Prepared by Sandra Tamm

 

 

A person can go without food for several months, but he cannot survive more than 2-3 days without water (3). The body never works against us, it always does its best in the situation where we place it (7).

 

In developed societies, there is a widespread understanding that tea, coffee, alcohol, carbonated or other drinks are the best substitutes for the need for clean natural water for a "stressed" body. Such an understanding is very misleading (1).  The reality is that these alternatives remove water from our bodies, resulting in excess consumption of such beverages contributing to dehydration.

Water makes up an average of 75% of the human body. In fact, water plays a significant role in the functioning of our body.

 

 

 

The role of water in our body

 

 

Functions of water at the molecular level (6):

 

• Water is involved in most biochemical reactions

• Water ensures hydrolysis reactions

• Water is a good solvent

• Ensures the acidic-alkaline balance of the environment, or PH

 

Water regulates in our body:

 

• Blood flow

• Carrying nutrients into cells

• Removal of waste products from cells

• Lymphatic flow

• The movement of nerve impulses along the nerves

• Movement of hormones in the body

• Brain functioning

 

In addition (6):

 

• Protects water from overheating - the temperature of every surface from which evaporation takes place drops.

• The water content determines the overall metabolic intensity.

• Water separates waste products (urine, sweat, etc.).

• Water is a component of fluids (tear fluid, joint fluid, etc.).

• Fetal development takes place in water.

• Fertilization takes place in a watery environment.

 

If our body does not have enough water, all these (and many more) functions are impaired. As time passes, when the body receives less and less water, our thirst mechanism gradually stops working, which leads to an even greater lack of water in our body. Even if the thirst mechanism works, it is not a reliable indicator of dehydration because thirst is one of the last symptoms of dehydration (1).

 

 

 

Symptoms of chronic dehydration include the following

(these are just a few) (1; 2; 10) 

 

• Allergies

• Asthma

• Chronic pains, including headaches

• High blood pressure

• Overweight - you will never lose weight without normal water intake (10)

• Constipation

• Skin dryness

• Shrinkage of viscera

• A stressed body because toxins cannot leave the body

• Tiredness

• Age-related thinning of the skin

• Swelling - mostly on the legs, under the eyes. The body blocks the excretion of water through the kidneys in order to maintain the volume of blood and lymph, not to get sick and survive (10).

• Cholesterol level increase - in conditions of lack of water, the body begins to take the most water from the cells, and the liver in turn produces cholesterol to ensure the vital activity of the cells, to close the cell membranes and retain water. The increase in cholesterol level is a protective reaction to lack of water and hallepi-inflammatory processes occurring in the tissues. Water treats inflammation, not antibiotics (10).

 

Virgo and Ljudmilla Mihkelsoo's book "Bringing back our health" 2013a describes in more detail what can happen in the body when there is a lack of water. Below is an extract from pages 11-12:

 

• In particular, intracellular processes are affected - the body primarily reduces water in the cells, then in the extracellular environment, and then in the blood.

• The activity of the bone marrow slows down, the production of antibodies decreases, especially the immune system weakens, the risk of getting sick increases.

• The amount of blood decreases, blood and lymph thicken.

• The work of the cells of the immune system is strongly disturbed, as a result of which the frequency of infectious diseases increases and autoimmune diseases begin to develop.

• Deposits of uric acid, phosphates, salt, calcium and other unused substances and residues begin to occur in the body, stones are formed in the organs, obesity occurs.

• The production of the hormone histamine increases/.../

• the bronchioles may begin to narrow to reduce the removal of water during breathing. After a while, it can cause asthma. Asthma attacks often occur when the water level in the body drops - sometimes it helps to drink 2-3 glasses of pure water during an asthma attack.

• The inflow of water into the eyes and nose may begin to increase sharply to help remove incoming aggressive substances, whose destruction by antibodies is no longer possible due to the lack of water - allergies develop (8).

 

Soasthmaif allergiescan be regulated by increasing water consumption. On average, results are seen after three or four weeks from the day the water intake was increased (9).

 

A natural allergy and asthma reliever together with water is salt. A pinch of salt on the tongue tricks the brain into thinking that a large amount of salt has entered the body. In this way, it helps to prevent the production of histamine in the body (Histamine- a neurotransmitter, the task of which, in addition to the role of regulating water, is responsible for the defense system against bacteria, viruses and foreign substances (chemicals and foreign proteins) in the body. Histamine triggers an inflammatory reaction to protect the body) and relax bronchi (9).

