Top 10 Facts You Need To Know About Water

Clean water is harder to find than you would think. Conflicting studies merely lead you down a confusing research wormhole.

So I decided to do my own investigation into the truth about drinking water. Here are the top ten points that I learned.

1) The 6-8 glasses a day rule may not be right for your needs. The amount you need varies depending on your level of activity, body weight, and even altitude and climate. Find out how much you really need by taking the brief questionnaire.

2) Bottled water may not be any better than tap water.  Let's not even "go there" when it comes to companies professing to bottle fresh spring water yet are not living up to their claims. If that isn't "icky" enough, most bottled water rates as highly acidic. That means that instead of neutralizing acid in the body, water may actually be contributing to it. Rick Panson, live blood cell analyst, tested most bottled water brands for alkalinity levels.

Here are the brands that came out on top:

• Essentia
• Icelandic
• Evian
• Fiji
• Evamor
• Vittel
• Mt. Valley
• Zephyrhills

Oh! And don't think the water filter in your Brita pitcher is any better! It will cause water to be more acidic too. 

3)You can easily test your water with these drops to see how acidic/alkaline it is.  While you're at it, test your body's pH levels too.
You can add Alkavision Plasma pH drops to make the water alkaline. My family and I are doing this now. We even add the drops to improve the bottled water that the kids take to school, though we are slowly phasing out the disposable bottles (see why in # 8).
 

4) Our natural pH level is 7.365, so drinking alkaline water all the time may not be necessary. Being overly alkaline or overly acidic brings its own set of illnesses and issues. Balance is key. Dr. Mercola wrote an informative post that drinking highly alkaline water all the time may upset hydrochloric acid in the stomach, an essential acid that aids in digestion. Dr. Andrew Weil agrees that there is no need to do anything to water to change its pH. A healthy body regulates itself.

5) Fluoridated water is one of the biggest gimmicks around for dumping chemical waste. This fact is probably one of the most disturbing ones: Fluoride is a by-product of steel manufacturing, and was also a byproduct of the manufacture of the atomic bomb in the 1940’s. The government needed a way to dispose of it without damaging livestock, crops, and humans. So a major campaign ensued to market fluoride as preventing dental cavities, in order to add small amounts to waterways. Of course, this went along with the promise that it would be beneficial to society.

Not only did many of the original scientists who approved fluoride renege on their original findings later on, but other studies showed an increase in uterine cancer mortality, fractures, and dental fluorosis (fluoride-induced toxicity and tooth mottling), lower fertility rates, and osteogenic sarcoma, a malignancy, among other side effects. 

Here is something few people realize: fluoride use has also been linked to premature aging. That means that any anti-aging beauty regimens that you do will be rendered worthless, if you're consuming fluoridated water.

6) Drinking pure water plumps the skin making it the best (and cheapest) anti-aging recipe around. After delivering the bad news about fluoridated water, it seemed right to follow that with the good news that drinking clean water offers the fountain of youth. For ye non-believers, check out these compelling photos of a 42 year old woman who drank three liters of water a day for four weeks. What a transformation!

7) A thirsty body retains water and look bloated. Your very wise body will hold on to water if it isn't getting enough in order to prevent dehydration.
Drink water with lemon juice, a natural diuretic and a gentle laxative, to reduce bloating. Other signs of dehydration include: dry mouth, chapped lips, more sleepy than usual, less active, thirst, dry skin, headaches, constipation, dizziness, and decreased urine that may be very dark.

8) Bottled water hurts the environment. A lot. While it's true that we can recycle bottles today, manufacturing bottles consumes precious natural resources. If that's not enough, even bottles that proudly state that they're BPA-free now show that they're leaching other chemicals into the water. Once again, the water itself isn't even clean. 
Worth watching: The Story of Bottled Water (8 minute video)

9) Your best option is a good filtration system + non-disposable bottles made from glass. You can use the Environmental Working Group's online guide to buying a water filter to determine the water filter that is best for your needs. Rick Panson advises a medical-grade system like Kangen water ionizers when supporting a body dealing with illness.
He recommends (and we tested) Aquasana water filters with good results.

We also stocked up on sturdy glass water bottles that are padded. Choose from the colorful and cute Life Factory bottles or the sleek Takeya designs.
   
10) Drinking lots of water purifies your body and is the best detox. Lately "detox diets" are all the rage, promoting raw food, green juices, and healthy smoothies. While those options are definitely great, water is the ultimate purifier and detox, hands down. Our bodies are 70% water, so if you go by the adage: "You are what you eat," you'd do well to consume enough water throughout the day.

Enough water will eliminate most toxins, move the bowels, and hydrate your system. 

Cheers to your good health! [Cue: Clink glasses filled with water here.]

Related Articles

Clean Water's Dirty Secrets (organiclifestyletv.com)
4 Steps To Achieving Beautiful Skin (ediblefacial.com)

References

1. 50 Reasons to Oppose Fluoride
2. What is pH and Why is it important?
3. Alkaline vs. Acidic on A Healthy You with Carol Alt
4. A Chemistry Lesson for Healthy Skin
5. Chemistry of Hard and Soft Water
6. Be a Water Guardian
7. The Great Fluoride Scam
8. The Silent Betrayal
9. The Silent Betrayal: Water 
10. Fluoride in your drinking water making you look older?
11. Tap Water or Bottled? The Fluoride Issue
12. Fluoride: The Aging Factor (video)
13. Why Bottled Water is Unhealthy, Environmentally Unfriendly, and A Joke
14. Tapped, the movie
15. What’s in your water?
16. PH – Why it matters!
17. Eleven Ways to Keep Your Home a Cancer Free Zone
18. Drinking Poison Is Good for You
19. The Importance of Skin pH
20. Bottled Water Found to Contain over 24,000 Chemicals, Including Endocrine Disruptors
21. Kris Carr’s Healthy Home Checklist
22. Coca Cola Admits Dasani Is Filtered Tap Water
23. EWG Bottled Water Scorecard
24. EWG Natural Drinking Water Database
25. What’s in your bottled water besides water?
26. Big Berkey Water Review (video)
27. Distilled Water vs. Reverse Osmosis vs. Tap Water (video)
28. Alkaline Water: If you fall for this “water fad” you could do some major damage
29. Understanding Your Watershed pH (pdf file from Utah State University Water Quality Extension)
30. 5 Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water

Photo credits: Stockbyt/photos.com, alexander kirch/photos.com, Sudo2/photos.com, Zirafek/photos.com