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This is unanimously advised by all experts related to our health, from traditional healers to representatives of official medicine. And yet how, what and how much water is better to drink?
In modern conditions, the human body is experiencing water starvation: for the most part, this is due to the characteristics of the artificial environment in which we live, the dehydrating effect of conditioned air and the food we eat. We are accustomed not only to quench our thirst, but to extract some additional effect from drinking: the pleasant taste of soft drinks, the tonic properties of coffee or tea. We have forgotten how to just drink water.
My drink
Two or three cups of coffee or tea during the day, at best – even a small bottle of mineral water – often this is all the liquid that we indulge our body. And what about juices, which advertising is almost a guarantee of health, or milk, which was considered as such ten years ago? “Fruit juices do not contain enough water to maintain the body’s water balance,” says Valery Sergeev, candidate of medical sciences, gastroenterologist and nutritionist. – Water, meanwhile, is necessary in order to assimilate and break down sugars and proteins. When we drink milk or juices, some of the water they contain is used to digest the sugar and proteins in the drink itself.” In addition, sugar is added to most juices from packages, which causes thirst and creates an additional “sugar” load on the pancreas, as well as acids – citric, ascorbic – and synthesized vitamins.
DRINK ROOM TEMPERATURE WATER OFTEN AND LITTLE LITTLE, WITHOUT WAITING TO FEEL STRONGLY THIRD
Sodas often contain corn syrup, which is high in fructose, which converts directly into triglycerides (the building blocks of fat) rather than glucose, which is the brain’s fuel. Now about milk: its protein is digested for quite a long time, and the breakdown of lactose (milk sugar) requires the enzyme lactase, which is not produced by all people. Freshly squeezed juices are healthier, but this is also a kind of super-concentrated artificial drink – it would be much more useful to eat the whole fruit, along with the fiber and ballast substances contained in it. In a word, no other liquids – even those that we used to consider healthy and natural – will not replace ordinary drinking water for us.
One water
Chemistry lessons for many left only the formula of water H2O in their memory, as well as the confidence that without water life would not have arisen on our planet at all. This is so: with its direct participation, almost all biochemical reactions take place. After all, water is a universal solvent. The building material for the constant renewal of the body (that is, for the synthesis of proteins) and energy sources (carbohydrates), oxygen, hormones and enzymes circulate in the intercellular space and enter the cells, being dissolved in water. And metabolic products are excreted from the cells and from the body also in solution.
Water “enters and exits” through special water channels located in the plasma membrane of cells and called “aquaporins” (for their discovery, two American scientists – Peter Agree (Peter Agree) and Roderick McKinnon – were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2003 in chemistry). If other substances are added to the water molecule – after all, the dissolution process is accompanied by complex interactions with salts, sugars, acids, alcohol, chemicals that have arisen in the process of assimilation of drugs or food additives – then these bulky formations are not able to pass through a small water pore. There seems to be water in the body (sometimes there is even too much of it, and we call it fluid retention, edema), but it does not penetrate the cells, as a result of which metabolic processes are inhibited, toxins are not removed. Naturally, a person feels an incomprehensible malaise, fatigue, the cause of which is literally dissolved in water.
Choose a good filter
With all the variety of water filters, they perform the same task: they purify water from mechanical impurities (sand, scale, rust), partly from chemical impurities (chlorine, salts of heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides, oil products), as well as from bacteria and viruses. . The principle of operation is also similar: water passes through replaceable cassettes with a filter medium. In most of them, a universal adsorbent “works” – activated carbon and ion-exchange resins, which are different for each manufacturer. The slower the water passes through the filter, the cleaner it is. For those who want to be sure that the water will be 97-99% pure, there are filters based on the reverse osmosis system. There, purification occurs by passing water through a multilayer membrane at a pressure of 3,5–4 atmospheres. The dimensions of the cells in the membrane are so small that only H2O molecules and hydrogen and oxygen dissolved in water can pass through them. The advantage of such water is that you can be really sure of its purity. Disadvantages: it has no taste, it can be considered close to distilled, from which the body has no benefit.
Read more:
- Who is afraid of water?
From the tap and from the bottle
Tap water may not be healthy (after all, it passes through miles of pipes), but at least it is safe – primarily due to the chlorine ions that are used to disinfect it. The action of chlorine is detrimental to any living cell – from bacteria to the cells of our body, therefore, before drinking tap water, it is better to filter it. “In principle, there are two ways out: filter tap water or buy bottled water, but I haven’t decided for myself what would be more correct,” Valery Sergeev admits. – On the one hand, bottled water is expensive, and there is not always confidence in its quality: did they slip filtered tap water instead of artesian water? And on the other hand, the filtered water becomes unbalanced, “idle”. During the filtration process, it is deprived of almost all salts, including the necessary ones, such as calcium salts (which can lead to brittle bones), as well as essential trace elements.
