Water: A Necessity, A Controversy

Why is water important?

Water is heavily involved in every major bodily function including, but certainly not limited to temperature control, digestion, and waste and toxin removal. Water loss occurs with many normal bodily functions such as breathing, breastfeeding, sweating and more. The loss is increased in extremely hot, dry, and even cold weather. With sufficient water loss, dehydration can occur. Severe dehydration is most often due to water loss involving diarrhea, vomiting, or long periods of physical work or exercise. If dehydration is severe enough it can effect physical performance and even require intravenous (IV) fluids. Fortunately the symptoms of mild dehydration (dry mouth and thirst) lead us to drink more fluids. The desire to drink works well except during long periods of physical work or exercise. During these times, drink often, even when you do not feel thirsty.

How much is enough?

An acceptable (though crude) method of monitoring fluid intake is to drink enough fluids to produce a lot of very pale yellow urine. This means we should consume about eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, or more (given that you do not have any medical conditions such as renal failure or congestive heart disease that require careful monitoring of fluid intake). However, be sure to give yourself credit for the water that is in all of the fluids and foods that you eat. For instance, a lot of water is contributed through the diet if vegetable and fruit consumption is high.

On the other hand, if you are consuming large amounts of fluids or foods that increase urine output by acting as a diuretic, you may be in a mildly dehydrated state. For proper hydration, what you drink is important as well. The following lists may help you to make sense of your actual intake.

**These fluids do contribute some water to the body; for example, you retain about half the fluid from coffee or tea. However, don’t neglect to drink plenty of hydrating fluids.

The tap water / bottled water controversy

The obvious advantage of tap water over bottled water is that tap water is significantly cheaper, if not free. Also, tap water may be fluoridated in your area, but bottled water generally isn’t. Tap water is tested frequently by city municipal districts, and held to strict federal and state standards for purity. Though rigorously tested for safety, there are places where the tap water is still not appealing due to an off taste, appearance or even smell. You may want to consider buying a water filter for your faucet. Also many grocery stores have machines that dispense filtered tap water for a minimal cost per gallon.

Well, if tap water is thoroughly tested, then bottled water must be held to a higher standard, or is it? A recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on a four year long study of 103 brands of bottled water, calls this assumption into question. Bottled water is not subject to all of the tests for bacterial purity as is tap water. (Many companies do the extra testing voluntarily). This survey of national and regionally available bottled water, pointed out that some bottled water brands were not necessarily purer than tap water. Also, some bottled water labels are misleading regarding the source of the water. (Labels showing mountains, springs and so on are common).

However, NSF International, an independent organization that inspects more than 500 water-bottling plants and tests bottled water worldwide, has refuted this study. NSF believes that the NRDC report confirms bottled water safety. They point out that the contaminants in the study found were at the level of parts per billion, and that a part per billion is equivalent to a drop of vodka in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

So, when you decide whether your eight glasses a day will come from the tap or the store, realize that with all things considered, bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water. There are advantages and disadvantages with either choice, but regardless of your choice, drink-up!

Empowerment Points

• Do your own research about the water you drink:

• Contact your city municipal district with questions about your local tap water. Check out the NRDC report released March 30, 1999 at www.nrdc.org.

• Look up your favorite brand of bottled water, or check out water filters, in NSF International’s Consumer Drinking Water Book. Call 1(800)NSF-MARK or go to www.nsf.org to request a copy. There is a charge of $6.00. This web site also responds to the NRDC report.

• Get yourself into the habit of drinking more water and less artificially flavored sweet drinks and regular sodas:

• Refrigerate tap water to improve flavor.

• e-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Hydrate and lose some pounds. Drink 12 to 16 ounces of water before each meal. This would give you a total of 36 to 48 ounces and a beverage can still be added with the meal to easily reach your daily total. The zero-calorie water will probably suppress your appetite by filling you up so that you eat less.

• Carry a 32 to 64 ounce mug or water bottle and sip away all day.

• Hydrate and save a dollar or two by ordering water to drink with meals when eating out.

• Add a squeeze of a lemon or lime into ice water.

• Use a straw; for some of us it makes fluids disappear faster.

References: