Water & Chronic Illness

Curious about hydration and chronic illness? Our clinic in Carmichael CA can help.

Water Facts in Carmichael CA

If there is one thing in our lives that we take for granted, it is undeniably water! We tend to forget that our bodies are composed of 75% water, our brain is 85% and our blood is 90%. With water being that vital to us, it makes complete sense that lack of water, or dehydration, can be the cause of many conditions.
Let's take high blood pressure (hypertension) for example: the original cause of HBP is loss of fluids. When we lose fluids in the body, the vessels will begin to close up and basically cause constriction. Also, when we lose fluids in the body, the blood will become more concentrated or thicker. Try to picture the vessels in the body with thick blood. Once you get that visual, wouldn't it seem that blood flow will slow down with thicker blood? Increasing the blood volume, while at the same time diluting the blood with more water, will ultimately relax the vessels and open them up wider. Here's the kicker: if it is done regularly and on a long term basis, this will be the most effective way of lowering blood pressure.

But the problem is that most people are put on diuretics for HBP. We know the main function of diuretics is to lose water, therefore increasing dehydration. But remember, the original cause of HBP was loss of fluids. Again, the less hydrated we are the more our vessels close up. No wonder people have to be on medications forever. It makes perfect sense to me that we need the opposite to occur and that is to add water.

Now when we say fluids, do we mean all fluids like coffee, fruit juices, Coke, milk, etc.? Of course not, we all know that these are actually diuretics themselves even furthering a potential problem. On top of that, they are all junk foods.

So the question is, how much water do we actually need? Well, if you can start off with a liter a day that would a nice first step. If you can gradually increase it to 2-3 liters/day, that would be your ideal scenario. If your not a math major or strong in measurements, no worries. One liter equals out to about 4 large glasses, you can take it from there.

If you are not used to drinking water on a regular basis, this may be very difficult for you. Actually, this has a high dropout rate with people because it just becomes too much of a "chore". It is much easier to just take a tablet or pill, right? With water, you have to have it by your bed when you wake up or go to bed, bring it with you to work or any other activity you engage in, it just becomes a major pain. But, again, what it boils down to is eliminating excuses. This could be the biggest excuse maker right here: "I'll have to keep going to the bathroom". What's the alternative? Just keep taking your meds. Hopefully, you will learn that the bladder becomes acclimated to the frequent trips to the restroom because the bladder becomes stronger with use (it's a muscular organ), just like the heart does.

We mentioned earlier that many ailments can be a result of chronic dehydration. We explained what happens with high blood pressure and how consistent hydration can bring long term results.

How about other conditions. Basically, what it comes down to is balancing the extracellular fluids and lowering the blood concentration to bring the blood to a more normal dilution. Disease starts in the cells, so if we can consistently keep the cells hydrated, our chances of staying healthy become a lot higher.

The subject of getting the right kind of water is a whole separate subject and needs to be addressed at another time but then how do we know we are drinking the right stuff? Let's make a couple of key points here: primarily, do not use tap water. When I say don't use, not only do I mean drinking it but washing fruits or vegetables, ice cubes, or even cooking. Heat does not destroy fluoride, any heavy metals, or other contaminants. So what's next? Bottled water is your next step up and we can only hope that what we are drinking here is the good stuff. A lot of bottled waters have reverse osmosis, which means contaminants are supposedly removed but so are the minerals that naturally occur in water.

Getting into filtered waters is also very involved but here are a few basics: low end filters can help eliminate chlorine in our drinking water-but not permanently. Additionally, they are not eliminating fluoride, any heavy metals or any other contaminants. Getting into the costly carbon block filters can be just that-costly- but may be worth it in the long run. With these you may be getting rid of all the major contaminants, excluding fluoride, and keeping some key minerals. Some filters will tell you that it removes a certain percentage of fluoride. You want to find out how much it actually does remove.

I think the primary issue here is the loss of minerals in our water, so it is vital to find out before making an important purchase like this to find out how much of the minerals are actually taken out during the filtration process. What it comes down to is carbon filters or reverse osmosis and I think the best choice is obvious.

It's certainly frustrating for all of us to know the importance of water but not knowing whether or not the 1-2 liters a day that we are consuming is actually harming us. All the contaminants in water are hard to avoid and eliminate and if they are still active in the water, maybe causing more illness.

So what do we do? We do the research, spend the money and get the right type of drinking water in our homes because the physiological impact it has on us is monumental! The benefits of hydrating the system are highly underestimated by us as a society and hardly ever addressed in doctors offices today. This is also an integral part of the 60 Day Detoxification Program that is recommended by us and cannot be put off. When we hydrate the system, primarily the cells, we are helping in the detoxification of our blood.