Water! How Important Is It to Our Bodies?

If you are like me, you have a vague idea that it is important to drink water. For years and years, we have been told to drink eight to ten glasses a day and most of us do not.

Many of us, me included, have figured out all the other stuff we drink must count as water because it is liquid. Unfortunately that is not so.

Recent studies have shown that the average person on a good day will drink about 5 glasses of water. Many of us are walking around with a serious case of dehydration and do not know it. It is especially critical that athletes, elderly people, those on weight-loss diets and people taking diuretic medications drink plenty of water.

In researching about the importance of water in regard to our health, I found some interesting facts that I would like to share with you.

Our bodies cannot store the water needed for metabolism, we are not like a camel
Water is more important to our bodies than food; we can live for about 70 days without food, but only about 10 days without water
Water is a component of every cell in our bodies, muscle and organ cells have the highest concentration of water (about 75%,) while bone and fat only contain 20%
Water accounts for 50 to 60 percent of an adults body weight
Water is essential in regulating our body temperature through the evaporation process
Water is essential in transporting nutrients and oxygen throughout the body (in our blood)
Water is essential in the elimination of cellular and body wastes
Water is essential in the digestion and conversion of food into energy
Water acts as a lubricant along mucous membranes and between the moving parts of our bodies
Water acts as a cushion for our joints and vital organs
Water acts as the medium for all chemical reactions and a catalyst for many metabolic processes
Water acts as a solvent that dissolves other substances in our body fluids

Without water we are literally nothing. Our bodies actually manufacture only about 10 percent of our needs through its own metabolic process. While 30 percent is extracted from the food we eat and the balance of 60 percent needs to come from the water we drink and other fluids (none of which are as important as water.)

What does dehydration do?

The blood volume in a person's body is reduced. What does that mean? Lower blood volume means less blood is circulated through the skin and as a result can contribute to heat loss and fatigue. Lack of water will cause the kidneys to conserve water by decreasing urine flow, thereby concentrating toxins within our body. If dehydration is extreme the body will stop sweating and without sweating the body's temperature will increase and heatstroke can be a result.

What are some of the conditions that may cause dehydration?

Studies have shown that athletes, who are competing and working hard and people who work in areas where the temperature is extremely hot, do not take in enough fluids, to keep up with what is lost in sweat. It is possible even in cold temperatures to lose water through sweat when a person is doing extreme physical activity.

The interesting thing is even when you feel thirsty after some physical work and you drink to satisfy your thirst, you really have not drank enough water to make up for what you lost.

Advancing age has an effect on our body's water level. When we are born our body water level is 75 percent by the time we reach age 75 that percentage can drop down to about 43 percent.

Studies have shown that the ability to detect thirst decreases with normal aging. Even with exercise, older people have shown a less need to drink than younger ones. The kidneys also change with the aging process and their ability to excrete or retain fluids has an effect on the fluid and electrolyte balance in the body.

What effects does dehydration have on the body?

Kidney stones are a risk especially to people that have chronic dehydration, such as people who work outside in hot to moderate climates, doctors, marathon runners, lifeguards, and others. Busy lives, physical activity and hot weather can be a common cause.

Bladder health the more you drink the more you urinate and that helps flush out toxic substances in your body. Drinking less fluid leads to less urination and the more toxic substances can remain in your body.

Are you drinking enough?

Pinch yourself. A well-hydrated person's skin will bounce back quickly. Pinch and release the skin on the back of your hand just over the middle knuckle. How long does it take for your skin to bounce back? I was surprised and found out mine took a little while, so I am hitting the water bottle hard.

However, I found that if I pinched the skin on my lower arm or the actual back of my hand it bounced back much faster. Personally, I know I do not drink enough water, but now after researching this article I have changed my ways.

There are other ways to check on your water intake, first of all count the number of glasses (bottles) you drink each day. Drink before you are thirsty, but most of all do drink when you are thirsty. Pay attention when you go to the bathroom light colored urine or no color at all is a sign that you are hydrated.

Look in the mirror, dehydration is fatiguing -and when you feel tired, you look tired. Water keeps your body functioning well and your skin will reflect your over all health.

Drink a glass of water before you eat a meal and after. Water is essential to help move fiber through your digestive tract. Drinking water before a meal will also make you feel fuller and you will eat less, which is great if you are watching your weight.

What water should you drink?

Sounds like a silly question, doesn't it? Most of us have become bottled water users; even those of us that do not drink enough water, manage to drink a bottle or two each day.

In light of the current news about pharmaceuticals being found in tap water, along with all the other things, tap water is not the best thing to drink, no matter what our city leaders say.

