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WATER THE MOST POWERFUL HEALING SUBSTANCE KNOW TO MAN
Clean Drinking Water Is A Powerful Healing Substance!
“The Most Powerful Healing Substance Known To Man”. The human body is primarily composed of water. Water is not only beneficial but also vital to life — only oxygen is more important to human survival. Water plays an enormous role in how well our body functions.
Simply put, the more fresh water we drink, the healthier we become. Knowing all this, it never ceases to amaze me when I hear people saying they “forget” to drink water. Would these people need a reminder to breathe? Water increases not only the quality but also the length of our lives! Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.
Water helps to:
- Relieve/Prevent: lower back pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, headaches, migraines, asthma, allergies, colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, hypertension, cholesterol, hangovers, neck pain, muscle pain, joint pain, bloating, constipation, ulcers, low energy levels, stomach pain, confusion and disorientation.
- Maintain: muscle tone, weight loss, clear and healthy skin.
- Regulate: body temperature, remove toxins and wastes, cushion and lubricate joints, decrease risk of kidney stones, protect tissues, organs and the spinal cord from shock and damage.
- Assist In: the digestion & absorption of food, and in transporting oxygen and nutrients to the cells.
There’s no substitute for water!
Beverages that simply contain water aren’t good enough. juice, soda, tea, coffee etc. counter the positive effects of water; some, in fact, may also be unhealthy. For example, drinks containing caffeine stimulate your adrenal gland and dehydrate and rob your body of important vitamins and minerals. Beverages containing lots of sugars stimulate the pancreas, boosting your insulin levels and taking your body out of its natural fat burning state. Sodas are a quadruple whammy. Colas, in particular, contain caffeine, sugar, sodium and acid that could eat through a dime. Have you ever tried the household remedy to calcium and lime rusted toilet? Just let a bottle of soda sit in the toilet for a bit and presto — a sparkling toilet! I’m not saying that you should completely eliminate these drinks from your diet. However, you may want to replace them with water whenever possible and at least keep them at a low to moderate level.
Strange though it may seem modern life-styles have brought humanity to a stage where today the very taste o water is something that people are averse to. Take a look at your own consumption and like other you will also be surprised with how little of water is actually consumed in its pure /natural state.
Water and Weight Loss
Drinking water may be the most important piece to the weight loss puzzle. Water contains no calories, fat, or cholesterol and is low in sodium. It is nature’s appetite suppressant, and it helps the body to metabolize fat. Current research shows that low water intakes yield an increase in fat deposits. Conversely, a high water intake reduces the amount fat deposits. Without enough water, the kidneys cannot function properly. As a result, some of their workload is pushed off onto the liver, in turn preventing the liver from operating at peak levels.
How does all this tie into weight loss? Because metabolizing fat is a primary function of the liver, and because the liver can’t function at peak levels when taking on the added workload from the kidneys, less body fat is metabolized and more is stored. This leads to either weight gain or reaching a plateau of weight loss. When dieting, we restrict the calories we take in, to some degree. By doing so, we lessen the total amount of water available to our bodies since about 30% of the average person’s water intake comes from the food they eat. This gives us even more reason to raise our water intake.
Don’t just believe us per say, try something simple out the next time you go to the hills for a holiday. Notice how your appetie suddenly increases as you start o consume fresh water in the hills.
Water and Metabolism
Water, also known as the body’s solvent, regulates all bodily functions including the activities of circulating and dissolving. Every enzymatic and chemical reaction of the body occurs in the presence of water. Water also transports hormones, nutrients, oxygen and antibodies through the blood stream and lymphatic system. In addition, our bodies’ proteins and enzymes are more efficient in solutions of lower viscosity (i.e., diluted), thus making drinking water a must.
Water and Digestion
Digestion of solid foods has to happen in the presence of large amounts of water so that proper digestion occurs. Besides serving as a transporting medium to food by suiciently lubricating the insides lining of the digestive track, water also adds tone to the desired digestive muscle.
Water not only helps the muscle achieve a better contraction, but it also prevents the sagging of skin that sometimes follows weight loss. Finally, water maintains clear, young and healthy skin.
Water and Constipation
The basic act of digestion as explained above becomes sluggish / slow and even painful when the body doesn’t get enough water. In he absence of adequate water the body draws on from internal sources. The colon is a primary internal source. When this happens, constipation follows. Normal function commonly returns along with proper hydration.
Water and the Kidneys
Our kidneys remove wastes like uric acid, urea, and lactic acid to name a few — all of which are dissolved in water. When there aren’t adequate amounts of water, these wastes aren’t removed effectively and kidney damage may result.
Water and Waste
During weight loss, the body has much more waste to expel in the form of metabolized fat. Since water helps digestion and rids the body of waste, it only makes sense that more water is better. Notice that the waste is secreated through he kidney’s.
