we should be consuming soft drinks, beer, sport
drinks and more, to satisfy our thirst. They can, and do, to a
certain degree. Yet, the repercussions can be severe dehydration
(particularly, anything containing alcohol) and/or the accumulation of
fat due to the calories involved. Any kind of calorie
(carbohydrate, fat, and/or protein) consumed in excess of what you burn
turns into body fat.
Tap Water or ... ?
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USA Government
figures estimate that about 900,000 people get sick from USA water
laced with bacterial disease,
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Approximately
55,000 of the regulated chemical dumps in the USA are leaking into
the water table,
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There are
approximately 200,000 illegal, unregulated chemical dumps in the
U.S.A. leaking into the water table,
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The EPA in 1993
reported that 819 water systems in the USA had toxic levels of lead
in fully treated water. Has it changed any since then?
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There are about
60,000 different chemicals in our water supplies of which the
treatment stations can afford only to test for 30-40 of them.
That leaves more than 59,000.
Clean It Up!
The way to measure water for contaminants is by
parts per million (PPM). Typical tap
water can have 250-1,000 PPM contaminants.
Ideally, we want it to be zero PPM. Getting to zero is elusive.
The Colgan Institute in Canada reports that distillation can clean tap
water into the range of 2-12 parts per million (PPM).
The reverse osmosis process is just as good as distillation and that is
as good as it gets. Bottled distilled and bottled reverse osmosis
treated water is also good but, is pricey. Bottled mineral /
drinking water is typically laced with many impurities and is an assault
on the environment from an energy "green" perspective. Ionization
and carbon filtering are not that good, either. Read the label the
next time you pick up a bottle of expensive bottled water. You'll
probably discover that it came from your local river, lake, or a source
from some water-well.
Distillation Units
Of
the 2 best water treatment units that can be purchased, distillation
units are the most cost effective. They can be purchased from
various places on the Internet (we do not sell these units). They
range from small units, that make 1 gallon at a time, to large units
that attach to your plumbing. If you don't want to buy a unit that
attaches to your plumbing, then you may want to physically take and fill
your 1-5 gallon bottles from a water store. If you use a water
delivery service, make sure they're selling you distilled or reverse
osmosis treated water.
Note:
Distilled or reverse osmosis water is the cleanest there is, but acidic
in pH. Therefore, I strongly recommend following the
recommendations in this
alkaline / acid
article.
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