A 1998 study showed unusually high amounts of industrial chemicals, pesticides, and other compounds were found in remote mountain areas, places we thought of as "pristine." Researchers found that snow at extremely high areas had more chemical contamination than snow found in lower areas. Which makes you wonder about ads describing "fresh mountain water."

Our water, depending on the area in which we live, is filled with many things that are not healthy for us such as lead and copper, microorganisms, mercury and who knows what else.

If you are concerned about the quality of your drinking water, it maybe a comfort to you, to know you are not alone. A recent survey showed that at least 65 percent of Americans are concerned about their tap water and are taking steps to either treat their water or are only consuming bottled water. Another survey showed that out of 103 brands of bottled water tested, about 33 percent of them did not pass the state standards.

More and more Americans are treating their water at home, using one of the many water filtering systems that are available. The installations are generally fairly simple and do provide a certain degree of protection. Do yourself and your family a favor and drink safe clean water for only pennies a day.

We may not have given much thought to water before reading this article, but as you sit and consider the important part water plays in our everyday life, we really need to be drinking the best quality water we can find. And quality should begin at home.

You may contact me at my e-mail address: tatertotsmom@comcast.net

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The Compelling Costs of Bottled Water - Price Point Too High For Environment and Individuals

Americans are appalled at the rising cost of gasoline that topped $4 a gallon in May. Yet, we think nothing of paying $9 a gallon for bottled water. To make the comparison even more perplexing consider that gasoline, for most people, is essential to everyday living while bottled water is optional, usually unnecessary and generally troublesome for an already troubled environment.

Turn on the Tap

According to the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, Americans are the world's top consumers of bottled water while, ironically, the U.S. has one of the safest public water systems on the planet. So, why did the bottled water craze take the nation by storm? Some experts say it began as small status symbol, mimicking the bottled waters popular in France and Italy. But, as the sources of water changed and companies such as Coca Cola and Nestle entered the game, bottled water spilled over from simply posh to popular.

Too popular, according to nonprofit groups and environmental organizations. Americans spend a combined $11.7 billion annually on bottled water. The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) estimates that every person in the U.S. tosses 160 plastic bottles in the trash each year - or 8 out of every 10 bottles purchased. Given the preciousness of oil in the current economic climate, it's also important to note that CRI says it takes 15 million barrels of oil per year to make plastic bottles for America's bottled water addiction.

The Cost of Convenience

The convenience of bottled water has certainly added to its popularity. Think of Little League games, public events, road trips and that handy bottle at your desk. But now, as people become more aware of the environmental downsides of plastic containers and the questionable value of bottled water compared to tap water or filtered tap water, the tide may be turning.

A number of cities have ceased the once popular practice of providing bottled water for employees. In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom observed World Water Day in 2007 by canceling all the city's bottled water contracts. Chicago and Salt Lake City followed suit. The popular Austin City Limits Music Festival stopped providing bottled water to its legion of volunteers and rewarded patrons who recycled bottles with a special T-shirt.

The world renown Chez Panisse in Berkeley calculated the carbon footprint of the bottles of sparkling water it imported from Italy and removed the bubbly from the menu. And, in Canada, a movement is sweeping the land. Students in colleges and high schools are protesting contracts with Coca-Cola and Pepsi for their bottled waters. The students are lapping up free, fresh water from school drinking fountains instead.

Questions of Quality

As bottled waters attract increased scrutiny, public water systems are measured against them for both cost and water quality. The cost factor is extremely compelling. A bottle of water costs a dollar and often more, depending upon the brand. Water from the tap costs about $0.00002 per ounce. If a city's tap water is unpalatable due to chlorine treatment or other sanitizing chemicals, even the addition of a water filter to a faucet gets gallons of water for pennies a day.

Water quality is also variable in both bottled waters and public water supplies. According to the EPA, bottled water is not necessarily safer than water that flows from the tap. In fact, some bottled water is no more than treated (or untreated) tap water. Consumers are advised to read the label on bottled waters to learn the source and the method of treatment. More in-depth questions have to be addressed to the manufacturer. In contrast, specific information about public water systems, water quality and treatment are publicly available on the EPA's website. The Environmental Working Group also has a tap water database where people can look up water quality and content by zip code.

Well Into the Future

But, the most compelling concern about water in plastic bottles is environmental. The Container Recycling institute says the amount of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles being recycled reached 1,170 million pounds in 2005 while the amount of PET bottles ending up in landfills reached 3,900 million pounds. That number includes some other beverages in PET containers but the institute says water bottles are the biggest problem. Many states offer no redemption incentives on water bottles and the plain, usually sugarless drink is just so popular.

Plastic water bottles in landfills do not rest in peace. They drift or are blown into other areas such as the Pacific Ocean where, according to CRI, they form a messy, toxic mass that is twice the size of Texas. It takes about 1,000 years for a plastic bottle to degrade into tiny pieces that, to fish and birds, often look like food. There is also increasing evidence that PET bottles and other plastic bottles may be a threat to human health.

