Water is believed to be
one of the most basic needs of life. This fact is quiet obvious in our daily
experiences even it is known to have shared the largest percentage of human
body. No wonder that my ground father would always say after bath ‘water is
medicinal’. The importance of water to healthy living cannot be overemphasized;
even early man who knew nothing about chemical composition of water could not
do without it. It is a natural resource that is very versatile in terms of uses.
It is a colorless liquid with chemical composition of H2O. Following
are some areas where water has been found useful; at homes, it is used for
drinking (as food), for cooking, for bathing, for washing to mention a few.
Though water is a food,
it is a medicine that can cure different kinds of ailments, yet one may not be
able to derive all the efficacies that reside in water and its uses. In this
post, the type of water needed for healthy living, the recommended quantity of
water for healthy living, the purity level required and how to personally
achieve such purity level and finally when to take a given quantity of water
are going to be addressed.
Firstly, water is
indeed needed but the good type is very important. The word type in this
context is used to mean pure type of water. Though pure form of water is
difficult to naturally found, yet one can reprocessed any water found to
achieve water whose purity level is very close to the known purity level of
pure water. There are few physical tests that can be used to know if a given
sample of water is pure. Such physical tests include; pure water must be
colorless and crystal clean, it must be tasteless, odorless and be able to boil
at 1000C. In our quest for archiving acceptable water, water from
sources like well, river, rain and some other known sources of water can be
made clean by boiling to a very high temperature to kill micro organisms that could deteriorate human health.
How much water is then needed for healthy living? Before the above question could be correctly answered, understanding of
percentages of water in our various body systems and subsystems. The table
below has been designed to display the percentage of water in most important
body systems.
|
BRAIN
|
90%
|
|
BODY WEIGHT
|
70 to 75%
|
|
BLOOD
|
Over 80%
|
|
BONE
|
20 to 25%
|
It can be deduced from above table that the lion share of human body
goes to water and this show the roles which water plays in human life and his
health. In addition to this, man can live for four weeks without any food
provided that he is drinking good water timely. Therefore the daily quantity of
water required for healthy living is about 67.5% of daily food intake.
How does water enhances good health?
ü Regular
drinking of water helps in keeping body metabolism functioning and efficient
and this in turn helps in supplying all the nutrients needed for healthy
growth.
ü It
helps in dissolving unwanted bodily salt which can be eliminated through urine
discharge.
ü For
optima brain performance.
ü It
helps in maintaining body temperature.
ü Regular
water intake reduces the risk of cancer.
ü High
efficiency at work is guaranteed.
Many
are the benefits of water if taken in good form, in recommended quantity.
When is it advisable to drink much water?
It is advisable to
drink much in the morning and less at night while drinking of water in the
afternoon must be moderate.
Tips on how to drink well.
Drink as much as you
can at an hour before taking your breakfast.
Take water at least
five minutes after food but gently.
