Hydration
As we all look seek for the next super food or the proper combination of supplements to make us feel better, keep us healthy and improve our daily performance. The answer might be as simple as making sure that we all keep hydrated for our bodies to function properly.
The old adage said, You are what you eat. Today we add to that by saying, You are what you drink! If we’re not drinking the proper amount of water on a daily basis it could affect our bodies adversely in more ways than you might image.
When the body becomes dehydrated, you start to feel the effects of it both physically and mentally. By the time you feel thirsty, you may be well on your way to dehydration. If you don’t replenish your water intake soon, you can start to feel very sick as more of your organs are affected by the lack of water.
This is why we have created this section, so that you can learn more about proper hydration and that water does make a difference.
We at HYDRO GUARD Water Sciences not only understand the importance of water and hydration, but know all too well that the quality of the water you drink is important also. We believe in Hydration and Serious Filtration for a Thirsty Planet!
Many athletes overlook the power of this essential nutrient, water. Perhaps it’s your turn to give water a try?
This article offers droplets of information to enhance your water I.Q., optimize your water balance, and help you feel and perform better.
The Wonders of Water
The Wonders of Water: Amazing Secrets for Health and Wellness by Dr. F. Batmanghelidj
Water prevents and helps to cure heartburn.
Heartburn is a signal of water shortage in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is a major thirst signal of the human body. The use of antacids or tablet medications in the treatment of this pain does not correct dehydration, and the body continues to suffer as a result of its water shortage.
Not recognizing heartburn as a sign of dehydration and treating it with antacids and pill medications will, in time, produce inflammation of the stomach and duodenum, hiatal hernia, ulceration, and eventually cancers in the gastrointestinal tract, including the liver and pancreas.
Water prevents and helps to cure arthritis.
Rheumatoid joint pain – arthritis – is a signal of water shortage in the painful joint. It can affect the young as well as the old. The use of pain-killers does not cure the problem, but exposes the person to further damage from pain medications. Intake of water and small amounts of salt will cure this problem.
Water prevents and helps to cure back pain.
Low back pain and ankylosing arthritis of the spine are signs of water shortage in the spinal column and discs – the water cushions that support the weight of the body. These conditions should be treated with increased water intake – not a commercial treatment, but a very effective one.
Not recognizing arthritis and low back pain as signs of dehydration in the joint cavities and treating them with pain-killers, manipulation, acupuncture, and eventually surgery will, in time, produce osteoarthritis when the cartilage cells in the joints have eventually all died. It will produce deformity of the spine. It will produce crippling deformities of the limbs. Pain medications have their own life-threatening complications.
Water prevents and helps to cure angina.
Heart pain – angina – is a sign of water shortage in the heart/lung axis. It should be treated with increased water intake until the patient is free of pain and independent of medications. Medical supervision is prudent. However, increased water intake is angina’s cure.
Water prevents and helps to cure migraines.
Migraine headache is a sign of water need by the brain and the eyes. It will totally clear up if dehydration is prevented from establishing in the body. The type of dehydration that causes migraine might eventually cause inflammation of the back of the eye and possibly loss of eye sight.
Water prevents and helps to cure colitis.
Colitis pain is a signal of water shortage in the large gut. It is associated with constipation because the large intestine constricts to squeeze the last drop of water from the excrements – thus the lack of water lubrication.
Not recognizing colitis pain as a sign of dehydration will cause persistent constipation. Later in life, it will cause fecal impacting: it can cause diverticulitis, hemorrhoids and polyps, and appreciably increases the possibility of developing cancer of the colon and rectum.
Water and salt prevent and helps to cure asthma.
Asthma, which also affects 14 million children and kills several thousand of them every year, is a complication of dehydration in the body. It is caused by the drought management programs of the body. In asthma free passage of air is obstructed so that water does not leave the body in the form of vapor – the winter steam. Increased water intake will prevent asthma attacks. Asthmatics need also to take more salt to break the mucus plugs in the lungs that obstruct the free flow of air in and out of the air sacs.
Not recognizing asthma as the indicator of dehydration in the body of a growing child not only will sentence many thousands of children to die every year, but will permit irreversible genetic damage to establish in the remaining 14 million asthmatic children.
Water prevents and helps to cure high blood pressure.
Hypertension is a state of adaptation of the body to a generalized drought, when there is not enough water to fill all the blood vessels that diffuse water into vital cells. As part of the mechanism of reverse osmosis, when water from the blood serum is filtered and injected into important cells through minute holes in their membranes, extra pressure is needed for the “injection process.” Just as we inject I.V. “water” in hospitals, so the body injects water into tens of trillions of cells all at the same time. Water and some salt intake will bring blood pressure back to normal!
Not recognizing hypertension as one of the major indicators of dehydration in the human body, and treating it with diuretics that further dehydrate the body will, in time, cause blockage by cholesterol of the heart arteries and the arteries that go to the brain. It will cause heart attacks and small or massive strokes that paralyze. It will eventually cause kidney disease. It will cause brain damage and neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Water prevents and helps to cure early adult-onset diabetes.
Adult-onset diabetes is another adaptive state to severe dehydration of the human body. To have adequate water in circulation and for the brain’s priority water needs, the release of insulin is inhibited to prevent insulin from pushing water into all body cells. In diabetes, only some cells get survival rations of water. Water and some salt will reverse adult-onset diabetes in its early stages.
Not recognizing adult-onset diabetes as a complication of dehydration will, in time, cause massive damage to the blood vessels all over the body. It will cause eventual loss of the toes, feet and legs from gangrene. It will cause eye damage, even blindness.