Consumer Choice

So, what is a water-lover to do? First, the EPA and other experts advise giving your tap water a try. Some municipal systems, such as the one serving San Francisco, pour forth with crystal clear water from the High Sierra. Other communities, where there is heavy agricultural or industrial activity, may not be so fortunate. When contaminants and lead might be present, public systems use a variety of techniques to make drinking water safe. They are regulated by the EPA and frequent testing is federally mandated. That is to say the tap water is safe, but may not be taste tempting.

There are many effective filtering products on the market from faucet mounted filters to pitchers and filtered water dispensers. These devices remove contaminants and pollutants while improving the taste of water. They are quite affordable and provide families with assurance about the quality of water they use for drinking and cooking.

Once the source issue is solved, people will still want the convenience of portability. There is an increasing marketplace of containers for water, from personal water bottles made of reusable aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic and traditional glass. As awareness of the health dangers and environmental downside of plastic bottles spreads, a market-driven demand will result in even more choices for people who want fresh water at their side, wherever they may roam.

Visit us to learn how water filters can make your life better. For even better tasting water, try the new PUR flavor options.

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Are You Drinking Dead Water or Living Water?

Living Energized Water

The Earth is made up of mostly water and so are our bodies. In this lies a crucial key that we should be paying attention to.

There is dead water and living water, also known as energized water. Not all water is the same and not all water is good for you.

Living water is considered water that carries life force energy.


It is believed to have five important characteristics.


A strong life force charge


An abundance of vital minerals, like calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals


Clean and pure, not polluted with chemicals, harmful bacteria or other biological contaminants


Small clustered water molecules


High antioxidant properties from high electron availability

Dead water on the other hand, is over filtered or contaminated water. It is depleted of all of the above properties.

Living Water Pioneers

There is much to be learned about water. Study Viktor Schauberger and the recent work of Masaru Emoto and you will learn some fascinating mysteries about water.

Schauberger (1885-1958) was a man of nature and his close relationship to the forests he loved led him to observe the intriguing nature of water. He studied its movement and other phenomena and learned that water held great life giving properties not acknowledged by the scientific community.

His studies and knowledge of water are still revolutionary today. He created technology whereby lifeless water can be revitalized to "living water".

"They called me crazy. I hope that they are right. It is of no greater import if another fool wanders this earth. But if I am right and science is wrong - then may the Lord God have mercy on mankind." Viktor Schauberger.

Masaru Emoto (1943-present)is presently well known for his experiments with glasses of water that he exposed to emotions, prayer, pictures and written words. The water was then frozen and the crystaline structure was studied and photographed.

His amazing photos show how the crystal structure of the water varied remarkably with each different exposure. For example, a positive exposure like taping the word "love" to a glass of water led to beautiful, symmetrical crystals and a negative exposure like the word "hate" created chaotic and unbalanced crystals.

Mr. Emoto believes the water crystals show "true nature" and are an important look into the mysteries of water.

You can also look to the Bible and learn what is written there about living water.

As in the Book of John, "When the Living Water entered the turbid water, the Living Water lamented and wept."

Water was laid on this earth to bring forth life, and we are tainting it and making it that which takes life away.

Dead Tainted Water

When my daughter was a baby, I learned about the chemicals put in municipal water supplies, such as chlorine and fluoride and the imbalances this creates in our bodies.

According to the Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, fluoride is more poisonous than lead, and just slightly less poisonous than arsenic. Fluoride is used as rat poison.

In the human body, it destroys enzymes. When enzymes are damaged it affects the immune system, digestive system, respiratory system, blood circulation, kidney function, liver function, brain function and thyroid function.

If you start investigating the harms of fluoride, you'll quickly learn that it does not have the benefits it is touted to have but quite the opposite.

Chlorine in our drinking water is a bad story too.

It is a labeled a pesticide by the EPA. We know chlorine kills living organisms, like when you put fish in chlorinated water. If chlorine kills animals, what is it doing to you?

In studies, chlorine has shown to be carcinogenic. Increased rates of rectal and bladder cancer are linked to long term drinking of chlorinated water. Chlorine is also a hormone disruptor, harms the thyroid, upsets the flora of the digestive system and is linked to miscarriages.

Since our skin is the largest organ of our body, and because it is very absorbent, it is important not to allow these chemicals on our skin either.

As you can see, it is very crucial to pay attention to the water you are using.

Which Water Source is Best?

Trying to figure out which source of water to drink can get quite complicated. There are many types of water filters, purifiers and other water products for sale.

