10 Powerful Reasons To Drink Water

Why We Need To Be Drinking More Water

90% of human blood is comprised of water and that is the best thing to be drinking to keep your body in balance. If you are drinking acidic fluids such as coffee, soda, energy drinks, and alcohol your body has to deal with that extra acidity to keep your blood and body in balance. One way your body deals with the extra acidity is your phosphate buffer system which uses calcium phosphate salts, (structural components of your bones and teeth) to neutralize acids. Every time your body fluids are exposed to acid-forming liquids, your body will draw upon its calcium phosphate reserves to supply your phosphate buffer system to neutralize the acid-forming effects of your diet. Over time, this will lead to structural weakness in your bones and teeth.
Not only is it bad for your bones and teeth, it also takes a great amount of energy to normalize your body’s pH. So those coffee’s and energy drinks that may give you a short burst of energy are actually reducing the amount of energy your body can produce and use for your everyday life. The best thing you can be doing for your body is to be drinking clean natural spring water with a neutral to alkaline pH.

Water makes up 70% of the body. This comes to approximately forty-four quarts for the average adult. Among other things, water has three critical functions:

• Conducts electrical current so cells can communicate
  
• Enables red blood cells to carry oxygen and nutrients to all cells
  
• Carries away digestive and cellular waste

Here Are 10 Powerful Reasons To Drink Water:

1. Weight loss
   Water is one of the best tools for weight loss, first of all because it often replaces high-calorie drinks like soda and juice and alcohol with a drink that doesn’t have any calories. But it’s also a great appetite suppressant, and often when we think we’re hungry, we’re actually just thirsty. Water has no fat, no calories, no carbs, no sugar. Drink plenty to help your weight-loss regimen.
   
   
2. Heart healthy
   Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those who drank less than two glasses.
   
   
3. Energy
   Being dehydrated can sap your energy and make you feel tired — even mild dehydration of as little as 1 or 2 percent of your body weight. If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated — and this can lead to fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness and other symptoms.
   
   
4. Headache cure
   Another symptom of dehydration is headaches. In fact, often when we have headaches it’s simply a matter of not drinking enough water. There are lots of other causes of headaches of course, but dehydration is a common one.
   
   
5. Healthy skin
   Drinking water can clear up your skin and people often report a healthy glow after drinking water. It won’t happen overnight, of course, but just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good effects on your skin.
   
   
6. Digestive problems
   Our digestive systems need a good amount of water to digest food properly. Often water can help cure stomach acid problems, and water along with fiber can cure constipation (often a result of dehydration).
   
   
7. Cleansing
   Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body.
   
   
8. Cancer risk
   Related to the digestive system item above, drinking a healthy amount of water has also been found to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45%. Drinking lots of water can also reduce the risk of bladder cancer by 50% and potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer.
   
   
9. Better exercise
   Being dehydrated can severely hamper your athletic activities, slowing you down and making it harder to lift weights. Exercise requires additional water, so be sure to hydrate before, during and after exercise.
   
   
10. Pain Relief
    For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain and inflammation.

What Is pH And How Does The pH Scale Work?

The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. 
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is basic (or alkaline). The pH scale is logarithmic and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, a liquid that has a pH of 6 is ten times more acidic than a liquid that has a pH of 7, and a liquid with a pH of 5 is one hundred times more acidic than pure water (7pH). The same holds true for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times more alkaline than the next lower whole value. For example, pH 10 is ten times more alkaline than pH 9 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 8.

Your pH

In terms of body pH balance, there is no one “correct” reading for the entire body. For instance, healthy human skin has an approximate pH of 5.5 (slightly acidic). Saliva, on the other hand, has a pH of around 6.5–7.4 (teetering on either side of neutral). Your digestive tract’s pH can range from 1.5 to 7.0, depending on what stage of digestion is underway. And when the body is in good working order, human blood reveals a narrow pH window of about 7.35–7.45 (slightly alkaline). Other parts of a healthy, well-functioning body will show still other pH readings.

Why is this?

It’s all part of the same body, so why wouldn’t a person’s acid–alkaline balance be the same all over? Because different parts of our bodies serve different purposes. Each of these purposes and their related processes requires a particular acid–alkaline environment for optimum function. The human blood should be slightly alkaline in order to build an alkaline reserve for acid-forming conditions such as stress, lack of exercise, or poor dietary habits. What you put into your mouth has a major contributing factor of your pH balance.

How much water are you drinking each day? If you have increased your water intake, what positive benefits have you noticed? Please share with us in the comments below!

Author

Dr. Lori Nuzzi