"Water water everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
The door in my refrigerator is full of water bottles. I don't understand the bottled water obsession in today's culture. I'm glad people are more hip to drinking the stuff but I wonder, would they be drinking it if it came without the cool container? Evian is naive spelled backwards, people!
Today, bottled water is so prevalent, that Evian is considered déclassé. Visit any grocery or convenience store and you'll see shelves devoted to numerous brands of spring water, mineral water, purified water, filtered water, vitamin water, flavored water and the list goes on. As I said, I'm glad people are intentionally drinking water, no matter the reason. We should drink more water. Rivers of it. We should be bowing down and praising water each and every day we have it. It is the stuff of life, literally. If you're alive, you need water.
In order for life to exist, there must be gravity, carbon dioxide and water. As you probably learned in science class, our atmosphere is mostly water vapor. From that atmosphere, rain falls and life happens. Water is the carrier that enables cell division. During photosynthesis, plant cells take the hydrogen from water (along with CO2) and convert it into oxygen. Water breaks down larger molecules like glucose and amino acids so that they may be used by our bodies. Water neutralizes the acids present in our system. Water is why blood flows through our veins. Water is what keeps our brains from knocking against our skulls when we walk. If you plan on living then you need water. If you plan on living longer and healthier, then you need to get into the water habit.
How much water is enough? How much is too much? What about coffee, soda and other drinks? Are they a sufficient source of water?
First off, let's get one Urban myth out of the way. According to Snopes, nobody really knows who started the legend that humans need to drink EIGHT 8-ounce glasses of water per day. The truth is, you would probably make yourself sick if you tried to drink that much. What most people don't realize is that we intake most of our needed water by eating normally. That apple doesn't stay an apple once it's inside our digestive system. The fruit is broken down and the water contain in it is absorbed. The same goes for that pork chop or that glass of milk. If you eat regularly, you intake approximately FOUR 8-ounce glasses of water in a 24-hour period. The body really only needs the amount of water lost through regular functions such as urination and perspiration - that amount averages to roughly ten cups. As mentioned, most of us eat enough to compensate for at least half of our average natural water loss.
Snopes also dispels that Caffeine = Diuretic = Dehydration nonsense. Drinking caffeinated beverages does not lead to dehydration. We retain about the same amount of water from a cup of coffee as we would from a cup of hot water. Fruit juices, cola, energy elixirs, they're all made with water and the body takes whatever H2O it gets. A can of soda is water with high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, flavorings and carbonation.
One should drink water as opposed to soda because water is free of calories and other ingredients that can harm our bodies. One should choose water over coffee because caffeine increases stomach acid and can have an adverse effect on mood and physiology. No matter what we drink, our body extracts the water from it. The only beverage-type liquid that causes dehydration is alcohol.
The next time you're at the food shop, eyes glazed over at the sight of bottle after bottle of water, consider this:
Pure water has neither taste nor scent. If your favorite brand tastes better, that's because you prefer that particular mix of trace minerals. Most natural water sources contain small amounts of sodium, potassium and chloride. If you live in a developed country then your tap water is most likely safe and the offensive taste and/or odor is due to the purification process combined with the geology of the region where you live. If you live in an undeveloped country, you would give almost anything to have potable drinking water from an indoor faucet.
Drink it when you're thirsty or when you work out. Drink it instead of that can of pop or that Latte. If you're not a big water fan, try adding a squirt of lemon juice or a splash of fruit juice. Just remember that water is a miracle because none of us would be here without it. Water is the ultimate curative because drinking it prevents death. Unlike beverages containing sugars and stimulants, water is virtually harm-free.
You'll never fully appreciate the simple goodness of water until you're in a situation like the one in the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - surrounded by a sea of undrinkable salt water and not a bottle of Evian in sight.
By J.A. Romig | VEESH Writer | DEC.15.07