Finding a water system that removes chemicals from the water without stripping out the minerals and one that creates living energy in the water is important and the most beneficial to health. (Visit my site at http://www.natural-health-girl.com/livingwater.html for more information on water systems.)

In addition to avoiding tap water with chemicals, one must also be careful of softened, distilled, reverse osmosis or other over filtered water. These systems remove too many of the minerals. In turn, this water will leach minerals from your body and possibly leave you in a depleted condition.

As Viktor Schauberger warned, if we don't pay attention to our living water and protect it, then mankind is in great danger.

STOP shooting in the dark with your health! Interested in learning how to improve your health naturally? Download my free special report, Great Awakening Natural Health Tips

Kelly Parks-Hoffman has studied natural health for over 10 years and loves to mentor others in achieving improved health naturally. (Articles by Kelly may be copied for non-monetary use as long as author information and live link are present.)

"I think it is so important to share experiences. It might just be that one friend, relative or testimonial that helps, teaches or supports someone to better health without drugs or surgery." Kelly Parks-Hoffman

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Without Countertop Water Filters - Are You Drinking Clean Water?

Hold it! Is that tap water as pure as you expect? You should be genuinely concerned about the quality and cleanliness of the water you and your children drink daily. This concern is justified as water-borne diseases in this day and age are still threats to health.

Is Tap Water Safe to Drink?

Water consumers are not always fully aware of the risks from water-borne contaminants. Water sources vary; thus, doubts over the 100% pureness about the tap water you're drinking are justified. The installation of countertop water filters can ease your mind and assure you that your family is not drinking all the unseen impurities that come from tap water.

You should be receiving the annual water quality report from your water supplier, but make sure that the report includes information as to water source and the presence and type of contaminants in the water. The chlorine level should also be indicated to alert parents of children with allergies.

But tap water is no longer safe to drink, unless you have installed countertop water filters to filter harmful contaminants and bacteria. Imagine water traveling miles in those pipes that have been there since you can remember. How secure are these from the infiltration of germs?

The harmful substances in tap water range from plead, microscopic parasites, E. Coli, fertilizers, and sewage spills that seep into the water reservoir. The idea of it is bone-chilling.

How Countertop Water Filters Work

If you're a mom with young and not-so-young children, your concern is their health and safety. Act on it by having the convenience of fresh and clean water anytime without the hassle of worrying about water-borne germs that lead to various ailments.

Some individuals may opt for bottled, mineral, or distilled water, while some will prefer the convenience of water filters attached to the tap. Water filters come in various designs and filtration processes. Before water reaches the glass, it undergoes six stages of water filtration using the Kinetic Degradation Fluxion (KDF) process.

The KDF process renders the contaminants in the water into harmless components, dissolves chlorine, removes lead, and inhibits bacterial and fungal growths. The water filters have incorporated with scale reduction and bacteria control.

With this filtration technology, you are assured that your drinking water is several times purer than plain tap water without those convenient water filters.

Water for Health and Life

Water is essential for life and good health. Water plays an important role in your and your family's health. If you've heard old folks telling you to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water, there's some wisdom to it. Water hydrates the body, aids in digestion, and flushes out toxins. Drinking enough water everyday eases symptoms of arthritis, headaches, indigestion, congestion, brittle nails, dry skin and dandruff, muscle pains, and respiratory infections.

Clean Water Anytime

Considering the expense and the inconvenience of ordering or waiting for the delivery of your designer water, think about having water filters in the home. There is no drinking water shortage with countertop water filters in the home. You are also assured of good tasting food and beverages when using purified water for cooking and mixing fruit juices and other health drinks.

Convenience from countertop water filters and clean water for health - make the empowering choice for you and your family.

Use countertop water filters to ensure that your family is drinking safe and clean water everyday. Visit WaterFiltersForAHealthyLife.com today.

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The Case For Ionized Alkaline Water

That there is a Water Crisis today with our drinking water few people will dispute, depending I suppose upon the definition of healthy water and what threshold of contaminants or quality individuals are willing to tolerate and consider good or bad. By all standards, much of our drinking water today contains chemicals detrimental to health.

Federal, state and city laws and guidelines govern levels of chemicals permitted in municipal water. Ironically, one of the deadly chemicals, chlorine, is introduced out of necessity to kill things that would be of even greater consequence. Common knowledge and reason should lead each of us to action to ensure within our homes chlorine, thrihalomethanes and other harmful chemicals are not permitted to pass from tap to glass. For over 20 years I personally have not consumed municipal water unprotected except for when dining outside our home, but I am continually surprised to learn of friends and acquaintances who have not applied much thought or action to this rather apparent water problem. Whether individuals give regard, that water is contaminated is the obvious. There is another water metric that lies lurking further beneath the radar.

