NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF THE BODY
"Each day, normal cell functioning must be maintained, damaged cells need to be repaired,
and new cells are generated. These things cannot occur without proper nutrients."

THE SCIENCE OF NUTRITION

WATER

Water is essential to human existence and cannot be compromised. It is the most abundant molecular component of living matter and constitutes 60-80% of total body weight in humans. Muscle composition is approximately 70% water. The body’s water supply is responsible for almost every body process, including digestion, absorption, filtration, circulation and excretion. Water is the primary transporter of nutrients and is needed for development, growth, maintenance, and normal functioning of the human body.

Water balance is maintained within our body as long as our total water intake equals the total water lost. The average adult takes in about 2500 milliliters of water each day. About 60% are obtained from drinking water and beverages, 30% from moist foods and 10% as the by-product of oxidative metabolism of nutrients, also known as water metabolism. During exercise, the body loses water through perspiration (dehydration). It is important that you continuously drink water while you are exercising and throughout the day.

            Within a day, the average adult will lose 60% of this volume through urine, 6% through feces, and 6% through sweat. A sedentary person loses a quart of water per day as sweat, an athlete may lose 2-4 quarts of water per hour. Also, about 28% will be lost through evaporation from the skin and lungs. Thus, replenishing the body of water daily is an essential part of good health.

            The single, most important reason why we should drink plenty of water is for the filtration of blood by the kidneys. Each day, the waste products of metabolism and toxic substances are purified and cleansed out by the kidneys. This filtering system can only operate efficiently if there is enough water volume to carry away the waste. Water is not only crucial to the kidney system, it is also important for the liver system, which needs large quantities of water to detoxify the liver and blood stream. Dehydration can cause dizziness, tachycardia (rapid heart beat), vasoconstriction, decreased urine output, hypotension, skin and mucous membranes of the mouth to feel dry, hyperthermia, cool extremities, mental confusion, delirium, kidney damage, liver damage, coma and death. Lack of water may aggravate fever, infections, urinary problems, prostate problems and asthma. It can certainly harm anyone doing rigorous exercise and hard physical labor. In 1994, the world watched in horror as thousands of people in Africa died of cholera, a bacteria infection that destroys the ability of intestinal lining cells to absorb water. The severe diarrhea that develops kills in days, sometimes even hours. Dehydration is deadly.

We always ask people to drink 8-10 (8 ounce) glasses of water each day, which equals about 64-80 ounces. Quite simply, there really isn’t a better drink than just plain good-quality water. Most people would agree that drinking water is a satisfying and enjoyable act, but for those who do not like to drink water, try drinking small amounts more frequently or drink some warm tea. Remember that a sure sign the kidneys are being hurt by dehydration is the presence of dark colored urine. This is a good indicator that the body needs more water.

The good-quality water should come from a reliable filtration system, one free from lead plumbing and contamination by toxic chemicals. The system that we use at home and at the office is a reverse osmosis (RO) filtration system, which works by trapping a high concentration of contaminants in a membrane as clean water is pressured through. Reverse osmosis can treat a wide variety of health and aesthetic contaminants that cause unpleasant taste, color, and odor problems, like a salty or soda taste caused by chlorides or sulfates.

Reverse osmosis can also be effective for treating health contaminants like arsenic, asbestos, atrazine (herbicides/pesticides), lead, mercury, nitrate, and radium. When using appropriate carbon prefiltering (commonly included with most reverse osmosis systems), additional treatment can also be provided for such volatile contaminants such as benzene, trichloroethylene, trihalomethanes, and radon. Some reverse osmosis equipment is also capable of treating biological contaminants like Cryptosporidium. The Water Quality Association cautions, “While reverse osmosis membranes typically remove virtually all known micro-organisms and most other health contaminants, design considerations may prevent a unit from offering foolproof protection when incorporated into a consumer drinking water system.”

We do not recommend drinking water directly from the tap, due to the higher risk of lead, bacteria, parasite, viruses, uranium, radium, arsenic, and fluoride contamination which can do harm to the body. Other sources of contamination are a direct result of human activity, which may cause harmful chemicals to enter the water supply:

1)      leakage from waste disposal, treatment, or storage sites

2)      discharges from factories, industrial sites, or sewage treatment facilities

3)      leaching from aerial or land application of pesticides and fertilizers on yards or fields

4)      accidental chemical spills

5)      leakage from underground storage tanks

6)      improper disposal of household wastes such as cleaning fluids, paint, and motor oil

            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) passed by Congress in 1974 established national drinking water standards. A “standard” is the maximum level of a substance that the EPA has deemed acceptable in drinking water. In 1986 the SDWA was amended to require the Environmental Protection Agency to publish standards for 83 specific contaminants, and additional standards thereafter. To date, the EPA has issued or proposed limits for 87 substances. In the United States, safeguards in water supply have mostly eliminated water-borne infectious diseases and germs, but contamination by toxic chemicals has still not been completely eliminated. Community water systems are still currently revising their drinking water programs to meet the more stringent requirements of the amendments, but it may be many years later and after our bodies are already harmed before they reach the point that water is free of contaminants. Since water is such an important part of healthy living, we strongly recommend a water filtration system.

            According to the laws of natural medicine and the biothermomic temperature, the water that we drink should not be iced or refrigerated. Our body is 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and drinking room temperature water is already cooling down the body. We do not need the added pressure of cold temperature foods to slow down metabolism, suppress the immune system and hinder the circulatory system, especially on cold days.

In summary, we recommend 8-10 glasses (64-80 ounces) of good-quality water each day. The water should be room temperature or warm and come from a filtering system.