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.