As a Nutritionist, I have known for years that individuals seeking optimal health or to improve existing chronic health conditions should adjust their diet toward Alkaline foods rather than Acidic. This should not be news to readers - you have probably heard this a dozen times before. The challenge, like so many other good things in life, is how to implement. The list of Alkaline and Acidic foods can be a great help. But even when one knows better, it is hard because an Alkaline diet is generally not that of convenience or preference.

Alkalizing foods include dark greens like spinach, vegetables like celery and cabbage, fruits like apricot and avocado, and other foods that are not so likely to magically appear on the "random" menu. Selecting the Alkaline foods is only half the equation - avoiding the Acidic foods is also important. But even if one were to master the choice of Alkaline foods, the challenge is greater than first appears, and for good reason. Just as our bodies are 70% Water, so our diet consists in considerable proportion of Water. So, does water help a serious seeker of the Alkaline Diet? Aha... here's where the bigger challenge - and perhaps surprise - lies.

A very real PH Dilemma for many of us is that try as one may to eat Alkaline foods, nearly all of the drinking water most people have access to is NOT Alkaline. Rather it is Acidic. Perhaps some folks who test their water will find it to be neutral or weakly alkaline, but the vast majority of drinking water tests Acidic. Good thing we keep soda drinks in the fridge! Right? Because certainly a nice "soda" drink ought to be less acidic than acidic tap water.

Wouldn't it be? NOT! Soda pop is one of the worst offenders on the pH scale of Human Health. Acid Acid Acid. Bottled Water to the rescue then. What else is there to look to for the solution? The plain fact is that of the tests I have seen data on for Bottled Water... you guessed right... Acidic. Even water prepared by Reverse Osmosis. So our list of options to find Alkaline water is "drying up" - pardon the pun.

What is the consequence to our health of our Acidic diet and our Acidic water and our Acidic soda drinks? Can't our bodies accommodate the PH of what we drink? That is a fabulous question. It is a complicated question. But in a few words let me share some perspective. Your body consisting of Trillions of cells is one of incredible design and YES - it does have provisions for accommodating a wide range of environmental and dietary parameters. But it must regulate body processes within very narrowly defined parameters. In order to accommodate the wide rage of inputs while maintaining the narrowly governed body function metrics, it must prioritize and sometimes must sacrifice one good thing for a better.

The PH of your blood, for example, must be 7.2 to 7.4 - a narrowly defined metric. So important to us is our blood PH metric which must be maintained 24/7/365.25 that the body will sacrifice minerals including calcium from our bones in order to preserve our blood PH so we can live another day. But over time, when we stress our body by continuing to impose upon it such great demands for it to solve because of our preferences of diet and water, we will eventually pay the price. Good health is not a given but rather it is something that we must all strive for. Drinking Acidic water does not help win the fight for Optimal Health.

Solving water PH is accomplished with a Water Ionizer. There are many brands. The one I personally use is perhaps the most expensive but it produces a quality of water called "Kangen Water" which I believe to be the Very Healthiest Water available for human consumption - hence the name of my website VeryHealthyWater.org. Ionization accomplishes a very important enhancement to ones drinking water.

It actually turns tap water into Antioxidants! Hard to believe? But true. Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) is a measurement of Antioxidant value, and the the higher the positive ORP the worse something is for our body while the lower or more negative the ORP the better something is for us in terms of Antioxidant potential. To illustrate the significance of Ionization in improving the ORP value of drinking water, the following is actual data of various water:

ORP TESTS: Negative is Good / Positive is Bad *

*-387 Kangen Water (Ionized)
*+261 Bottled Water Brand #1
*+263 Bottled Water Brand #2
*+273 Bottled Water Brand #3
*+280 Bottled Water Brand #4
*+282 Bottled Water Brand #5
*+330 Tap

* tests are based on specific brands and types of water sampled

Please note that these stats are provided for comparison of the Ionized Water with other common drinking water sources. Actual results will likely vary due to the variety of conditions under which drinking water is prepared. The point of the comparison should jump off the page at readers... the Ionized Water (Kangen) is the only water with a negative ORP, and because of the magnitude of its negative ORP value it provides Antioxidant capacity which will help neutralize Free Radicals in the body of the fortunate individuals who drink the Ionized Kangen Water.

To recap, I will share my definition of Very Healthy Water:

*The bad stuff (chlorine, trihalomethane, heavy metals, etc.) is removed by filtration
*PH is Alkaline to help neutralize Acid and contribute to an Alkaline body PH
*A highly negative ORP Antioxidant value to neutralize Free Radicals

Facts are always facts, and what we do with those facts becomes our reality. Your health is in part a function of what you ingest. So the question for each of us is whether we will apply some "basic" (pardon the pun) knowledge of science and health and take action to solve our personal water crisis before the water we drink gets the better of us. They say that what we eat becomes what we are. With 70% of our body water, I propose we justifiably state we also are what we drink. Change your water and change your health... no success can compensate for the premature failure of the human body, and you are worth whatever it takes to make sure your health is the best it can be.

