Drinking Water

It is an astonishing fact that the human body is basically two thirds water. Without it most people are dead in four days. In normal circumstances in twenty four hours we lose 1.5 liters of water in urine, 750ml through the skin, 400ml in the breath and 150 ml in the faeces. That’s a total of 2.8 liters a day. A simple equation would suggest that this is what you need to drink.

    It isn’t quite simple, however, firstly, the body makes water by metabolizing food, normally provides around 1 liter a day. This totals 1.3 liters, leaving the average person 1.5 liters short or an average day. That’s the equivalent of six glasses of water.

    Drinking a total of 1.5 liters of water a day is really a minimal since if it is hot or you exercise you will need more because you will sweat more. Also, drinking more is generally helpful for the kidneys. This is because many toxins, both generated by the body and the ones that are consumed, are eliminated via the kidneys. By diluting the concentration of these toxins in the blood you give your kidneys an easier time, up to a point.

    In fact, it’s essential to ensure that enough fluid is available for the excretion of soluble minerals in the blood and nitrogenous waste material, especially from protein metabolism.

    The maximum intake from oral liquids should be that which the kidneys can reasonably excrete in 24 hours, and in adults this is around 2 liters per day.

    Contrary to popular opinion, drinking more water doesn’t leach minerals from the body according to mineral expert Dr Neil Ward of the University of Surry, who has never found any evidence of this or reason it would happen.

    Drinking more than you need, which is around 1.5 to 2 liters a day in normal circumstances, isn’t better for you, and may be worse. This is because too much water taxes the kidneys and can lead to over- hydration. Taken to the extreme this can kill you. A man died recently after drinking 10 liters in a few hours, while almost every year somebody dies from drinking too much water while on Ecstasy, for fear of drinking too little. This drug, and others, disturbs the normal thirst reflex. Far more people die as a consequence of drinking too little.

    Water has many roles throughout the body other than flushing the kidneys, including dissolving minerals, and acting as a delivery system, a lubricant and a temperature regulator.

    Even very mild dehydration can lead to constipation, headaches, lethargy and mental confusion, while increasing the risk of urinary tract infections and kidney stones. When just 1% of body fluids are lost, body temperature goes up and concentration becomes more difficult.

    The thirst mechanism kicks in when we’ve lost between 1 and 2% of body water, however, the thirst reflex is often mistaken for hunger. If we ignore it or mistake it for hunger, dehydration can continue to around 3%, where it seriously affects both mental and physical performance. Sports nutritionists have found that a 3% loss of body water results in an 8% loss in muscle strength.

    Water consumption advice almost always specifically discounts caffeinated beverages, but this is now being questioned, and may need revising. Caffeine does cause a loss of water, but only a fraction of water you’re adding by drinking the beverage. In people who don’t regularly consume caffeine, for example researchers say that a cup of coffee actually adds about two thirds the amount of hydrating fluid that’s in a cup of water. Regular coffee and tea drinkers become accustomed to caffeine and loose little, if any, fluid. The only common drinks that produce a net loss of fluids are those containing alcohol.

    The best way to hydrate the body though, is water or herbal teas.

David Foley

MRCHM, MNIMH

Medical Herbalist