The health benefits of drinking water daily are innumerable.

The health benefits of drinking water are clearly shown when you consider that babies are supposed to be about 85% water. As people age the majority of them tend to dehydrate. The average adult's body is around 75% water but people in old age or who have a chronic illness can dip as low as 65% for men and 52% for women. At the brink of death this can drop another 10%. Dehydration and it's correlation with dead things are synonymous throughout nature. Think of plants and leaves that are dead. They dry up and become brittle and fragile. Most people literally shrink and dry up as they age past a certain point (wrinkles, loss of height and muscle mass) due to severe chronic dehydration from not getting the benefits of drinking water daily.

Yes! The importance of drinking water as part of your diet for longevity cannot be overemphasized! In his book "Your Bodies Many Cries For Water", F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. clearly shows that every major illness that humans face is either caused by, or is significantly related to chronic dehydration. The words "You're not sick; you're thirsty. Don't treat thirst with medication." wisely graces the cover of his book. This sums up his stance on health and is the reason why the benefits of drinking water daily should be realized and put into practice before any other exercise or health routine outlined on this website if you wish to achieve maximum human longevity.

Not only do most people fail to drink water throughout the day, they instead choose beverages which provide little to no hydration and which often even cause further dehydration. The human body is very resourceful and when faced with water shortages, it will begin to conserve as much water as possible by limiting urine output (by concentrating the urine) and pulling water out of the less vital areas of the body. This simply causes accelerated aging in all it's forms. Number one of all the great antiaging secrets is to take part in the health benefits of drinking water daily, in the appropriate quantity, for your entire life.

In Dr. Batmanghelidj's book, he covers how nearly every major disease that western culture suffers from is intimately connected with chronic dehydration. Here are a few examples:

Rheumatoid arthritis pains have been found to have a strong correlation with dehydration (along with other easily changeable lifestyle factors). The cartilage in joints contain a lot of water for lubrication and they are supplied with water through the bone structure. The human body gives priority to certain vital parts over others in situations of dehydration. The bone marrow is extremely important for life and so when water is in short supply the body will prefer to keep the marrow hydrated over the surrounding tissues (which leads to dehydrated joint cartilage). Because of the reduced lubrication caused by dehydration, the cartilage becomes more abrasive and inflammation will begin to occur which is the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of joint pain.

Stress and depression have dehydration as one of their primary causes (most diseases and problems have multiple causes, so addressing all of them is always best instead of relying on just one approach). The brain is 85% water. When dehydration is taking place and this percentage drops even just a small amount, the brain begins to have trouble dealing with multiple inputs. The result is a person who becomes depressed from feeling overwhelmed and unable to handle life (This is very similar to chronic fatigue syndrome). The health benefits of drinking water daily is the most obvious when we consider that the symptoms of dehydration are identical to stress. Cortisone is released into the body when dehydrated or stressed to breakdown raw material (ie. muscle tissue, organ tissue and bone tissue) to help the body "get over the hump". If you're chronically dehydrated you're never going to get over this hump until you start drinking more water.

High blood cholesterol can be partly due to dehydration (as I've mentioned, there are always many possible causes for disease and often more than one of these causes is going to be involved in a disease process). Since cholesterol is not water permeable, one of its many functions is to act as a "sealant" in the cell membrane for cells (that have a nucleus) to protect them from dehydration. One of the body's defense mechanisms is to make more cholesterol when it is dehydrated to help keep these cells from drying out. When excess cholesterol is made it ends up forming plaque along the walls of arteries and capillaries. For more information on the health benefits of drinking water in adequate amounts and the role that dehydration plays in these and many other diseases, please read Dr. Batmanghelidj's book "Your Body's Many Cries For Water".

A dry mouth is not the only sign of dehydration!

According to an article written in the August 2001 issue of "Alternatives" by Dr. David G. Williams, "Researchers with Britain's Olympic team found that levels of 1 percent dehydration yielded a corresponding 5 percent drop in performance". When you begin becoming dehydrated your body compensates by balancing what water you do have available in your cells throughout your entire body. This means that everything is affected when you avoid the benefits of drinking water daily. Long term chronic dehydration results in increased risk of problems with every single bodily function.