For my family and me, we'll keep our Kangen Water Ionizer busy at our kitchen sink and enjoy Clean Alkaline Ionized Water free from contaminants and nicely charged with an ORP to deliver potent glasses of Antioxidant Water to neutralize Free Radicals and keep us Alkaline from head to toe and all the way between! And we will also save money by not having to purchase all that Bottled Water. In my opinion, Ionized Alkaline Kangen Water is Very Healthy Water.

Robert Hilke Jr has a degree in Nutritional Sciences, authors websites and articles on Nutrition and Health topics including Antioxidants, Anti-Aging and Ionized Alkaline Kangen Water, and believes that No Success can Compensate for Premature Failure of the Human Body.
VeryHealthyWater.org
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A Portable Water Bottle Filter Can Save You Lots Of Money

Remember when all water was free and safe to drink? Thanks to pollution and lax monitoring regulations, this is no longer true. If you wonder about whether or not water is safe to drink, just take a stroll to your local grocery store. What is the selection of bottled water like? Does the bottled water overwhelm the other beverages?

This is what is happening in most stores. The bottled water industry is becoming more and more diverse and bottled water itself is becoming more and more expensive. If you are tired of having to constantly buy bottled water and want to save some money, you should invest in portable water filters.

A portable water filter or portable water purifier can save you hundreds of dollars every year. Here's how:

Instead of buying cases of bottled water, you only have to buy the one filter. Then you can use it to filter water from the closest water source. It won't matter if that water comes from a vending machine, your kitchen faucet, the sink in a public restroom or from a stream or a pond! When you have a portable water filter, you can have clean bottled water whenever you want - all you need is an empty bottle to put the clean water in!

Portable water filters are surprisingly inexpensive!

A portable water filter is also more cost efficient than installing a water softener or a household water filter. Water softeners are expensive and messy and having filters fitted into your plumbing system is something that only Donald Trump can afford.

A portable water filter is inexpensive and you can use it on whatever water source you choose! This means that you don't have to worry about drinking the same water you use to do your laundry or your dishes.

There are individual sink water filters, to be sure. There are also filter/pitchers that allow you to pour water from your tap, through a large filter/purifier and into a pitcher that you then keep in the refrigerator or on your counter.

Cleaner water for less money!

A portable water filter allows you to filter single servings of water and you won't have to worry about expensive filter replacements that plague the tap filter owners. Filters for portable water purifiers and portable water filters are easily affordable and last longer than their larger counterparts.

Have you ever considered the irony of having to use gasoline to drive to the store to purchase bottled water - something that you could easily drink for free and without having to drive anywhere if you just trusted the water from your tap?

With a portable water filter you don't have to worry about driving anywhere. What's more, you don't have to worry about spending any money on staying hydrated. Simply locate the nearest water source and pull out your portable water filters.

Instant clean water wherever you go!

There are many reasons to invest in portable water filters or a portable water purifier. Saving money is just one of the reasons!

Darren Craddock is an expert in Nutrition, Massage, and Yoga. Gourmet health foods and Berkey water filters For travel and home use. Get 99.99% pure drinking water with a Berkey Water purifier Portable sport water bottle - http://www.enerhealthbotanicals.com

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Water - Drugs In Our Drinking Water

Water, Water, Water

The number one killer in the United States is not cancer or heart disease. It is dehydration. The Earth is 70-80% water, and our composition is the same. Our brains are 80% water and cannot transmit electrical impulses without the conductivity of water. Because we are energy, electro-mechanical-biological and chemical beings, we depend on water to conduct every function, every nerve impulse, every muscle movement.

Since the early fifties, Americans have changed their drinking habits and the Earth's aquifers have become more polluted with herbicide, pesticide, pharmaceutical and waste runoff.

Chlorine, added to most municipal water supplies as a disinfectant, hardens arteries, destroys proteins in the body, irritates skin and sinus conditions, and aggravates asthma, allergies, and respiratory problems.

Chloroform, a powerful by-product of chlorination, causes excessive free radical formation (accelerated aging), mutation of normal cells, and cholesterol oxidation. It is a known carcinogen!

DCA (Dichloro acidic acid) is a chlorine by-product. It alters cholesterol metabolism, and has been shown to cause liver cancer in lab animals.

MX (Another chlorinated acid), is known to cause genetic mutation, and has been found in all chlorinated water for which it was tested.

Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC's) are another group of contaminants that may be found in drinking water supplies across the nation. VOC's are those organic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals). that are "readily vaporizable at a relatively low temperature, with no visible characteristics, smell, or taste You have to test for them to find them VOC's can cause cancer: kidney, liver, and brain damage: and damage to the nervous, reproductive, and immune systems.

Fluoride. Massive research studies have been done on fluoride and fluoride compounds and by-products, both in the U.S. and in Europe and Canada. 98% of the European community banned the use of fluoride more than fifty years ago because of it's negative affect on neurological body systems and probable connection to increased osteoporosis and hip fractures. The studies also show that fluoride does NOT prevent tooth decay. Fluoride is actually a by-product of aluminum. If I were a major corporation who manufactured aluminum and needed to dump the by-product without penalty, I would devise a way to legally dump the product, make money by its capture, and promote it as being beneficial in one way or another. If I was really smart, I'd make sure I only funded a few studies that couldn't prove any real harm of my product, and lobby to discontinue any further study. "In my opinion, the evidence that fluoridation is more harmful than beneficial is now overwhelming and policy makers who avoid thoroughly reviewing recent data before introducing new fluoridation schemes do so at risk of future litigation," writes Dr.Hardy Limeback, Ph.D., D.D.S

Dr. Limeback was one of the 12 scientists who served on the National Academy of Sciences panel that issued the 2006 report, "Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of the EPA's Standards." Dr. Limeback is a dentist, researcher and an associate professor of dentistry and head of the preventive dentistry program at the University of Toronto.

The "crisis" of dental decay in the U.S. often mentioned is the result, to a major extent, of sugar abuse, especially soda pop. A 2005 report by Jacobsen of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that U.S. children consume 40 to 44 percent of their daily refined sugar in the form of soft drinks. Since most soft drinks are themselves fluoridated, the small amount of fluoride is obviously not helping.

The Eleven best reasons for clean water filtration: -

1. There are 35,000 registered pesticides containing 600 chemical compounds. Yet municipal water systems are only required to test for six (6). Many of these chemicals are known to cause birth defects, nerve damage, sterility, and cancer. (ABC News).

2. - The World Health organization estimates 75% to 80% of cancer may originate in our water and environment. (Forever Living).

3. - The General Accounting Office reports that 20% of the nation's 65,000 community systems are unable to meet minimum standards set by the Safe Drinking Water Act. (Readers Digest).

4. - A recent government study found that more than 25% of all large U.S. public water systems contain traces of one or more toxic substances...public water systems do not test for the carcinogens and other dangerous chemicals that are being found. (Wall Street Journal).

5. -One federal study found 87% of the conventional sewage plants discharging excess pollutants. Even when the plants work well, they can't remove much nitrate, heavy metals, or pesticides. (Prevention Magazine).

6. - In 1982 alone, there were 70,000 violations of drinking water standards by municipal water systems. And how many more have we had since then? (Readers Digest).

7. - EPA revealed that dangerous chemicals are leaking out of as many as 16,000 landfills throughout the U.S., percolation down through layers of soil into the vast underground water reservoirs called aquifers. (Discover Magazine).

8. - Trihalomethanes are created when chlorine reacts with decaying organic matter in the water. This group of four organic halides contaminates 90% of this country's drinking water. All four compounds including chloroform, were banned as an anesthetic in 1976, and are either known or suspected of causing cancer. (Consumer Reports).

9. - Today a new specter looms over our reservoirs: cancer. There's considerable speculation that the rise in cancer deaths, now 20% for the nation as a whole, many be due in part to the pesticides, fertilizers and industrial wastes that increasingly find their way into our water supplies. (Readers Digest).

10. - Despite improvements in both public and private water treatment practices, there are still harmful chemicals in 90% of the water we consume. (New Shelter Magazine)

11.-1,268,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed this year in the U.S. (July 12, 2002 American Cancer Society.

We have become a nation that relies on soda, coffee, tea, and alcohol for our liquids, rather than two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, water. We don't like the way water tastes because the fifties gave us chlorinated water or salt based filters, so we look for anything that tastes better to drink, or we don't drink at all.

The phosphorous in carbonated drinks attacks cell walls and eventually destroys the cell. Colon cancer and liver disease are direct results of this cellular destruction. The colon uses hydration and dehydration to eliminate waste and cannot function without the essential properties of water. If the colon is sick, the body is sick. The liver tries to filter the leaking waste and eventually becomes full of sludge, no longer able to supply clean and nourished blood to our lungs, heart, and other organs.

Coffee and teas are just as dangerous to our bodies. They are diuretics, water eliminators, and can also leech calcium from our bones. Calcium not only keeps our bones strong, but also keeps us calm and relaxed. When we drink coffee, the loss of calcium alerts the adrenal glands, which go into high gear to try to keep us alive. Eventually, the adrenals tire and the rest of our endocrine system tries to take over. Now we have adrenal exhaustion, Epstein-Barr syndrome, thyroid and hormone imbalances, and a host of chain-reaction diseases.

