Article by: Paul C. Tijerina, Nutritional Therapist & SuperHuman Life Coach. For more information about Paul, visit http://www.paulctijerina.com.
A great resource and one of the foundational books I read early on in my career was by Fereydoon Batmanghelidj “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” http://amzn.to/1RFKJvA where the author links many modern degenerative disease and health issues to lack of hydration, quality issues, and so on.
We all know hydration is important, but. . .
Most people consume massive amounts of teas, coffees, sodas, and flavored drinks with real, natural, and artificial flavors. MOST people are completely divorced from drinking water as their primary source of hydration. And even when they know they should, they have a hard time making the switch.
Water is the most important nutrient in the body:
- you can go 8 weeks with out food, but only days without water.
- water makes up roughly 60% of our total body mass.
- it is found in all tissues.
- most of the volume of cells is water.
Water is the most common nutritional deficiency in the American population.
If the body’s water content drops by as little as 2%, it will cause fatigue. a drop of 10% will cause significant health problems:
- crazy digestive issues including low stomach acid and constipation.
- cardiovascular issues
- immune system depression
- musculoskeletal problems (movement and coordination)
a loss of greater than 10% can cause death.
Early signs of dehydration
- fatigue
- anxiety
- irritability
- depression
- cravings
- cramps
- headaches
Mature signs of dehydration
- heartburn
- joint pain
- back Pain
- migraines
- fibromyalgia
- constipation
- colitis
Roles and benefits of hydration
- improves oxygen delivery to cells
- enables cellular hydration
- removes wastes and flushes toxins
- transports nutrients
- prevents tissues from sticking
- moistens oxygen for easier breathing
- lubricates joints
- improves cell-to-cell communication
- cushions bones and joints
- absorbs shocks to joints and organs
- maintains normal electrical properties of cells
- regulates body temperature
- empowers the body’s natural healing process
As athletes, many of these roles are absolutely crucial!
Where our body gets water
The body can produce about 8% of its daily water needs through metabolic processes. the remaining 92% must be ingested through the foods we eat and the beverages we drink.
- 8% metabolic water
- 28% ingested foods
- 64% ingested liquids
Where our body loses water
Even though the amount and distribution of water are regulated within the body, water is not stored, anywhere. Therefore, we must consume water daily to stay healthy. here is where we lose our water:
- 4% GI tract
- 12% lungs
- 24% skin
- 60% kidneys
My water consumption guidelines
Over the long-term, we recommend drinking to thirst. but to first get to where you can instinctively drink to thirst, you need to “prime” your body’s hydration with our standard hydration goal:
- body weight / 2 = ounces per day
- maximum 1 gallon per day
This is a great starting point for most people, and a great long-term goal, although over time you don’t have to be as neurotic about it. Give yourself a solid 6 months of using this goal before drinking to thirst. As a dedicated athlete, understand, your water demands will be more than the average person! Therefore, abiding by these guidelines is going to be even more crucial than someone who does not work out 🙂
Mineralized hydration
Most of the fluids in your body are not water. your body must convert clean water that you drink into the other fluids that it needs, such as mucus, saliva, interstitial fluid, tissue fluid, digestive juices, and so on. Therefore, we like to give the body water with nutrients:
- pinch of unrefined Himalayan sea salt
- few drops of a product we love called Concentrace http://amzn.to/1Uqn5dm
- infused with various other things such as fruits and herbs which can give it flavor and nutrients
As a dedicated athlete, we are blowing through nutrients as we work out. replenishing these nutrients with mineralized water is extremely beneficial. in fact, I would say it’s even more important to rehydrate after a workout than it is to worry about getting a post-workout meal in. rehydration is going to help with protein synthesis, and restore many of the metabolic and healing processes that get interrupted or damaged during workouts.
About bottled water: Tap water is crap water. However, bottled water is not much better:
- water is bottled at a remote location. the bottle requires massive amounts of petroleum and natural gas to make. it’s then driven or shipped using more fuel and inefficiencies.
- when you buy bottled water you’re not just buying water, you’re paying for all the chemical inputs as well.
- bottled water, no matter how clean the water is, leaches chemicals into the water.
The most healthy and cost-effective way to drink water is to filter it yourself, or get it from a filtering station.
Multipure Drinking Water Systems utilize proprietary solid carbon block filters to reduce contaminants that affect appearance, taste, and most important, quality of water.
- they do not waste water (like RO’s)
- they do not require electricity
- they do not add anything
- they do not take away beneficial minerals
Multipure vs bottled water:
- Multipure reduces aesthetic and health concern contaminants – much bottled water is not much better than tap water.
- Multipure reduces the waste from disposable plastic bottles.
- Multipure filters are much more cost effective.
| type of water | cost per gallon |
| imported bottled | $3.84 |
| domestic “purified” bottled | $2.23 |
| home delivery bottled | $1.71 |
| water vending machine | $0.25 |
| Multipure | $0.09 |
For more information and to receive a discount, please message [email protected] and reference Multipure.
Reverse Osmosis drinking water systems remove toxins by foreign water thru a semi permeable membrane, which allows only water to pass through, but not certain impurities or contaminates. RO systems produce extremely clean water, but can be a little more expensive and difficult to install. You can purchase RO systems at places like Home Depot or even on Amazon such as this model here http://amzn.to/1TeMHIJ.