According to the therapist Sergey Stebletsov, even spring water from the foothills of the Alps or obtained as a result of melting glaciers does not always bring guaranteed benefits: it is better to drink local water, to which the person has adapted to the electrolyte composition. The most reasonable option seems to be a compromise: do not be afraid of filtered tap water, but outside the home make it a rule to drink high-quality bottled water.
Quantity and quality
When and how, and most importantly, how much water to drink – the opinions of experts on this matter differ. According to Ayurveda, you should drink two to three liters of water a day, and its temperature should be as high as you can endure. “If you drink a lot of water at once, then the main goal of cleansing the body will not be achieved,” explains Mohammed Ali, a doctor from the Kerala Ayurvedic Center. “Therefore, you need to drink constantly, but little by little: two or three sips in 10-15 minutes.” Morning, according to him, you need to start with a glass of water at room temperature. It, like a medicine, must be taken on an empty stomach, without getting out of bed. Moreover, the water should not stand in a glass overnight – in this case it becomes “dead” – and should not be tap water. According to Mohammed Ali, the ancient teachers of Ayurveda advised to drink rainwater, but now you should not do this for obvious reasons – it is too polluted. It is probably best to drink water from a freshly opened bottle in the morning.
FEELING OF COMFORT IS THE MAIN SIGN THAT WILL MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT AMOUNT OF WATER THE BODY NEEDS
When we drink water during the day, according to Ayurveda, it is worth taking into account: if we want to lose weight, it is better to drink it before meals, and if we want to gain weight, then after. Accordingly, those who want to keep their kilograms intact can drink water during meals.
The representative of another oriental school, professor of Chinese medicine Gao Yan, believes that it is best to drink water at room temperature. “It’s a little cooler than body temperature, and it kicks off the body’s cleansing processes,” he explains. European experts also believe that we need two to three liters of water a day – especially in summer, when it’s hot. “It should be slightly mineralized, with a predominance of chlorine anions and calcium, magnesium, and potassium cations,” explains Valery Sergeev. “This makes up for the natural loss of salts during increased sweating.” So water like “Slavyanovskaya”, “Smirnovskaya”, “Kashinskaya”, “Novoterskaya” can be drunk without restrictions. But highly mineralized waters, such as Essentuki-17, are a remedy for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, which stimulates the secretion of gastric juice and intestinal motility. “If you like carbonated mineral water, then it’s good for you,” says Valery Sergeev. – It quenches thirst better, stimulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. But if there are any disturbances in the activity of the stomach, heartburn and discomfort, it is better to switch to still water.
Read more:
- How to train yourself to drink more water
Trust the Feelings
So, drinking about two liters of water a day is considered a physiological norm. But, if we have not yet developed the habit of drinking water, should we count the glasses we have drunk, as if we were following the prescription of doctors? “The body itself knows how much water it needs,” says Sergey Stebletsov. – One and a half liters a day is enough, the other is not enough and two and a half. It all depends on the mode in which the kidneys, lungs, skin and gastrointestinal tract work, through which water leaves the body. The main indicator that you should focus on is the feeling of comfort.
According to yoga adepts, our water starvation is also due to the fact that we have forgotten how to listen to body signals and quench our thirst with two or three sips of water. We are accustomed to three meals a day and practically do not know what it is to feel hungry, but we do not have the habit of drinking water regularly. Usually we are aware of thirst when the body already feels a strong lack of fluid and declares this in full force. Following the idea of yoga, you can try to take a break from your activity from time to time in order to concentrate on the sensations of the body and ask yourself: do you want water? An even simpler recommendation will be especially useful for those who have problems with fluid retention in the body or feel signs of dehydration of the skin, hair, nails: feeling thirsty, give up soft drinks and juices in favor of plain clean water.
Have a question?
MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER “IMMUNCULUS”, MOSCOW, STR. SHABOLOVKA, 18, STR. 1,T. (495) 236 5101.
CENTER OF AYURVEDIC MEDICINE “KERALA”, MOSCOW, STR. NOVO-CHEREMUSHKINSKAYA, 49, T. (495) 120 2368.
CENTER OF CHINESE MEDICINE MARINA MEDICAL CENTER, MOSCOW, 1st RIZHSKY PER., 3, Т. (495) 683 8713.