The amazing power of water

What’s your favourite drink?

A comforting mug of tea? A frothy latte? A chilled soft drink? A glass of wine in the evening?

A glass of water probably isn’t so high on your list of preferred beverages, especially in the winter when we often forget to hydrate ourselves adequately. But being over 60% water, our bodies need plenty of it, and we can all do ourselves a favour by drinking a few extra glasses a day. Not only that, but if we can enhance the quality and even the vibration of the water we drink, even better!

Drinking enough water is beneficial to all of your body systems.

It processes nutrients in your digestive system and eliminates toxins. Think about trying to mix a cake batter when you haven’t added enough wet ingredients. How much easier does it become when a liquid element is added? Your digestive system is constantly trying to separate toxins from nutrients, and water helps it to do this more efficiently.

It helps your nervous system work properly. When you’re dehydrated, your tissues in your body literally start to shrink. This is bad news for your brain and nervous system which depend on water to communicate properly with each other. A dehydrated brain has to work extra hard to complete basic tasks and may leave you feeling foggy, confused or with a headache.

It lubricates your joints and keeps your spine healthy. Feeling achy or stiff? The discs in your spine and cartilage in your joints are made up of more than 80% water. Long term dehydration can reduce the cushioning effect of joints and increase pain in these areas.

It makes nutrients and minerals more accessible. Are you taking supplements? Eating healthily? If you’re not drinking adequate water to help absorb these nutrients, chances are that you’re throwing a whole lot of money down the toilet. Literally.

It supports your immune system. Every single one of our cells has a membrane surrounding it which is made pliable and flexible by the presence of water. In a dehydrated body, cell membranes lack structure, which means their defensive barrier to invading microbes is reduced.

So how do you know if you’re drinking enough water? Taking a look at the colour of your urine can be one of the best indicators. Pale yellow or clear tells you that your body is sufficiently hydrated, while dark yellow is an indicator that you need to top up your fluids. And don’t worry if you see bright yellow after taking B vitamins or magnesium – this is totally normal!

So how much is enough water? There are a whole lot of standard figures out there about how much water we should all be drinking. But the truth is that this is a varying picture depending on your size, activity level and level of hydration (or dehydration) from your diet. Try not to get too hung up on the “2 litres per day” figures. Much like the 5 a day fruit and veg, and the 10,000 steps a day information that’s out there. We all know that human bodies are not that simple and we need to use a bit of common sense. One rule of thumb is that if you’re feeling thirsty, you are probably already dehydrated. Ideally, you would respond to mild thirst cues and then drink a larger quantity of water until the satiety centres in your brain are satisfied. This is what it feels like when you’re swallowing a glass of water and feel you have to stop for breath. This is the way all mammals drink and also how breastfed babies regulate their fluid intake.

So now we know why we need water and how to get it. The next question is, how do we improve the quality of our drinking water? You may have spotted our fancy water filter in the practice waiting room. This is known as a Berkey Water filter and is the most powerful filtration system on the market. It takes normal tap water and filters out all the bad stuff, leaving behind the essential minerals that our bodies need. The tap water here in the UK may look clean, but it has been shown to contain all kinds of nasties, from bacteria and viruses, to pesticides, lead, chlorine and mercury. Filtering the water you use for drinking and cooking is one of the first steps towards protecting yourself and your family from toxins every day.  

Finally, if you want to go all the way, you can work on improving the energetic vibration of the water you drink. Bear with us for a moment. Back in 2001, a very insightful scientist, Masaru Emoto, discovered that the crystals of water can change depending on the words spoken to them, and the thougths directed towards them. He found that water from clear springs and water that had been exposed to loving words showed beautiful and complex snowflake patterns. In contrast, polluted water or water exposed to negative thoughts formed incomplete, asymmetrical and broken patterns with dull colours. In a body made up of more than 60% water, what could be the impact of our words, thoughts and emotions on the very substance that makes up our being? Something to think about.

If you would like to purchase your own Berkey Water Filter, they are available in various sizes from Puriflow filters UK (https://puriflowfilters.co.uk).