Are You Drinking Enough Water?

An easy way to gage your water intake is to examine the color of your urine;  dark colored urine is an indicator that you arent ingesting enough water.  What we often think is hunger pangs can sometimes actually be a signal that we need more water.  When you feel hungry try drinking a glass of water and see if your hunger goes away.

If we dont replenish our bodies with water our organs won't function adequately and dehydration can occur.  It is estimated that 75% of the population is dehydrated and unaware.

Dehydration can create symptoms such as chronic pains, allergies, dyspepsia, joint pain, low backache, chest pain, headaches, constipation, crankiness, fatigue, dry skin and fuzzy brain or short-term memory problems.

Water should be consumed in small amounts spread out over the day.  The body cant process more than one glass of water per hour, therefore if you drink too much at one time, it wont be used, it will be eliminated.

Drinking caffeine or alcohol dehydrates the body, so even if you drink adequate amounts of water and have a couple cups of coffee or cola, this will undo the effects of the water, and you need extra water.   For each cup of caffeineted beverage you drink you need to add one cup of water.

Not only should we drink an adequate amount of water a day each day, but its also vitally important that this water be pure.   Finding clean water to drink is becoming increasingly difficult to find and the ingestion of polluted water is wreaking havoc on our health as well.

Our water supply is contaminated with carcinogens and toxins that cause neurological damage.  Landfills, chemical spills, and agricultural run-off are leaching toxic chemicals such as:  pesticides, arsenic, lead, herbicides, fertilizers, trichlorethylene, benzene etc.  into our water supply.  One of the most toxic components in our water is put there intentionally by the use of chlorination for disinfecting.

To protect yourself, dont drink tap water.  Buy yourself a good quality carbon filter or reverse osmosis system or get your water from a water filtration machine that has three levels of treatment;  ultraviolet, reverse osmosis and carbon.  You can also purchase a good clean source of bottled water such as Mountain Valley or Gerolsteiner.  Beware of the bottled water in your local grocery store;  it sometimes is nothing more than tap water.

If you drink bottled water or store your filtered water, you should always use glass bottles or hard clear plastic made from polyethylene.  Dont use soft plastic with PVC, the ones that have a cloudy look, because this plastic leaches toxic chemicals into the water as well.

Once you obtain a clean source of water, focus on making sure you drink the necessary amount for optimal health.