Water (H2O) is critical to human survival...
it is an essential component of all living matter...
it is the largest component of the human body.
Our brains are 75% made up of H2O.
Our lungs are 90%.
Our blood is 84%.
And it is needed to help digestion, circulation and waste removal from the body.
It carries nutrients to all parts of the body, helps maintain body temperature and is critical for body growth and repair.
So you can see why drinking sufficient good quality water is so important.
After Oxygen, H2O is the next most critical element to health, in fact to life itself.
An adult can live several weeks without food, but only about 10 days without this precious liquid.
And most of us do not drink enough of it and hence we get sick and suffer ailments.
By drinking regularly throughout the day, (sipping from a bottle every 10 to 15 minutes is the best way), you will prevent your body from becoming dehydrated.
You can also eat more foods rich in H2O, including salads, such as lettuce and tomatoes and fruits such as watermelon, oranges, apples and bananas.
Even fish provides this much needed liquid to the body.
A dry mouth or a thirst is a sign your body is already severely in need of water.
Dark or orange urine means you are severely dehydrated.
Yellow urine means you are somewhat dehydrated, whilst clear urine at all times means you are sufficiently hydrated.
Some side effects of dehydration include headaches, back pain, stress, allergies, weight gain, asthma, high blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease.
So there is a lot to be gained personally from drinking more H2O.
So how much water should you drink? Each day you should drink half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces or 3% of your body weight (in kgs) in litres.
So if you weigh 75kg, drink 2.
25 litres of water.
Alcohol stops it entering the cells and caffeine causes the kidneys to secrete more of this precious liquid from the body than is actually contained in the beverage.
So both work against the benefits of drinking H2O.
What about the quality of the water you drink? Well most tap H2O is still slightly polluted, even though it is purified before delivery to your tap and the chlorine and other treatments are still not good for the body.
The best answer is to fit a good quality purifier to your tap and the taste and quality of the water you and your family drink will be increased greatly.
You can find some information on the world's best source of this precious liquid on my blog below.
An interesting case study Dr Ferrydoon Batmanghelid was a political prisoner in Iran, where he was held in solitary confinement, and he decided not to eat any food and only to drink water.
Over the next 7 days he noticed that his aches and pains disappeared, and it took away his hunger pains.
Once he was moved to the main cell block he started to treat sick prisoners simply by giving them this liquid to drink at regular intervals, with amazing results.
Since then he has conducted major research projects and has shown that H2O can prevent and help cure Arthritis, back pain, angina, migraines and high blood pressure.
It also lowers blood cholesterol.
And a H2O and salt mixture can prevent and help cure asthma.
So, in summary, drink enough water throughout the day and eat foods rich in this liquid and you will find your aches and pains will reduce and could even disappear altogether.