Water for Thought

Happy Spring! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Everything! Now, let's talk WATER :)

We all know that drinking water must be good for us, right? We all know we should be drinking a lot more than we actually do, right? So, what is keeping us from drinking what we need to stay healthy? What do YOU think is stopping YOU? Hmmm...something to think about.

In the meantime, this is what I have learned about water, the benefits of it, and some things to be aware of:

What I Have Learned and Some Things to be Aware of:

• Bottled water is something I tend to steer clear of as much as I possibly can, for me and my family. As much as the bottled water companies are trying to lessen the amount of plastic and BPA's they are using, I am not convinced it is worth my health. We go to the store and stock up on the BPA free bottles, fill 'em up and get to reuse over and over and over....
• Brita???? Well, Brita is better than nothing BUT perhaps you might like to look into a filter system for your home? There are ones at places like Home Depot for around the $150 range. These take out much of the harmful agents we find (like chlorine) in our tap water. Or, you can spend a few THOUSAND and put a filter system hooked into the entire water supply for the house, which is good for bathing as well as drinking. (But don't drink the bath water!!! :)))
• Using filters on shower heads is a nice alternative. The harmful steam inhaled during showers, the chlorine in the water...can be lessened by the use of a filter sold at most hardware stores. Pretty inexpensive and the filter needs replacing every 6 months or so. YES, it decreases the water pressure for the shower, so you will notice that and they DO stick out from the shower head in an awkwards way creating less space to shower...but I think worth it for health benefits.
• According to a healing arts practitioner at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, our bodies would benefit largely by drinking at least one-half of our own body weight in ounces every day. So, the weight of the entire body is 200lbs, then it would benefit greatly by replenishing up to 100 ounces of fluids.
• What about Tea/Coffee/Sodas/Alcohol,etc...? If it has caffeine in it, it acts as a diuretic. What does this mean? Well, to put it simply, it makes you pee more :) Soooooo, if you pee more then you will need to drink more more more more more and work a but harder to reach that hydration level you may be searching for. IF alcohol - dehydration dehydration - so you're in need of replenishing from below where you started. Good luck! According to our friend at Kripalu, hang-overs are merely froma dehydrated body.

Some Benefits:

(obvious stuff) 

• Flushes out the impurities/toxins in the body.
• What goes out should come back in - meaning we should drink at least the amount we urinate in a day.
• More alert mentally, less achy body.
• Better skin, overall health, hydration all around.
• Weight loss - (we all love to hear those words, yes?). Well, drinking water helps to fill the body up with fluids, leaving us not feeling as hungry...therefore less binge eating, etc... Much of the time when we are hungry, we are actually dehydrated. 
• Again referring to our friend at Kripalu - drink at least one half of your body weight in ounces each day, and see some significant results in overall health in 6 weeks. YES, it does seem like a long wait...but what is there to lose? (aside from toxins, impurities, possibly weight, etc...).

Things to Consider/Ponder:

• What is in your drinking water? What is NOT? For example, harmful chemicals. Do your own research and see what you think. Flouride - on Long Island, we do not have flouride in our tap water. What is flouride good for aside from giving us good teeth? What are some of the harms from flouride? Just things to research and think about....
• Consider the fluid in your body. Humans are (apparently) %75-%80 made up of fluid.
• What about the chemicals we swim in during the warmer months? Thinking of our skin as a living breathing organ, as it ingests all these things.

Would love to hear your thoughts on water, drinking it, our health, and the fluidity in your life. All in all, life is worth living in my opinion. How we each decide to live it is our own perrogative but it sure is interesting to share and learn from one another.