Water: The Elixir of Life and benefits of drinking water

According to the anatomy books the human body is contains over 60% of water. Water is the most critical component to the human body. H2O is not only important to a human being, it is also critical to all living things on the planet.

According to H.H Mitchell research the largest amount (83%) of water composed in the lungs. The second largest is the brain and heart combine total of 73%. Water allows our body to maintain an energy level as well as flush of the toxins out the body. Drinking water also acts as a natural blood thinner, some types of water are better than others for maximum health benefits.

As many as 7% of adults admit to not drinking any water at all. You may have heard the conventional wisdom that says 2 liters a day is the rule. This can vary from person to person as other fluids and water-soluble foods count towards your hydration allowance. Start with a goal of 2 liters a day and adjust accordingly. H. Valtin takes care to point out that, “rigorous proof of this rule appears to be lacking evidence…”

Not all water is created equal with some providing more nutrients than others. By removing any traces of chlorine, cooper or lead, regular consumption of quality water is a key factor in personal health and feeling good all the time. This leads to the question, what is the best source and type of water to drink? And question like spring water vs purified water ?

Types of water and their benefits

Tap Water

A piped water supply, tap water is found everywhere, from the water that flushes a public toilet to the water that comes from kitchen taps. Maybe you prefer not to drink tap water over taste or safety of the source. Tap water is safe to drink and readily available at no cost to the consumer, and you can purchase a home filtration unit for further cleansing.

The health of tap water in New Zealand is cover by guidelines for quality management. These guidelines ensure testing for water borne bugs and viruses.

The Ministry of Health (2017) explains, “The guidelines help water suppliers to achieve the standards…are updated on an on-going basis.”

According to the guidelines New Zealand drinking water has a pH of between 7 and 8.5. WHO puts the optimal pH range between 6.5 and 9.5. If your drinking water falls outside this range or has a strange taste or smell call your water supplier.

Mineral Water

Mineral water, comes from underground or spring and as the name suggests is full of minerals and contain at least 250  parts per million of total dissolved solids. Mineral water comes from different sources and each source will have different Minerals in a water. Mineral water helps to fulfill lack of minerals in a body and nutrients it can’t create on its own. In some circumstances the sources of the same minerals can be sourced by changing to the healthier diet. Given that mineral water comes from the underground or spring the cost associated with putting it on the shelf can be prohibitive for everyday consumption. The pH of packages mineral water usually ranges between pH7.1 and 7.5 which is similar to the tap water.

Spring or Glacier Water

Sometimes you on the shelfs of the supermarkets we can see bottles of water with spring label on it. Quite often it is not the reals spring water. There are only few brands out there that sells real spring or glacier water. The name of the Spring or Glacier, as the name suggests comes from a running spring or a glacier. Spring water can be free of toxins and may contain minerals similar to the mineral water. The quality of spring water will determine how far it is from the pollution source. Usually, the packaging company is listing the source where the water came from.

In some cases spring or glacier water can cause more harm than good because of the contaminants in a water.

On another hand Evian is one of the well known brands and their water is available in a supermarkets in both large and small bottles. The preference is yours.

Alkaline Water

Alkaline Water is just another type of water that claims various health benefits. There is not enough research being done on alkaline water. Alkaline water is basically a water with a dissolved minerals that increases pH level . The pH of alkaline water ranging between pH8 and 9.

It seems that alkaline water is presented(tout) us magic elixir that slows down aging process, helps with blood pH regulation process, and prevent the chronical diseases. Alkaline water is recommended to counteract acidity. The similar if not the same can be archived with a lemon juice. Lemon is an acidic fruit by nature therefore it have an alkaline effect on the body.

Alkaline water can be easily made at home by adding a lemon juice to a drinking water.

Schwalfenberg’s research claims that daily consumption of lemon water increase’s the energy within a body, and concentration. Lemon’s can be also used as a source of potassium, and folate. The citrus contains an antioxidants that helps in lever detoxification and acts as a blood purifier.

Now we know all the water types, it is about time to answer if water can be used as a natural blood thinner.

Is water a natural blood thinner ?

You may think that most of the liquids can dilute blood, it is not necessary. It is very important to consume pure water through out the day to stay hydrated and keep viscosity of the blood low especially in summer time.

Dr J.Chan suggests to have a glass or two every morning to keep your blood thin. Thin blood is less likely to form clots in body. Statistics stays that people who consume up to two liters of water a day reducing the risk by 53% of being hit by stroke or heart attack. Water consumption is also influences an oxygen levels in the blood and through out the body.

The lack of oxygen in a body known as hypoxia. Gonzalez asserts that optimal oxygen level can be obtain by water consumption.

Statistics says that stroke and heart attack highly likely to occur early in the morning. This is because the morning blood is quite thick, and it is more prone to clots. It was reported that people who regularly consume water in the morning have thinner blood. Ideally, water mast be consumed 30 minutes prior to any meal intake or 2 hours after a meal. This is because the stomach needs the acids to aid in digestion.

Here is the visual experiment that supports that water is natural blood thinner. And it is not important what water it is. Tap water as good as any water mentioned above.

There are some warnings though, people with kidney disease or who take medication for kidney function should not drink alkaline water. Also, people with gastric problems should not consume alkaline water. It is thought there are components of alkaline water that react with medications and body chemicals of those with these issues. Tap or plain water is more ideally suited to kidney and gastric patients.

Conclusion

This article has discussed the types of water and their uses and benefits. It has been seen that not all water is created equal or is good for everyone. Overall, the virtues of tap water came out favorably for the general populous. It is personal preference what individuals choose as their daily intake of water. It is also clear based on the experiment that WATER is a natural blood thinner. Of course it is up to you to draw the line spring water vs purified water.