Signs that you're dehydrated are:

~Urine colour (If it's anything but clear you're dehydrated. The darker it is the more dehydrated you are.)
~Constipation (The benefits of drinking water daily couldn't be clearer then with this health issue. Everyone is focused on getting more fiber in their diet right now, but adequate water is actually more preventative. One quart of water is used for every healthy bowel movement an adult takes.)
~Mental fatigue and headaches (Remember, the brain is 85% water. If this drops even slightly problems begin to occur.)
~Muscle pain and other "phantom pains" (If you haven't just worked out and it's not more likely to be another cause, many bodily pains are just cries for water.)
~Acid reflux (Read Dr. Batmanghelidj's book for a great explanation why water cures most stomach ills. He has incredible results in his practice with just plain water. There is no need for antacids and they only cause further problems.)
~Parched mouth and throat (This one is obvious.)

The health benefits of drinking water are going to be hindered when you consume or do things that cause accelerated dehydration. If you engage in consuming alcohol, caffeine, pop, cooked foods, artificial sweeteners and/or smoking, then you will need to take in more water then normal (for a normal minimum daily intake of water see below). The best bet is for you to change bad habits by eradicating these horribly health damaging practices from your life.

"To get the essential health benefits of drinking water, how much should I be consuming?"

You commonly hear people saying things like "You have to get 7-8 glasses of water a day!". First of all, we have to recognize that we are all different shapes, sizes, have varying levels of physical activity and consume different foods and beverages. Also how much is a glass of water anyways?! No matter what your situation is according to the above variables, the absolute minimum amount of water that should be consumed each day is half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces (8 ounces = 1 cup, so for example a 160 lb person would require a minimum of 10 cups of water a day). Will you have to pee more often? Of course, but this really is a non-issue if we truly want the health benefits of drinking water because everywhere we go we have access to a bathroom, even out in nature.

The above amount is commonly recommended by many of the top health authorities including Dr. Brian Clement, Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, Dr. Mercola and more. Q. "Can I include juices and other non-caffeine, non-alcoholic beverages in with the above mentioned daily amount?" A. No, pure water is the best and most essential liquid needed to hydrate our cells most thoroughly. However, drinking other fluids will still hydrate you (less efficiently) and is the reason why you may not require more than the above recommended daily amount. Drink other fluids on top of your daily intake of pure water. To get the maximum health benefits of drinking water daily you will need to drink more than this daily amount under the following conditions:

~If you choose to eat cooked food (Raw food contains water and by cooking it you dehydrate it. You need lot's of water available in your digestive system to digest your food. That being said it's best not to drink beverages with meals because it dilutes your digestive juices, but water already contained in food helps it digest properly.)
~If you drink alcohol (Alcohol suppresses the secretion of vasopressin which leads to dehydration.)
~If you drink or consume caffeine or other alkaloid containing stimulants
~If you exercise regularly
~If you live in some combination of an overly hot, cold or dry climate (or if at certain times of the year this takes place)
~While traveling on airplanes (or other very dry environments)
~I you consume products with sucrose in them (Every molecule of sucrose uses up one molecule of H2O to break it down into two molecules of glucose.)
~If you consume artificial sweeteners
~While on a cleanse or fast
~If you're suffering from a chronic disease in which dehydration might be one of many possible major causes
~If you smoke regularly (Look at the skin of any long term smoker to see the proof of this effect.)

To get the maximum health benefits of drinking water, you have to know the best type to consume.

Most things that cause detriment to our health are invisible. This is partly why most people are confused when they get involved in the field of health. There's so much we have to know about that we can't even judge by using our eyes! We can get exposed to EMFs (electro-magnetic fields), bacteria and toxic fungi in the air, high levels of positive ions in the air, artificial chemicals, pesticides and GMO food (just to name a few) without even seeing them there! To take full advantage of the benefits of drinking water daily, you're naturally going to want it to be the best water ever!

There are many things that can cause problems in water that are "invisible". Through science, experience, observation and common sense, there are many factors of water quality that we must take note of to incorporate the benefits of drinking water with our longevity diets. The first thing I will say is that good water will never come from a plastic water container or a municipality's ultra processed water supply. Whoever us foolish enough to recommend that water can be safely stored in plastic even after having seen the research, should be incarcerated. I'm not even going to waste my time writing about this since there is so much information about there on the internet and I know that those reading this are smart enough to know this already. BPA and other xenoestrogens from plastic are some of the biggest causes of cancer and other diseases we see today that never used to exist in our environments.

Whatever water comes into contact with, it's going to absorb a certain amount of that substance over time. Humans aren't meant to drink plastic tea, stainless steel tea (or other metals) nor tea made out of recycled medications, urine, feces, tampons and toilet paper (municipal water). By "tea" I am referring to water's ability as a solvent to dissolve and absorb into it, whatever it comes into contact with. Even if your town or city uses a well system and doesn't recycle urine, feces etc back into water, the addition of chlorine and fluoride as well as contaminated pipe lines results in very low quality, contaminated, molecularly chaotic, dead water. The benefits of drinking water like this are minimal.

