Drinking Water Tips

Drink Water at the Correct Time
Drinking water at the correct time maximizes its effectiveness on the human body:

*2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
*1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
*1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
*1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack

The National Institute of Health recommends drinking a glass of water before eating as a "healthy eating habit". Their website also suggests increasing water intake to reduce constipation, avoid urinary tract infections, and avoid kidney stones.

Drink to Stay Hydrated and Feel Energized
Water is a vital nutrient, essential to every single chemical process that occurs in our bodies. Water makes up two-thirds of the human body, and 75 percent of the human brain is water. Staying adequately hydrated allows our bodies to function as best they can, yet nearly 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated without ever knowing it.

Everyone understands the importance of drinking enough water during extreme heat and while exercising, but hydration should not only be a concern for athletes or those battling summer weather. It is proven that breathing dry air in the winter evaporates more water than in the summer, but on any given day we can lose more than half a gallon of our body's water through breathing, sweating and waste removal-and even more when we exercise.

A small drop in hydration, as low as two percent, can cloud short-term memory, cause difficulty with basic math and make it hard to focus on a computer screen or printed page. Lack of water is also the number one cause of daytime fatigue. The presence of enough water speeds chemical processes, which helps people stay energized throughout the day.

Drink for your Health
People who drink enough water not only avoid the pitfalls of dehydration, they accelerate their metabolisms and help prevent overeating. A scientific study found that people who drank 17 ounces of cold water saw up to a 30 percent increase in their metabolic rate for nearly an hour and a half. Our bodies expend more energy digesting cold foods and beverages. Drinking water helps people maintain a healthy weight because thirst is often mistaken for hunger. One study found that drinking one glass of water before bed squelched the midnight hunger pangs of 100 percent of its participants. Staying hydrated may also:

*Lower the risk of bladder cancer by half for those who drink six or more glasses per day
*Cut heart attack risk nearly in half for those who drink five or more glasses per day
*Reduce a woman's risk for breast cancer by up to 79 percent
*Decrease one's chance for colon cancer for those who drink four or more glasses per day

The CDC recommends making healthier food and beverage choices, such as water, available to school children to help combat the increasing child obesity rates.

Drink Enough Water
The Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board provides general recommendations for women at approximately 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of total water -- from all beverages and foods -- each day, and men an average of approximately 3.7 liters (125 ounces daily) of total water. About 80 percent of people's total water intake comes from drinking water and beverages -- including caffeinated beverages -- and the other 20 percent is derived from food.

MedLine Plus, a service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health, recommends 6 to 8 8-ounce glasses of water.

Drinking enough water is easy when water tastes great. Kinetico's water treatment and filtration systems remove unappetizing water additives that cause water to have a rotten egg or chlorine smell and a fishy or metallic taste. They also assist with turbidity, which can cause an unsightly, cloudy appear¬ance in water. Because water is such an important nutrient and accounts for such a large portion of the human body's vital functions, drinking the highest quality water is one of the easiest ways to help stay healthy. Kinetico's water treatment systems can not only filter out microbiological contaminants that can lead to illness, they also reduce the additives in drinking water that can harm the body over time.

Source List
Adam Campbell, Brian Good, "100 Ways to Live Forever," Men's Health, July/August 2003, p. 154, 156, 161, 182.
"Body Talk: How to Cut Your Cancer Risk," The Daily Mirror, August 12, 2004.
"Boost Weight Loss with Healthy-Eating Secrets," AllYou.com, www.allyou.com/allyou/article/print/0,20906,1018250_0,00.html, retrieved May 2, 2007.
"Drink up for your Health," The Gazette, January, 23, 2007.
"H2O Facts," New Straits Times , March 17, 2002.
"Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate," iVillage.com, http://www.ivillage.com/newsletters/archive/email/0,,b9zmm956,00.html, retrieved March 3, 2007.
"Importance of Water in the Diet," Duke Cruising Chemistry, http://www.chem.duke.edu/~jds/cruise_chem/water/watdiet.html, retrieved May 30, 2007.
Susan M. Kleiner, "Water: An Essential but Overlooked Nutrient," Journal of the American Dietetic Association, February 1999, p. 200-206.