Water

There's a lot of information about the benefit of water to your body, I'll try to summarize it here but this is still going to be a bit of a longer post.

One of the keys to being healthy is drinking lots of water! Water is beneficial to your body for a number of reasons. It helps your kidney and liver function, by helping those organs to flush out so they can better do their job of filtering and purifying our bloodstream and internal fluids. Water also helps to flush fat cells out of the body once they are emptied - which is what happens as you burn fat - helping you to lose size as well as weight. Keeping your body hydrated helps to improve your complexion, lower your internal toxicity,  boost your immune system, improve organ (and especially bowel) function and cell reproduction, and increase mental clarity.

Isn't water amazing?

Various medical sources report various different numbers when saying how much water you should take in on a regular basis. The consensus is that the average American adult needs at minimum 8 eight -ounce glasses of water per waking day (between 6Am and 8Pm). However, as we will discuss more when we get farther into nutritional values and label reading, minimums are exactly that. This "8 by 8" measure that we all know is the barest minimum amount of water we should be getting in order to stay alive. Even then, this number is only (just barely) sufficient if you're not ever sweating at all, not exercising, not ever sick, and not ever taking in any substance that could block water absorption (like caffeine, corn syrup, and MSG). In short, 8 glasses of water is not nearly enough to support the life a fully functioning, active, healthy adult - which is what we're all aiming for, after all.

How much water do you need?

As I mentioned, medical sources disagree on this. I personally have found that I am the most focused, have the most energy, my body functions the best, and my weight loss happens the fastest when I'm making sure to get over 100 ounces of water per day. Specifically I divide my weight by half, and use that as the number of ounces of water I drink per day. It's wonderful! It's hard at first, especially if you're starting where I did at over 150 ounces per day! Now I drink water almost constantly, and it feels just as natural as breathing.

Word of caution: Drinking more than 64 ounces of water in a given one-hour period has the potential to slightly dilute your blood, which will make you light-headed and a little loopy. Be careful with your spacing, but always be sure to get enough water!

With how wonderful water is for your body, it might surprise you that not just any water will do! Tap water today contains chemicals like chlorine for purification as well as fluoride for tooth and enamel protection. Both of these are what I consider necessary evils. However in most cities the water also contains trace amounts of other chemicals like arsenic, and minerals like iron. In my area the tap water contains "trace amounts" of granite! By law you receive a notice of what's in your local tap water and you may notice words like "nonlethal dosage" but these words also apply to that 8 eight-ounce glasses idea. Personally, I wouldn't take the risk and so I don't drink unfiltered tap water. I'm just not okay with gambling my life on the idea that a government-funded purification system is going to do a good enough job getting all the bad stuff out of my water.

Long story short, you need filtered water. There's plenty of fine options, from systems that attach directly to your faucet to pitchers and water bottles with filters inside of them, and also filtered water in bottles. Some refrigerators have a filter in them but keep in mind that these still need to be changed and cleaned regularly to avoid mold accumulation.

I have a personal policy against mentioning brand names on my blog when I'm not getting paid for the mention but I do have a few favorite brands and products, based on my research. Email me for a recommendation!

Here's some key things to keep in mind about bottled water:

> "Bottled at the source," "Natural spring water," and "Mountain fresh" are all marketing terms for "Boiled but not filtered."

> The more times water has been filtered the better - to an extent. There are some necessary nutrients and minerals found in water that can be taken out in the filtration process. If a water has been filtered many times it needs to also have that good stuff added back in - your keyword here is "re-mineralized."

> Check the label of bottled water to make sure that the plastic is BPA free. If you can't see this on your label, turn the bottle over. On the bottom there's a recycling triangle with a number in it. This number indicates the number of times that the plastic has been recycled - which is an indicator of how many different plastic chemicals may be released into your water. Plastic can only be recycled so many times before the base chemical makeup is compromised to the point that it can no longer be safely or legally used in food packaging. The smaller that little number is, the healthier your bottle is for your water. I recommend sticking only with the water bottles that have 1 as that number, and you should never ever drink or eat out of a plastic container with a number at 5 or higher!

> Even with water you must read labels. It's crooked in my opinion but some companies add chemicals, sweeteners, and extra sodium to their water. Some extra sodium isn't a problem, but generally I'd advise you to stick with a water that reads a "0%" daily value of sodium.

> Trust your taste buds! If water tastes bitter or sweet it's a possible indication that the pH (scientifically that's "potential of Hydrogen" - in layman's terms, acidity) balance is off. You want a bottled water with a pH balance of 7 or higher because this will lend to a healthy environment in your body. Without pH testing strips it can be hard to tell what the balance is but I have found that - especially as I get healthier - water with a pH balance in the Alkaline category simply tastes better.

When should you drink water?

All day!

Start your first glass of water first thing in the morning. Before you do anything else (except maybe pee and weigh yourself), drink 8 to 16 ounces of water. Then, wait 30 minutes before having breakfast. At night some of your bodily functions speed up - like cell reproduction - and some of them slow down - like digestion. Drinking this first cup of water and then waiting will help your body to understand that it's time to wake up and start functioning normally again. This is especially important as you're first changing your diet to be in line with a healthier lifestyle because constipation is common at the beginning of such changes (we'll talk about why later) and this practice can help alleviate or even avoid this issue.

After that first glass, drink lots of water all the time. I have an app on my phone that dings at me every hour. If I haven't already finished a bottle of water that hour I make sure to take a time out and drink a bottle of water before I do anything else. You can find many apps for tracking and timing your water consumption as well as your exercise and weight loss on your phone's app market - and most of them are free! Find the one that works best for you.

Before, during, and after meals. Studies show that drinking 8 ounces of water before a meal can improve digestion and help your body get the greatest nutritional value from your food, and drinking at least 8 ounces of water during and after your meal will help the soluble fibers (from vegetables) dissolve and proteins expand so your body can get the most out of them. This will also help you feel fuller and thus more satisfied with a smaller portion.

Try to stop drinking 2 hours before you go to sleep. As we'll discuss later, sleep is very important to your health and you don't want to compromise on that by putting yourself in a position to be up all night using the bathroom again and again!

Certainly this is not all the available information about water and how it relates to your health, it's truly a fascinating and extensively researched subject! But this is what you need to know as you're starting to get healthy. Don't worry about getting it perfect on the first day. Just work on integrating more water into your daily life as a healthy habit.