"Soda and caffeine-containing beverages don't replace water needs of the body. Caffeine is a dehydrate substance. It does not allow the water to stay in the body long enough. Within an hour you will urinate more than the cup of beverage that you drank."
The great majority of the 100 million Filipinos are woefully uninformed about water. Most people think they drink enough water, but they don't.
PARADIGM SHIFT
By definition, a paradigm shift (or revolutionary science) is a change in the basic assumptions, or mindset, within the ruling framework.
Water in the old paradigm just considered that by merely drinking fluids like sweetened juices, soda or tea will hydrate you as well as water does. This is not true. It’s actually the opposite!
“Thinking that tea, coffee, alcohol and manufactured beverages are desirable substitute for the purely natural water needs of the daily ‘stressed’ body are an elementary but catastrophic mistake. While these beverages do contain water, they also contain dehydrating agents. They get rid of the water they dissolved in plus some more water from the reserves in the body."
"Soda and caffeine-containing beverages don't replace water needs of the body. Caffeine is a dehydrate substance. It does not allow the water to stay in the body long enough. Within an hour you will urinate more than the cup of beverage that you drank. When children are given fruit juice and soda to the exclusion of water, it only compounds the dehydration problem. At the same time, a cultivated preference for the taste of sodas will automatically reduce the free urge to drink water when sodas are available." - Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D.
WATER IS LIFE
In the new paradigm, water is not only the vehicle of oxygen to all organs of the body, water is medicine, water is nutrient. It is also an active element in the metabolic process of the body. Water is critical to the production of electricity (electrolyte/energy) in the body. Simply put water is life.
Functions of Water in Human Body
The functions of water in human body are comprehensive, integral and vital.
1. Water is used by the body for digestion;
2. Increases metabolic function (means increase the calorie burn and fat loss);
3. Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells;
4. Detoxifying cells;
5. Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better;
6. Moisturizes the air in lungs;
7. Lubricating joints;
8. Keeping the body alkalized and a host of cleansing activities.
The biggest perk of drinking water is that you can have as much as you want without adding any more calories to your diet. Aside from that, water can actually curb your appetite and further improve your weight-loss efforts in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.
DAILY HEALTHY HYDRATION
Start your Mornings Right. Morning is when you are most full of toxin and dehydrated. Reach for a big glass of water first thing in the morning – even before coffee. This water in the morning really gets the blood flowing.
Always drink water before and after food; ideally drink 2 glasses (200ml) of tap water half an hour before you eat your meal and half an hour after the meal, to support the digestive process. The stomach depends on water to help digest food, and lack of water makes it harder for nutrients to be broken down and used as energy. The liver, which dictates where all nutrients go, also needs water to help convert stored fat into usable energy. If you are dehydrated, the kidneys turn to the liver for backup, diminishing the liver’s ability to metabolize stored fat. The resulting reduced blood volume will interfere with your body’s ability to remove toxins and supply your cells with adequate nutrients.
You can drink water with meals, and drink water anytime your body feels like it.
How Much Water to Drink?
To better determine how much water you need each day, divide your body weight in half. The answer is the approximate number of water ounces you should drink daily. You should drink half of your body weight in ounces.
If you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 ounces water (3.13 quarts, 2.98 liters or about 10-12 cups of water a day). If you weigh closer to 100 pounds you will need only about 50 ounces of water or about four 12-ounce glasses daily.
Before bed time/sleeping drink a glass or two and a pinch* of sea salt on your tongue to balance your sodium intake with your water consumption.
*A pinch of salt = 3 to 5 grains of sea salt or rock salt. Salt ranks number 3 in the body requirements, namely, oxygen, water and salt.
What to Avoid?
Avoid sodas/soft drinks to provide your fluid needs. The high sugar content and artificial flavors in soft drinks are harmful to your health.
Tea, coffee, soft drinks, alcohol contain water, but the diuretics contained in these caffeinated beverages flush water out of your body. Don’t count on them to replenish fluid loss.
It is OK to drink them occasionally, but if you drink them constantly and don’t drink enough pure natural water, then you are severely compromising your long-term health.
NOTES:
1. Juices, alcohol, soft drinks, coffee & tea are not water.
2. Avoid artificial energy drink and bottled water (they are acidic).
3. Do not count the water you drink during meals as your water for the day.
4. To replace the minerals lost by urinating and perspiring put a pinch of sea salt on the tongue after drinking water at least once a day.
How Do You Get Dehydrated?
Through activities of daily living, the average person loses about 3- 4 liters (about 10-15 cups) of fluid a day in sweat, urine, exhaled air and bowel movement. What is lost must be replaced by the water/ fluid we drink and the food we eat.
We lose approximately 1-2 liters of water just from breathing. The evaporation of sweat from the skin accounts for 90% of our cooling ability.
Exercise, sweating, diarrhea, temperature, or altitude can significantly increase the amount of water we lose each day. The most common cause of increased water loss is exercise and sweating. Even though we are all at risk of dehydration the people most vulnerable are infants, elderly adults, and athletes. They are either not able to adequately express their thirst sensation or able to detect it and do something in time.
How Do You Know If you’re Dehydrated?
If you are thirsty, it means your cells are already dehydrated. A dry mouth should be regarded as the last outward sign of dehydration. That’s because thirst does not develop until body fluids are depleted well below levels required for optimal functioning.
Monitor your urine to make sure you are not dehydrated:
- a hydrated body produces clear, colorless urine.
- a somewhat dehydrated body produces yellow urine.
- a severely dehydrated body produces orange or dark-colored urine.
STAY HYDRATED, STAY FIT
The effects of even mild dehydration include decreased coordination, fatigue, dry skin, decreased urine output, dry mucous membranes in the mouth and nose, blood pressure changes and impairment of judgment. Stress, headache, back pain, allergies, asthma, high blood pressure and many degenerative health problems are the result of UCD (Unintentional Chronic Dehydration). Drink more water and stay hydrated, stay fit! #
Source: Your Body's Many Cries for Water By: Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj