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Hydration: The Fountain Of Youth

August 12, 2024•4 min read

Hydration – The Fountain Of Youth

Why is water the most important nutrient to the body?

The human body is comprised of between 60 and 70% water. For example, the brain is 74%, the blood is 82% even the teeth have 5%. Water is critical for every single bodily function, as it provides hydration and irrigation to trillions of cells. Water is necessary for the blood to flow, for oxygen delivery, for waste elimination, for nutrient transportation and for the functioning of almost every organ and biochemical process. So good daily hydration is essential for us!

Our Bodies Need Water

Our bodies require a minimum amount of clean, pure, natural water each day to maintain a good level of hydration. A properly hydrated body will increase your body’s “cell” communication, resulting in better health. In our bodies, water transports elements (hormones, chemical messengers and nutrients) to vital organs, which, in turn, produce substances that are made available to the rest of the body. Without proper hydration, the brain, which is 85% water and controls the body’s “waterways”, cannot do its job properly.

The following functional, healing benefits are assisted in our bodies by drinking plenty of water every day: Increased absorption and utilisation of nutrients, Increased oxygen availability to the cells, increased detoxification of the body as a whole and for perfect cell replication – the opposite of these will result from not drinking enough water every day.

In Western society people have adapted to drinking coffee, fruit drinks, soft drinks and other such products as a means of satisfying our thirst. What many people do not realise, however, is that many of these drinks, in fact, dehydrate our bodies of water and are of no assistance to us at all. Everyone needs to consume a minimum amount of water each day to at least maintain the level of water in our cells.

Keep reading to find a simple calculation to identify optimal water consumption for your unique and individual needs.

Good hydration is as important as good eating!

Dehydration Facts!

By the time you feel thirsty, your body has probably lost 500ml or more of water. Dehydration can make you feel tired, dizzy, disoriented and can also cause headaches.

A common list of benefits from drinking the proper levels of pure mineral water is as follows:

Health and vitality boosting
An increase in mental alertness
An increase in physical stamina
A reduction from the negative effects of stress.
How Much Water Do We Need?

The minimum daily intake for our body weight is unique to each of us, but it is easy to calculate the amount of pure, filtered, non-treated water that we need on average each day.

Calculations

This is calculated on our body weight (in Kilograms), divided by 0.033.

An example could be an 80kg person. They divided their body weight in kgs by 0.033 = 2.6 litres per day) Coke, lemonade, alcohol and caffeinated beverages do not count as water intake as they are dehydrating to our system and easily strip water from our bodies.

We also have to remember to account for variable factors, such as if we are undertaking physical exercise or if it is a hot day, in which case we will have to increase our intake.

Did you know that we lose at least 450ml of water each day as we breathe? This loss will increase to over 1 litre if the day is hot or if we are exercising.

Adding Pure, Natural Salts To Drinking Water

While we are drinking water, we can also improve the level of electrolytes in our bodies. This is done by adding a pinch of quality, natural, non-iodised salt to our drinking water.

In doing this, we assist the body greatly in maintaining the balance of electrolytes in cells and the water surrounding them. This has a huge impact on the health of our cells as they are better able to retain minerals and keep water in the cells.

Salt also has a very healing effect on our bodies; in fact, it makes the cell’s job easier, and it greatly assists the detox process.

Many of us are overly acidic, and the salt will assist us in regaining a normal PH balance, thus reducing our oxidisation (ageing) and allowing the healing to begin. Remember to use natural sea salt, never processed salt. I personally use a natural salt product called ‘Himalayan Crystal Salt’.

This is available in good health food stores. I dissolve a good pinch of Celtic or Himalayan Crystal Salt into about a litre of pure, filtered water for drinking.

You want to increase the mineral content of the water without tasting a salty drink; you will find that you do not need to use very much.

Salt is also great as an electrolyte, so use it if you work out or for any sports people where dehydration may occur.

Remember that true, pure salt is vital to your health and has tremendous benefits to your overall vitality, you can read more about this in our blog ‘Your Body Needs Salt!’ here.