All sorts of prescription medications are now showing up in the recycled water supply of cities and municipalities. This has significant detrimental effects on those coming into contact with this water. Furthermore this water if not recycled, is ending up in rivers, streams, lakes and oceans further creating long term health challenges for the human race and every other species on this planet. It is not enough to get the health benefits of drinking water daily by letting regular tap water "stand out in the open so the chlorine (a known liver toxin) evaporates off" as some ignorant health advocates might suggest.

The other culprit, fluoride is praised for reducing cavities, yet the type dumped into water supplies is not the same as the pharmaceutical grade fluoride found in toothpaste (which is still extremely toxic and unfit for human contact). It is actually a biohazardous waste chemical left over from tin mining that causes hardening of the teeth and bones to the point of them becoming very brittle, calcification of the pineal gland in the brain and subservience to authority in mass populations (the Nazi's dosed their prisoners with fluoride in the second world war to make them docile and willing to listen to orders without question). The benefits of drinking water are no longer even worthwhile after water has been contaminated to this degree.

Well water is definitely a major improvement over tap liquid (municipal tap "water" doesn't even deserve to be called water anymore), however it is often sitting in its reservoir for far too long. This results in water with too many dissolved sediments in it which can lead to problems like calcification and hardening of bodily tissues in long term consumption. Well water is also not as electrically charged as spring water since it is stagnant. There is also a higher chance of contamination in well water. Water filters, alkalizers and ionizers are all still better then tap water, but they aren't the best. These forms of water processing bring metal and plastic into contact with the water as well as eliminate the benefits of drinking water's natural structure given to it by the Earth itself.

So what form does it have to come in to get the health benefits of drinking water without negative side effects?

Throughout the ages, through hopes of explorers discovering a "fountain of youth", to stories of miraculous cures from sacred places where the water has "magical properties" and even today through scientific analysis, spring water is the best source of water because it is given to us by mother Earth herself. The health benefits of drinking water and bathing directly in it from springs has centuries upon millennia of testimonials. Spring water avoids all the problems that can occur with the types of water I previously mentioned. Every great longevity society has very healthy ways to get their water and many of them even get it from springs (those living around the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica do). If you can't get yours from a local spring, the product "Raw Water" is pure spring water that hasn't been boiled or tampered with in any way. It's even kept in a paper bag to protect it from light which disorganizes the water molecules!

On top of that, spring water comes from deep within the Earth, often from reservoirs that are older than anytime in history when humans were dumping chemicals willy nilly into the environment. This water is untouched by these toxic byproducts and also is aloud to be bathed in the Earth's electromagnetic field for a long time which charges and restructures the water molecules. A study in 2000 by the Hippocrates Health Institute looked at the effects of water harvested from a volcanically active area in Japan. They had 23 guests with chronic illness drink the water over a twenty day period while another group of the same size and with similar disease states did not drink this special water.

This water as measured by a gauss meter, was charged with a high electrical frequency (spring water and organic raw foods contain a high charge of electrical frequencies as well). The benefits of drinking water from this place in Japan was that these people had an average increase in immune function by 18.5% based on blood tests. Absorbing the water had increased the free electrons (a.k.a. antioxidants) in their bodies which helped shield red blood cells from decay. This lessened the burden on white blood cells which in turn lead to increased immunity and changes in life expectancy.

There are many known benefits of drinking water that has been "structured".

This term gets thrown around a lot and most people don't understand what it actually means which often leaves them skeptical of the significance of this to begin with. The monumental work of Masaru Emoto has shown that structured water from springs, holy places and natural settings freezes into beautiful and symmetrical water crystal patterns. On the other hand dirty, polluted, over-treated city and municipal water has a a very chaotic and often ugly pattern in the ice crystals that it forms.

What has to be understood about water is that it is a liquid crystal. Just like the LCD screens of advanced electronics and perhaps even the computer screen you're looking at right now, the molecules naturally like to be lined up in specific patterns and formations. Quartz crystal (a solid crystal at the temperatures in which it grows) grows in hexagonal patterns which is why well formed quartz has 6 sides to it. Ideally, water also forms hexagonal crystals when it reaches temperatures low enough to freeze into a solid state. If water's molecular structural pattern is "broken up" before or while it's freezing, it will create more chaotic ice crystal patterns.

