How many glasses of water have you had today? One? Five? Or worse-none? Probably the most over-looked supplement in our diets today is the one that covers not only a significant portion of the body, but the planet we live on as well: water. It makes up almost 70% of our body and is essential for survival. We could go days without food, but take away the water, and three days later we would be history!
From our bones to our brain, water plays a huge role in our daily function. It carries oxygen and essential nutrients to cells, regulates body temperature, and flushes out toxins from vital organs. Water is the basis for our blood, sweat, and tears. In recent years, there have been a great many books written about the benefits of water, including several by an Iranian doctor named Fereydoon Batmanghelidj who used water to cure prisoners during the Iranian Revolution. His most famous book entitled Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, among many others, discusses how important incorporating water is into your daily diet, and its role in disease prevention.
So how much water do we really need? My suggestion is to take half your body weight in pounds, and use the remaining number to determine how many ounces of water you should consume per day at a minimum. If you weigh 150 lbs, then you need to drink at least 75 oz. of water per day. It is so important to replenish your water supply because we are constantly losing water daily through breathing, perspiration, urination and bowel movements. When we do not replenish, we deplete!
If you are undecided on which type of water to consume, (bottled, purified…etc) my highest recommendation is spring water from a clean water source that has been tested free of heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and uranium. My second water choice is purified water, but I do not recommend purifiers like Brita or carbon filter because it does not cleanse out the heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, and uranium. Your best bet is to find water from the cleanest source possible, and to stay away from tap water if you can, as it contains many harmful contaminants. Bottoms up!
References:
http://www.watercure.com/
