Well, Well, Well, Water is a Deep Subject

Frankly, the benefits of water surprised me. Harvard Health Publishing cites water as having the following positive properties: carrying nutrients and oxygen to your cells, flushing bacteria from your bladder, aiding digestion, preventing constipation, normalizing blood pressure, stabilizing heartbeat, cushioning joints, protecting organs and tissues, regulation of body temperature, and maintaining electrolyte (sodium) balance. WHAT? I saw cardiologists for most of my adult life, and not one mentioned I needed to drink water for a healthy heart! I’m off all medications now, but that would have been good information to know. So today, we are going to delve a little closer into water, because it’s clearly underrated. How much water do we need? What kind? Can we drink something else? If you are interested in what the scientific community has to say, then you may be surprised that the 8 glasses a day recommendation has no scientific basis behind it. The World Health Organization recommends water intake depending on the level of physical activity. For example, people with a sedentary lifestyle should consume 2.9 liters (men) and 2.2 liters (women), while people who are involved in high labor activities are recommended to drink about 4.5 liters per day, irrespective of gender. We get water from some of our food, like celery, cucumbers, spinach, and watermelon. We can drink coffee, tea or other beverages, and it counts toward our water intake. We need to go easy on sugar-sweetened drinks though. Regular soda, energy or sports drinks, and other sweet drinks, usually contain a lot of added sugar, which could mean unnecessary added calories. Alkaline ionized water has been shown to decrease bone reabsorption, which translates into stronger bones. That is still being studied, but it is encouraging. I am picky about my water. If it doesn’t taste good, I have trouble drinking it. There are also a lot of possible contaminates that can be in water, so it's important to know what you are drinking, as well as how it tastes. I have a Berkey water filter by my kitchen sink. Problem solved for me.