According to the extensive Japanese research on the benefits of structured water, it turns out that when water is molecularly balanced, it actually has a lower surface tension (the amount of force necessary to penetrate through surface tension is measured in dynes). Room temperature tap water is generally around 72 dynes per centimeter. The health benefits of drinking water from tranquil places in nature and springs is that because they are structured they are often as low as 67 dynes per centimeter. This results in water that is literally wetter, more absorbable by the body and more electrically conductive. This wetter water is more absorbable at the cellular level, resulting in more complete hydration and enhances the entire body's ability to utilize it.

The organized molecular structure of all types of water are put into a state of chaos through exposure to:

~Light: Springs emerge from the ground in shaded areas and will disappear if the shade is removed. Spring houses were created in the past to preserve springs. A shaded river will remain narrow and cut a deep gorge over time, whereas a river exposed to light becomes unclustered and widens by tearing down the banks over time. This makes the benefits of drinking water that has been stored in darkness very clear (and not on a grocery store shelf under fluorescent lighting for who knows how many weeks or months).

~Heat: Water coming from springs will always be 4 degrees Celsius (the average unchanging temperature below the bedrock) with the exception of hot springs where volcanic and thermal activity is involved. If a "spring" is not a hot spring and is of a higher temperature (or lower temperature in the winter) then you're either not testing the water at its source where it emerges from the bedrock (and has more chance of encountering contaminants in the soil), or the "spring" is just water that has seeped into the ground and then flowed out again at a lower elevation without having been properly cleaned of impurities by trickling down through layers and layers of earth and rocks over decades and even centuries.

~Jarring Vibrations: As Dr. Emoto has demonstrated, negative music, sounds, images and words can literally cause the structure of water to fall into chaos, much like how our emotions are affected in the same way (think of the symbolism found in every culture that connects water to emotion). Harsh and jarring bumps to the container destroy the benefits of drinking water and its structure. Obviously the more intense the jarring action exposed to the water, the more chaotic and unbalanced its structure will become.

~Forced Through Straight Piping: Water (and generally all liquids) have a natural tendency to flow in curves and spirals. When you flush a toilet it never just goes straight down, but it makes a little whirlpool. Men and women will notice that when they urinate, the urine comes out spiraling. It's never a direct stream. The water that flows through modern piping systems is forced to move in rigid straight lines, is under pressure and has to often make 90 degree turns. The health benefits of drinking water are lost since this goes against its natural way of moving and breaks down the micro-clusters that hold its electrical potential.

"Raw Water" is pure spring water that hasn't been boiled or tampered with in any way and so it fits the above standards! You have the option of ordering it in glass bottles and it's even kept in a paper bag to protect it from light.

Here is a summary of the benefits of drinking water daily and collecting it from naturally occurring springs:

~Free of all contaminants including bacteria and toxic chemicals (Some municipalities test their local springs. Other springs that are less widely used should be taken care of and checked regularly by those who use it, ideally twice a year, one of which should be around the time of the spring thaw as farm runoff has the potential to contaminate the places where the water is surfacing.)

~A natural source of minerals (You can test the levels of minerals in ppm [parts per million] with a TDS meter, which is good since water that is beyond 150ppm is a hard water that can cause problems with long term consumption.

~Naturally structured by the Earth (To get the benefits of drinking water daily it's important to store it in cool, dark places with the least amount of exposure to jarring sounds and bumps to its container as possible. Heat, light and "shock" contribute to breaking down its ability to retain its structure.)

~You get the water before it's been forced through unnatural piping systems that break down its structure

~Retains the highest electrical frequency of any other natural water and far surpasses all conventionally processed forms of water (It is a well known fact that the human body is a complex electromagnetic organism whose chemistry and bodily functions are dictated by the power and balance of these electrical forces.)

~The Earth wants you to experience the benefits of drinking water that it has deemed "ready" (It is a mystery as to how water will literally levitate or spring up against gravity from deep within the ground to come out of unconventional places that are high above the levels of the reservoirs. Why would water come out of the top of a mountain when it's less distance for it to simply pop out of the ground in a valley?...)

~All over the world springs have always been regarded as places of "high spiritual energy" (Whatever this means is irrelevant. The fact that people have always observed the healing and auspicious characteristics of springs is quite likely related to all of the previously mentioned points of importance.)

~It is loads of fun and it can begin the transition to becoming feral (Feral is a term used to describe an animal that has gone from domestication to living once again in the wild. There are benefits and drawbacks to both worlds, yet you can get the best of both by going feral, especially with your diet for longevity. Merging the logic, common sense and knowledge of domestication/civilization combined with the superior food, health, instincts and wisdom of a wild creature is truly a Taoist path.)

