HEALTH DANGERS LURK IN YOUR DRINKING WATER

Dr. Isaac Eliaz

Got water? Most of us suffer chronic dehydration thanks to busy schedules and a lack of fresh, clean water when needed. That water shortage can make you moody, fatigued, brain-fogged and health-deprived. But be careful what you swallow. The invisible contaminants you’re drinking in your water every day may be your worst toxic nightmare.

Dehydration Issues

As your body grows accustomed to a state of chronic dehydration, you lose sensitivity to water deprivation and don’t get thirsty when you need hydration. This can be a major problem because water is essential for maintaining optimal health. It comprises more than half of your body mass in the form of intracellular fluid, interstitial fluids, cerebrospinal fluid and more.

It’s easy to see why dehydration is such a problem for your health. In Chinese Medicine, water is considered the body’s essential medium, allowing for communication between vital organs and facilitating proper flow. It seems the solution should be simple: Drink more water. Unfortunately, water that is not properly filtered may prove more harmful than beneficial. It can expose the body to various toxic chemicals, including heavy metals like lead, mercury, copper, cadmium and aluminum. It may also contain hexavalent chromium, water treatment additives such as chlorine and fluoride, and bacteria and viruses such as giardia, coliform and E-coli.

Heavy Metals In Drinking Water

Heavy metals can seep into your drinking water from the pipes and plumbing through which it travels. Once ingested, heavy metals are difficult for the body to remove and can damage the body’s systems at the cellular level. Exposure can weaken the immune system, contributing to increased risk of kidney problems, high blood pressure and chronic inflammation.

Hexavalent Chromium

Hexavalent chromium compounds are found in dyes, paints, inks and plastics, as well as in agents added to paints and primers. While workers in shipyards, marine terminals and construction sites suffer the highest exposure, new information shows that drinking water across the country may be contaminated with this toxin. The chemical can seep into groundwater from natural sources and be present in soil. When inhaled from polluted air or polluted soil, it causes respiratory complications like coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and nasal itch. The Environmental Protection Agency says that the presence of this compound in tap water may be carcinogenic, but the Federal government has yet to set a limit for hexavalent chromium levels in drinking water.

Water Treatment Additives

Chlorine is primarily used in municipal water treatment facilities to kill microorganisms due to its powerful disinfectant properties. However, it becomes dangerous to people when it reacts with other naturally occurring elements to form toxins called trihalomethanes (THMs). These toxins have been linked to a range of health problems including asthma, eczema, bladder cancer, heart disease and others.

Viruses And Bacteria

Although most filters and water treatments can successfully remove certain viruses and bacteria from drinking water, they are mostly inadequate. Therefore, you need to take extra precautions. Cities all over the country have experienced outbreaks of E. coli and other waterborne diseases including cholera, typhoid and dysentery originating in contaminated water. Exposure to E. coli bacteria can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps and gastrointestinal diseases as well as long-term kidney problems.

Water Filtration Options

With so many risks of contamination, it’s imperative to not only choose clean, filtered water when hydrating, but also to take advanced measures to build immunity and prevent these toxins from harming your body’s systems. Installing a water filtration system in your home or office is the easiest, most effective and most economical way to ensure safe drinking water. Common Brita and PUR water filters do not remove all harmful compounds. However, various reverse-osmosis systems that are designed for the home can effectively purify most tap water. Additionally, undergoing regular cleanses to detoxify the body of harmful chemicals, toxins and heavy metals that have collected in organs and tissues can help protect your body from further damage.

Safe and Natural Detoxification

While the best way to protect yourself is by minimizing your exposure to these health-robbing chemicals, you can take action to help your body remove these toxins safely and effectively if you’ve already been put at risk. The most important aspect of any detox program is a healthy cleansing diet, which helps:

• Eliminate foods possessing strong pro-inflammatory potential.
• Alkalize your system to promote oxygenation and detoxification of tissues and organs.
• Provide nutritional support to your organs.
• Revitalize cells and tissues.
• Balance blood sugar.
• Improve digestion.
• Remove toxins and heavy metals.

