AirAndWaterPurifier.com

How many of you have heard
that we are dehydrated and need to drink at least eight
eight-ounce glasses of water a day? I know that is what I
have traditionally been exposed to. I used to advise that
people follow an even more refined rule of thumb–for every
50 pounds of body weight you carry, drink one quart of
spring or filtered water per day. This would increase daily
water intake to 12 to 16 glasses for most of us.

However, after awhile I began to question this and I
further refined my recommendations to use the color of your
urine as a guide to how much water you should be drinking.
As long as you are not taking riboflavin (vitamin B2), which
fluoresces and turns your urine bright yellow (it is also in
most multi-vitamins), then your urine should be a very
light-colored yellow. If it is a deep yellow then you are
likely not drinking enough water.

So I was delighted to read in my

Family Practice Newspaper that an Institute of Medicine
Panel actually reached the same rational conclusion. They
rejected the conventional wisdom that people need to drink
eight glasses of water a day and concluded that on a daily
basis people get enough water from normal drinking behavior,
such as drinking beverages at meals and in other social
situations, and by letting their thirst guide them.

This is not to say that getting enough water isn’t
important. We can exist without food for months, but without
water we can only survive for a few days. Your body is made
up mostly of water, which:

• Is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption and
  elimination
• Aids circulation
• Helps control the body’s temperature
• Lubricates and cushions joints
• Keeps the skin healthy
• Helps remove toxins from your body

Every day you lose water from the body through urine and
sweat, and this fluid needs to be replenished. However, your
body has come equipped with a mechanism that tells you when
you need to replenish your supply–it’s called thirst!

Let Your Thirst
be Your Guide

When your body begins to lose from 1 percent to 2 percent
of its total water, your thirst mechanism lets you know that
it’s time to drink some water. If you are healthy, then
drinking whenever you feel thirsty should be an adequate
guide of how much water you need. You can confirm whether
you are drinking enough water by looking at the color of
your urine, as mentioned above.

Of course, if it’s hot outside or you are engaged in
exercise or other vigorous activity, you will require more
water than normal so be sure to stay well hydrated in these
cases. Additionally, as we grow older our thirst mechanism
works less efficiently so older adults will want to be sure
to drink water regularly, and again make sure their urine is
a light, pale color.

Don’t Overlook
Water Quality

Perhaps the question we should have been asking for so
long is not how much water should we be drinking, but what
type of water should we be drinking? The answer is clean,
spring water and filtered water–I do not recommend drinking
tap water or
distilled water. Contrary to the traditional belief,
it’s also important to avoid
fluoridated water.

One of the most important steps you should take for your
own health and the health of your family is to ensure the
safety of your tap water supply. This will help you to
determine what type of filter you need to make sure your
water is free from heavy metals, bacteria and other harmful
contaminants.

The reason why filtering your own water is so important
is because you really want to avoid
bottled water unless it is absolutely necessary as it is
a huge strain on the environment. Plus, some bottled water
may not be any cleaner than tap water. On a side note,
remember to avoid storing your water in typical
Nalgene bottles as they can leach an unsafe chemical
called
BPA into your water. I recently switched to the
high-density polyethelene (HDPE) Nalgene bottles, which
appear to be safer, to store my water when I go on trips and
cannot use a glass bottle.

If you are interested in reading more about this topic,
then you will want to review this 500-page report from the

National Academic Press, which includes a comprehensive
discussion of water and human health.