 

Water is needed to keep the airways moist and prevent them from drying out as air moves in and out. When there is a lack of water, mucus secretion protects the airways from drying out. In the first stages of asthma, mucus is secreted to protect the airways. There comes a time when a lot of mucus is secreted and it gets stuck, preventing the normal movement of air through the airways. Salt is needed to break up mucus in the lungs and make it watery so it can be expelled from the airways (9).

 

Although it is said that the body adapts well to little water and instead of extra water, it simply uses the water found in the food it eats, but adaptation is making compromises, which ultimately leads to deterioration of health (1).

 

You probably already understand that water consumption is an extremely important part of your daily menu - our body needs water to function properly. In less than an hour, the water you just drank will be in your blood (2). In order for the water regulation in the body to be complete, add mineral-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables and algae to the menu.

 

 

How much water should we drink a day?

 

There is a lot of confusion about how much water we should be consuming per day. Some experts recommend at least 8 glasses, but here too the question arises as to how big a glass is intended. Drinking water should be based on individuality and feeling. A smaller person needs proportionally less water than a larger person. For example, it isDr. Riina Raudsik  in her articlebrought out the instruction that in our climate a person should consume 30 ml of water per 1 kg of body weight (10). Also, the amount of water consumption depends on a person's genes, physical activity, the area where he lives (air temperature) and what his daily menu (3) is.

 

Although we are all different and unique and each with a different body type, Ayurveda (Ayurveda- means the ability to live according to one's unique and unique essence; Ayurveda is over 5000 years old science)_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b -136bad5cf58d_distinguishes three main body types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Often a person has characteristics of all three types, but one of these body types generally predominates.

 

Consequently, the need for water consumption is also individual:

• Vata- body type tends to dryness, representatives of this body type should consume the most water;

• Pitta type is hot, which is why people of this type also drink quite a lot of water;

• Kapha type people need the least amount of water, because their body already has too much water. 

 

Follow your body - it is not reasonable to drink two liters of water a day because someone suggested it. Depending on the person's body type, it can weaken the digestive fire and cause water retention.  Ayurvedic texts talk about water with different types of properties - rain, spring, river and well water, and rain water was considered the healthiest. Today, rainwater is not the best choice, purified water that does not contain fluorine, chlorine or other chemicals should be preferred. Such water is best obtained using filters. According to the principle of Ayurveda, drinking water should be room temperature or slightly warmer (4).

 

 

Summary

 

In conclusion, it must be said that there is no single answer to the question of how much water we should drink per day. Whether you are Vata, Pitta or Kapha, in any case your body needs clean water every day! Just find out what is the right amount for you. And the amount depends not only on your body type, but also on what your menu is, how much physical activity you do during the day, and where in the world you are right now. One interesting fact about water, which I leave it up to you as a reader to decide whether you believe it or not - water molecules react to our words, it doesn't matter if we say them, write them or think them.  Water and water crystals have been studied for years by dr. Masaru Emoto. In addition to researching pure water, he was interested in whether the water components of food can also be influenced by words. In his experiments, he concluded that, indeed, the water molecules in the food also responded to spoken words (5,7). Considering how much of our body is made up of water, according to this theory, it is worth making an effort to think good and positive thoughts or start the day with good words, and to do the same when preparing food and eating it.

 

 

 

Used sources:

1.     Barron J. Teachings of the Miracle Doctors, p.157

2.     Colquhoun J., Ten Bosch L. „Hungry For Change“, pp. 60-61

3.     Rosenthal J. "Integrative Nutrition", pp. 186-187

4.     Pole S. "Pukka Lifestyle", page 57

5.     Blossfeld M. "Natural Food. Full Life. Page 19.  

6. 6. DCENDID_ORGANISMS

7.     Wren, B. “Cell Awakening”, 2009 pp. 31, pp. 33-34

8.     Mihkelsoo, V. and L., "Bringing back our health", 2013 p. 11-12

9.     Batmanghelidj, F, MD “The Water Your Body Calls For” 2010, pp. 131,134,135

10.   Raudsik  R., article in "Eesti Naine" magazine, November 2014, http://www.jyritk.ee/index.php?page=182