Extra Support

For added support, supplement with PectaSol-C Modified Citrus Pectin to remove toxins and heavy metals from deep within the tissues and organs. Numerous studies show that Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) is a safe and powerful detoxifying agent. Recent studies also prove its ability to significantly enhance immune function for both short-term and long-term immunity.

Clean drinking water is an essential health resource for the entire planet. It is one of the key components to vitality and longevity. To best ensure your health and that of your family, invest in a high-quality water filter or purchase pre-filtered water in glass jars from your local grocer. Along with proper diet and supplementation, plenty of good hydration with high-quality drinking water helps you look and feel your best, giving you the energy you need to keep up with our fast-paced world — without letting your engine overheat.

THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING WATER

Water is vital to our health. 

Our bodies are composed of 70-75% water.  Water is a component of every cell in the body.  Most of the physiological processes that take place in the body require water to make things run smoothly.  Did you know that the average, healthy person can endure a three to ten day fast without physical harm- as long as they are drinking adequate amounts of water.  However, going without food and water for only three days can put the body into severe dehydration and begin to damage organs.

Mild dehydration is responsible for many symptoms we experience.  Often, a mild headache can be relieved by drinking two glasses of water.  Try it and wait 15 minutes before you reach for the ibuproben.  Just to be clear, I'm talking about drinking water, not coffee, tea, juice or soda.  Coffee has a diuretic action on the body.  It actually takes out water!  The body wants plain water, the cleaner the better.

Let's take a look at a few of the benefits we experience when drinking adequate amounts of water:

1. Water carries waste products from every cell to the kidneys where they are excreted in the urine.  Many doctors believe drinking enough water helps to prevent kidney stones.  Toxins are more easily carried out from the liver in a hydrated body.  A build up of toxins can make you feel sluggish and irritable.  It's more diffucult to concentration. 

2. Adequate water can help to reduce infections in the body.  The lymphatic system breaks down toxins like caffeine before it goes into the blood.  The lymphatic system doesn't flow properly without enough water in the system. 

3.  The skin has more elasticity and looks younger and plumper with adequate water.

4.  Continual flushing of the bladder with water helps to prevent cystitis (bladder infections).  You don't want concentrated urine sitting for long periods in the bladder if you're trying to prevent infection.

5.  Chronic constipation if often eliminated with adequate water.

6.  Contrary to most thinking, drinking more water reduces edema (water retention) from the body.  If the body is short on water it will retain whatever there is for maintenance of your daily processes.  You can flush out the salts which are holding onto the water by drinking more water.

7.  A lack of water reduces the saliva in the mouth.  Saliva helps to wash away bacteria.  Halitosis (bad breath) can occur in a dry mouth from the build up of bacteria on the teeth and tongue.

8.  The blood is 85-90% water!  The blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body.  And, it carries out cellular waste.  A lack of adequate water will reduce the volume of blood.  The blood can become slightly sticky and this cases inflammation in the blood vessels.  We now know that inflammation is the beginning process of most diseases.  If less oxygen is carried, cramping can occur in the muscles.  A lack of water causes lactic acid to build up in the muscles.  That causes aches and pains and that crunchy sensation you experience when your muscles are massaged.

9.  The brain is 75-80% water.  The electrical synapsis' (connections) that occurs from one neuron to another travel through water.  Thinking, concentration and memory are at a higher quality with a hydrated brain.

10. Water regulates our body temperature.  Most of us were told by our doctors to get rest and to drink more fluids when sick with a fever.

How do we loose water?

Sweating- you loose about two cups of water a day through perspiration.  If you exercise or your feet sweat, it's more that that.

Breathing- you expel between two and four cups of water every day.  Don't believe me?  Exhale onto a mirror and look at the moisture.  How many times do you exhale every minute, hour or every day?

Urination- Each time you urinate you loose about a cup of water.  If your urine is an intense yellow or dark, you are probably not drinking enough water.  You want it to be pale yellow or clear.  (Some medications and supplements can change the color of your urine.)

How much water is enough? 

Generally, drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day .  Some experts say we should drink half our body weight in ounces.  I tend to think that is more accurate.  It's also very good to drink down two full glasses first thing in the morning.

"Water is the single most important material for the existence and support of human life and health."

My next post will talk about Alkaline Water.