Your Water Intake: When Quantity and Quality Matter
The importance of consuming enough water cannot be overstated.
Getting your daily requirement of water helps your organs perform their functions: digestion, assimilation, elimination, metabolism, detoxification and temperature control. Even with this knowledge, it can still be challenging to drink all the water your body deserves. Especially in the winter, you need extra water because the indoor air is dry and your layered clothing can cause you to sweat more than you realize. Those who are not drinking enough may experience poor digestion, sluggish thinking, dry skin, headaches, bad breath and general fatigue.
How much water should you consume?
- It is good to drink a glass of water when you first wake up in the morning when you are the most dehydrated.
- The standard recommendation is eight glasses of water per day, or enough so that your urine is very light in color. On the days that you sweat more because of exercise, or are exposed to a lot of germs, you should drink more.
- Soda, coffee, tea and alcohol do not count toward daily fluid intake because they dehydrate your body and can lead to nutrient loss.
- Herbal teas and vegetable juices count toward your water goals and have the added benefit of providing vitamins and minerals.
- Foods with high fluid content, such as fruits, vegetable and cooked grains, also count toward your daily water intake and help to eliminate the waste from your body.
The quality of your water also matters to your health.
Depending on where you live, your tap water is likely to be hard and mineralized, and not that tasty. Some people like bottled water, while others prefer filtered water. The key is to like the taste of the water you are drinking and using for cooking, and to feel confident that it is clean and health-promoting. If the water is pure, it also tastes better, and you’ll be motivated to drink more of it.
The option of drinking exclusively bottled water is expensive and ecologically a negative to the environment. Pitchers and carafe-style filters are also costly and not all that effective. If you are interested in a whole-house system of purifying your water, consider a reverse osmosis (RO) filtering system. It is a reliable and cost effective method to remove contaminants, such as nitrates, chromium, chlorine and mercury from tap water. Here’s why many people are investing in the RO filtration system:
Health Benefits of Reverse Osmosis Filtered Water
- Metallic tastes and odors from tap water interfere with the chemistry of brewed coffee and especially tea. With RO, coffee, tea and other beverages taste better when pure water allows the full flavor to come through.
- Likewise, ordinary tap water can impact the natural flavor of vegetables, soups and most anything cooked in or with water. Food that absorbs RO water simply tastes better.
- RO watergives you confidence to prepare infant formula without the possibility of lead contamination from household plumbing, or to take medication without worrying about the mineral content in water interfering with the important active ingredients.
If installing a RO system encourages you to drink more water, and cook more whole grains and vegetables, then it may well be worth the investment in improving the health of the whole family, and the value of your home.
Sharon Goldner is a Certified Health Counselor & Chef who has a nutrition counseling practice, Recipe for a Healthy Life in Fanwood, NJ. Sharon offers Passaic Bergen Water Softening customers a free 30-minute phone consultation to discuss how to incorporate hydration and more water-based food into your diet. Call 908-242-3763 to schedule an appointment. Be sure to mention Passaic Bergen Water Softening when you call.