Tooth decay and diabetes are direct results of sugary drinks, along with obesity and ADHD, yet we feed our children anything and everything except good water.

It boils down to, (excuse the pun), a battle between hydration and dehydration, the later being the most prevalent cause of death in the United States.

When I am asked or grilled about water, one of the most consistent arguments is that all of our food and beverages contain water, so we must be getting enough of it. Well, go to the desert and watch what happens to the plants and animals that manage to survive there. The plants have adapted to arid conditions and hold any water they can absorb. If you have ever had swollen feet or ankles, your body was doing the same thing, holding any water you've absorbed so you can survive. During a desert rainstorm, much of the water drains away or is absorbed by the sand. Your body reacts similarly if you suddenly hydrate it after sustained dryness and heat. The water doesn't have time to reach your cells and penetrate the cell walls, causing edema, nausea, and a negative body reaction. Floods in the body are the same as they are on Earth. Stagnated chemicals and waste form more sludge and our tissues can't handle the onslaught of debris.

If the desert analogy doesn't work for you, experiment with your garden or houseplants. They won't grow if you use coffee, beer, tea, or soft drinks to hydrate them.

Then, of course, we have the additional problem of chemical absorption during showers and baths, and chlorine gases released during cooking. Your skin is the largest organ, and not only acts as a barrier to germs and disease, but also allows for the absorption of beneficial oxygen, vitamin D from the sun, and water. You absorb more chemicals in a month of showers than you would drinking eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day for five years.

Boiling water, a common practice after storms that affect water quality, releases chloroform, chloramines, and other chemical by-products into the air that are not only inhaled, but are also absorbed into dry wall, furniture, clothes, and other fabric.

The Ph level in your water is also an important factor in keeping you healthy. The body needs to balance itself at a minimum Ph level of 7.4 - 8. Even if we eat a fairly alkaline diet, the acidic levels of our drinking water can erase the benefits. Disease lives in acid, and cannot survive in an alkaline environment. Check your water from several taps using a pool kit. If it's not at an acceptable level, contact your water department and find out why. As water departments can vary which chemicals and additives they use on a daily basis, it's best to check over a three day period, and then check again the following week. Also, immediately after a rainstorm is a good time to check for added chemicals and acidity.

Suddenly we are hearing about drugs in our drinking water. Not so sudden for those of us who study water. The problem with the "new" discovery is that investigators are still limited in their understanding and scope. The drugs in our water aren't just coming from people emptying prescription bottles into the toilet. They are coming from our bodies. Our drug-saturated bodies are doing the best they can to dispose of toxic waste, and then we drink them, and bathe in them.

Healthcare problems in America are serious. We need serious leadership. We don't need new ways to charge people for visiting doctors and receiving more drugs. We don't need new ways to make sure children receive more drugs. We need drug education and government responsibility for the "mess" they've caused. We need to disband the FDA and EPA and start over. We need prevention. Much of that, besides not being a drug-dependent society to begin with, starts with water.

Good water is filtered the same way the Earth filters water, through several layers of carbon and granite with electrical shocks that mimic the ionizing effect of lightning. Refrigerator filters, especially those that are never cleaned, and the small filters on water taps remove only the odors and a small amount of chlorine. Bottled water is fairly good, depending on its source, but we once again pollute the environment with millions of plastic bottles. We also have to be aware that the bottles are, in most cases, cleaned with chlorine products, and the chlorine seeps from the plastic back into the water. The billion dollar bottled water industry need to offset their financial gains with solutions to environmental problems. As a child, I spent hours collecting returnable glass bottles for 2 cents each. The incentive to return plastic bottles could keep them from going into landfills. Another solution would be glass returnable bottles, which would stop the chlorination seepage. Distilled water, though free of most contaminants, is dead water, and should only be used for specific maladies or in rotation with mineral or spring water.

There are companies that provide full-house water systems or apartment sized systems that can supply us with pure water, but even these need to be researched. Many use salt, a corrosive agent that not only destroys plumbing, but also actually can add salt to your diet. Others use simple carbon filters that only minimally remove sediment and some chlorine. Look for systems that have several layers including Centaur carbon, KDF, and granite to be sure you've removed all of the chemicals and sediment.

We are water, and we need to recognize the importance of this vital nutrient, find ways to incorporate it in our daily routines, and help each other relearn to eat, drink, and be merry.

Rayna Gangi is a holistic health consultant, multi-state licensed massage therapist, registered reflexologist, author and teacher.

http://www.earthwalk-usa.com

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