~It's free!

These are some more water secrets to keep in mind.

Asides from the benefits of drinking water daily, it is important to also take into consideration the effects of the water you are bathing in daily. We all know that bathing is essential for vibrant health, but for the same reasons I have mentioned throughout this article, you'll want to give your body the best it can have. Practicality is an issue here and unless you can afford to have your home hooked up to draw directly from a spring, filtering your bathing water is the next best thing. A filter can remove chlorine (a very acid forming mineral) if you live in a city or municipality that is dumb enough to engage in such a practice, but it will not remove the fluoride which is an even more idiotic practice. So of course, bathing with well water is better than filtering city water but a filter is still better than nothing if you're current life situation doesn't allow you to move to a safer home. You can choose to filter all incoming water into your home, or you can buy just a shower head filter.

The best water bottle you can use to carry your water around with you is not going to be made of any type of plastic, aluminum or other metal (steel is OK and better than plastic, but again it will leach steel and nickel into your water which are toxic to the body). Using glass bottles for drinking water storage is ideal. Clay, ceramic and wood can be used as well (watch out for toxic glazes!) but are impractical for carrying around with you. Having a glass water bottle (or mason jar) will make you respect your water more (since you'll be aware of not accidentally breaking it) which results in far less careless "trauma" or jarring to the water.

You can get the health benefits of drinking water daily from these other sources as well if you don't have access to any local springs:

~Artesian Well Water: These are basically man-made springs. Unlike regular wells where the water sits in a hole becoming overly mineralized and possibly exposed to contaminants from farm runoff or toxic acid rains, artesian well water is constantly flowing upwards out of an aquifer deep under the bedrock, much like a spring, without the need of a pump or bucket on a rope. Artesian well water is still drilled by human hands and that's the only difference between it and a naturally occurring spring. The benefits of drinking water from an artesian well will be pretty much the same as spring water except that it's a bit less "natural".

~Glacier Water Runoff: Glacier water comes from a time when the water being frozen wasn't heavily polluted with contaminants. Its water structure is preserved from being in such a pristine setting which is often rich in minerals from mountaintops! If acquired at the source near the glacier itself, the water will be free of any bacterial contamination. The legendary glacial Hunza water was attributed to the extreme longevity of the people's found living in this area. Some people say that this glacier water is distilled water since glaciers are made from snow (which is distilled water ice crystals) piling up in layers over the millennia. It turns out that Hunza water is almost the colour of milk it is so rich in minerals. Glaciers pick up enormous amounts of sediment from the earth which would account for this opaque water that they drank.

~Re-mineralized Distilled Water: Drinking distilled water is well known to de-mineralize the body despite the unfounded claims made by a variety of health teachers who deny this fact. While it's true that distilled water has a detoxifying effect and can be used for brief periods of time, it is unfortunately devoid of any beneficial electromagnetic charge and the benefits of drinking water daily has been lost. Also, it is un-structured (since it has to be boiled to get the water vapor which is then condensed into distilled water) and long term use has been shown to cause mineral deficiencies in the majority of people.

The positive part to using a water distiller is that it is 100% free of contaminants much like spring, glacial and artesian waters. Since the water vapor is pure H2O, it is unable to carry anything else up into the air with it. When condensed back into a liquid again, you have pure distilled water whose molecules are unfortunately in desperate need of something to cling to. This is why drinking distilled water will lead to de-mineralization for most people. The molecules will pull minerals from your body to stabilize itself.

By adding a pinch of celtic sea salt or pink himalayan rock salt (or your favorite gourmet salt, free of contaminants) you give the distilled water something is can begin structuring itself around. You can then add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice as well to make the water more alkaline. Place this water in direct sunlight to charge it up for a few hours and you will have pretty darn good water. However, it is my opinion that spring, glacial, and artesian waters are much superior in quality. Distilled water is just another option that you can use when you don't have access to these better options to get the much needed health benefits of drinking water daily.

Sources:

~"Your Body's Many Cries For Water" by F. Batmanghelidj M.D. (Global Health Solutions, 1992)
~"How Long Do You Choose to Live" by Peter Ragnar (Roaring Lion Publishing, 2001)
~"The Hidden Messages in Water" by Masaru Emoto (Beyond Words Publishing, 2001)
~"Lifeforce" by Brian Clement Ph.D, N.M.D, L.N.C.
~Videos of Daniel Vitalis featured at www.findaspring.com

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