Drink Clean, Live Water

Make sure your water is filtered by a good quality filter. Some drinking water in the USA contains toxic pollutants such as arsenic, other heavy metals, fracking chemicals. Even though the level can be small, they can accumulate in your body to the point of causing serious trouble. Almost all public water has chlorine and fluoride, each of which sets up problems in your body.

Beware water of plastic bottles. Chemicals leaking from the plastic are linked to sex hormone disruption, learning and behavior problems, cancer, diabetes and obesity. It’s a big deal.

Dehydrating Liquids
Liquids that work against you are coffee, teas with caffeine (including black or green teas), or any drink with sugar or artificial sweeteners. These, as well as alcoholic drinks, actually have a dehydrating effect. Eating or drinking sugar also demands water from your system and usually pushes your metabolism toward storing fat.

Hydrating Liquids
Water, herbal tea and clear broths. Many people are always dehydrated without knowing it. Their bodies have lost touch with normal thirst.

F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. points out many health problems from chronic dehydration may not seem at all connected to thirst or to each other. Even doctors often misdiagnose it. Drinking pure water sometimes brings immediate, remarkable improvements to “feeling bad” or other health problems.

How can you tell? If your urine is darker than a very pale yellow, you are dehydrated.  A strong B vitamin or multi vitamin makes urine bright yellow right after.

You should drink water according to this formula: one ounce for every two pounds of body weight. Eating lots of raw, watery vegetables and avoiding sugar, caffeine, and alcohol may reduce this some, but extra water never hurts, and is even a home remedy for colds.

You may need to adjust this upward if you sweat a lot or are physically very active, or if you live in an arid or desert climate.

The same applies if you consume beverages or foods that are sugary, caffeinated, or have alcohol. Such foods and drinks have a dehydrating effect, meaning that you will need to drink MORE, and what you drink should be simple, pure water.

So a person weighing 150 pounds needs 75 oz water or two quarts, 11 ounces or seven glasses of ten ounces each.

People who eat lots of raw vegetables and avoid processed food may need less.

You know you are drinking enough if you need to urinate at least a few times each day, and the color is pale. Take time to drink water or herbal tea throughout the day. You can also load up with a big dose when you have a chance, especially when you first get up and your stomach is empty.

My personal approach is to drink 16 to 32 ounces in the first half hour I am awake, and to eat breakfast 30 to 50 minutes after that.

Water Strategy #1
Try dividing into six parts your water allotment according to your weight. Drink one sixth 30 minutes before each meal and 2 ½ hours after each meal. Divide into five parts if you want to skip the after-dinner time. Breakfast is important to avoid the urge to overeat later in the day, which makes it hard to drink well.

Water Strategy #2
Wake up early, fill a quart size glass jar and drink down half to all of it while you prepare for the day. Keep a water bottle with you and take drinks all day long.

You can add a pinch of salt to the water for absorption and good salt levels (about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per quart). You should pee several times per day. Make sure your input equals your output and you don’t have a problem excreting urine. A few people do. If so, see a doctor.

Pay attention to your body’s signals. If something in you is pushing away at the idea of drinking, don’t force yourself to drink. Ask why. Perhaps you are getting nauseous or perhaps your stomach needs more time to absorb whatever is in it. Your body has a wisdom that is deeper than the mind.

People’s needs vary. The amount you need will be influenced by your level of activity, if you eat a lot of dry food (i.e. granola, crackers, nuts), the heat and humidity, or the amount of water in your food.

When to Drink

Drinking water before bed: Many people experience a strong disruption to their sleep when they wake to urinate. Avoid this by drinking your full dose of water earlier in the day, especially in the morning. If you drink a quart of pure water by noon, and another 20 to 40 ounces in the afternoon (coffee, sweet drinks and alcoholic drinks don’t count!) you will not be thirsty before bed. A few swallows at bedtime won’t make a difference. Drinking to lose weight? This is a myth. Drinking a lot of water right before bed or any other time does not help you to lose weight.

Drinking water with meals: You absorb water best when the stomach is not full of food. To avoid feeling so full, limit the liquids during the meal, and take any big drinks 30 minutes before or 2 hours after a meal.