Water lowers blood cholesterol.
High cholesterol levels are an indicator of early drought management by the body. Cholesterol is a clay-like material that is poured in the gaps of some cell membranes to safeguard them against losing their vital water content to the osmotically more powerful blood circulating in their vicinity. Cholesterol, apart from being used to manufacture nerve cell membranes and hormones, is also used as a “shield” against water taxation of other vital cells that would normally exchange water through their cell membranes.
15 Hydration Facts for Athletes
Even though we can get water from different sources, it is important to remember that water is still the best form of hydration for you. No preservative, no sugars, no coloring, no additives... simply clean filtered water.
All fluids count, as do foods that have high water content. For example:
- Oatmeal is 84 percent water.
- Low-fat milk is 90 percent water.
- Coffee is 99.5 percent water.
- Lettuce is 96 percent water.
- Tomato is 95 percent water.
- Broccoli is 89 percent water.
- Low-fat vanilla yogurt is 79 percent water.
- Ice cream is 60 percent water.
(Although we believe that plain, contaminant free drinking water is the best form of Hydration. Hydro Guard systems can help in preparation of meals and beverages for healthy hydration no matter how your body receives water.)
2. You cannot function without water.
Your body cannot survive without sufficient water, as noted by the fact that athletes die from dehydration. Water is the solvent for your biochemical reactions.
3. You need water for digestion.
Water is required to moisten food (saliva), digest food (gastric secretions), transport nutrients to and from cells (blood), discard waste (urine), and dissipate heat (sweat). Water is a major component of the muscles and organs; about 60 percent of a male’s body weight and 50 percent of a woman’s body weight is water.
4. Your body parts have different water contents.
Water constantly moves through your cells. About 4 percent to 10 percent of your body-water gets replaced every day with “fresh” water. For example:
- Blood is approximately 93 percent water.
- Muscle is about 73 percent water.
- Body fat is about 10 percent water.
5. Bioelectrical impedance (BIA) methods of measuring body fat actually measure body water.
This formula estimates the ratio of water to muscle and fat. Hence, if you use a Tanita Scale or Omron device, be sure to maintain adequate hydration. If you are dehydrated, you’ll end up with an inaccurate (higher) estimate of body fat.
6. Your body produces 8 to 16 oz. (250 to 500 ml) water per day.
This occurs during normal metabolic processes. During a marathon, a runner’s muscles can produce that much water over two to three hours. When muscles burn glycogen, they simultaneously release about 2.5 units water for every 1 unit of muscle glycogen; this helps protect against dehydration.
7. Your coffee is a source of water. With Hydro Guard your coffee will taste better and be free of many harmful contaminants which could be in your drinking water.
Although once thought to have a diuretic effect, current research indicates coffee (in amounts normally consumed) hydrates as well as water over a 24-hour period. That is, after drinking coffee, you may urinate sooner, but you will not urinate more than you consume.
Army research on caffeine and dehydration confirms coffee is an acceptable source of fluids for athletes, even during exercise in the heat. Hence, coffee and other caffeinated beverages such as tea or cola count towards your water intake.
8. An increased concentration of particles in your blood triggers the sensation of thirst.
If you are a 150-pound athlete, you’ll start to feel thirsty once you’ve lost about 1.5 to 3 pounds of sweat (1 percent to 2 percent of your body weight). You are seriously dehydrated when you have lost 5 percent of your body weight.
9. Body water absorbs heat from your muscles and sweat dissipates heat.
The evaporation of 1 liter (about 36 oz.) of sweat from the skin represents a loss of about 580 calories. Sweat keeps you from overheating during exercise and in hot environments.
10. You can measure your water losses after a workout.
To determine how much water you lose when you sweat, weigh yourself (with little or no clothing) before and after one hour of hard exercise with no fluid intake. The change in body weight reflects sweat loss. A one-pound drop in weight equates to loss of 16 oz. of sweat. A two-pound drop equates to 32 oz.—that’s 1 quart. Drink accordingly during your workouts to prevent that loss.
11. When you sweat, you lose water from both inside and outside your cells.
The water outside the cells is rich in sodium, an electrolyte that works in balance with potassium. Potassium is an electrolyte inside the cells. Sweat contains about seven times more sodium than potassium, hence sodium is the most important electrolyte to replace during extended exercise.
12. Dehydration can hinder athletic performance.
Athletes who lose more than 2 percent of their body weight (3 pounds for a 150-pound athlete) lose both their mental edge and their ability to perform optimally in hot weather. Yet, during cold weather, you are less likely to experience reduced performance, even at 3 percent dehydration.
Three to 5 percent dehydration does not seem to affect muscle strength or performance during short intense bouts of anaerobic exercise, such as weight lifting. But distance runners slow their pace by 2 percent for each percent of body weight lost through dehydration. Sweat loss of more than 10 percent body weight is life threatening.
13. Water can reduce constipation and help with urinary tract infections.
There is also no scientific validation of theories that excessive water intake will improve weight loss, remove toxins, or improve skin tone.
14. You don’t need eight glasses of water per day.
No scientific evidence supports the “eight glasses per day” rule, so you can simply drink in response to thirst. You can also monitor the volume of your urine. If your urine is scanty, dark, and smelly, you should drink more. If you have not urinated during your work or school day (8 a.m. to 3 p.m.), you are severely under-hydrated.
15. Dehydration decreases muscle.
Mild dehydration increases cortisol and decreases testosterone, which decreases muscle and strength gains.