Water and Body Temperature
Water helps us maintain our body temperature through perspiration. Perspiration dissipates excess heat and cools our bodies. Without water, this delicate balancing act of the body is disrupted.
Do not believe us, notice how your water intake increases in summers – in order to maintain its temperature the body prespires resulting in additional input o water.
Water and Asthma
Histamine is a major factor in regulating the way we use and distribute water. It also helps control the body’s defense mechanism. Asthmatics’ histamine levels increase with dehydration, mobilizing their body’s defense mechanism to close down their airways. Knowing this, we can draw the conclusion that asthma could be relieved through increased water intake.
So what are you waiting for why no gradually increase your water intake and take relief form Asthama.
Water and Back Pain
Minimizing back pain can be as simple as hydrating your body! The water stored in your spinal disc core supports approximately 75% of the upper body’s weight. Your spine is dependent upon the hydraulic properties of water.
Water and Muscles
Muscles are primarily composed of water. Therefore, it’s only logical to drink lots of water if you want to have more muscle mass. Furthermore, water removes wastes from and transports nutrients to the muscle cells, decreasing recovery time. Water also ensures that a proper muscle contraction can be achieved so that the working muscle is properly exhausted. Finally, bodybuilders tend to ingest a lot of calories, supplements and proteins, really taxing their kidneys in the process. Water takes some of the strain off the kidneys.
Water and the Brain
85% of brain tissue is water. The brain is about 1/50th of the body’s total weight and it uses about 1/20th of the body’s blood supply. Dehydration causes energy generation in the brain to decrease. In fact, studies have linked depression and chronic fatigue syndrome with dehydration.
Water and Migraines/Headaches
Dehydration is a major factor in causing headaches and migraines. In times of “heat stress” migraines are often signs of dehydration. To further complicate the matter, dehydration brings on stress and stress brings on dehydration.
Water and Pregnancy
Morning sickness is common in the first trimester of pregnancy. One reason for morning sickness is dehydration. It’s a signal being sent by the fetus and the mother’s body to the mother. What’s the message? We need more water! When the mother isn’t drinking enough water, she’s dehydrating the baby and herself. This a result of the mother being the provider of water to the fetus during the intrauterine stage of cell expansion.
The Human Bodies “Thirst Reflex” is the last signal of excessive dehydration. By the time you become thirsty, the damage has already been done. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty! Constantly drink throughout the day! How much water should I drink? The non-active individual needs 1/2 oz. per pound of bodyweight, per day. For the average person who weighs 160 lbs. that comes to ten 8oz. glasses per day. This is just an average; you’ll need to adjust these numbers to your activity level, environment, bodyweight, and diet.
Water and Joints
Cartilage tissues between the vertebrae of the spine and at the end of long bones retain a lot of water. Cartilage needs water for the purpose of lubricating the body’s joints during movement. When the cartilage is well hydrated, the two opposing surfaces glide freely and minimize damage to the joint caused by friction. Conversely, dehydrated cartilage increases friction forces to the joints, resulting in joint deterioration and pain.
Water and Water Retention
The best way to beat bloating is to give your body what it needs. Lots and lots of water! I’m always amazed to hear people say that they would rather not drink a lot of water because it “bloats” them or it makes them “retain water.”
In fact, the opposite is true. These people are retaining water because they’re not drinking enough water!
When your water intake is reduced or low, the brain cells send out “panik signals” through out and the body’s excreatory organs hold onto whatever is already inside. This not only makes one feel bloated but also hampers the functions of the kidney’s and starts to slowly damage them.
AND IF YOU QUIET UNDERSTOOD THE FOLLOWING VIDEO WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT SCARES US ALL AWAY FROM WATER !!!!
High Costs of Obesity
OBESITY IS COSTLY TO THE OBESE AND THE SOCIETY!!
While once can never avoid responsibility for anything in life some acts can actually lead to very serious implications on both the doer as well as the society as a whole. In the case of obesity avoiding responsibility is illusory both for the individual and the society.
Yet, when we look around no one is willing to take any responsibility and assuming where this epidemic is headed, it is time more thought went into it than just an article here and there, some studies, a few promotions and nothing else.
Well there are two very established positions on this Global threat and no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves both are against the Health & Wellness humankind. As we, ready further we will gradually realize the game plan.
The obesity problem affects over one-third of American people. Take a look at the financial implications of this epidemic in America;
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health care expenditure on obese and overweight individuals was estimated to have been $117 billion in 2000
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this was nearly ten percent of the U.S. health care total expenditure.
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Health care costs are generated from “[e]xcessive weight gain[, which]
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interferes with metabolic processes,
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increases lipids in the blood and cholesterol[,]
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increases risk for heart disease and diabetes,”
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can aggravate mechanical problems in the arms and legs, [cause oraggravate] arthritis[,]
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increase chances of sleep apnea.
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may be linked to various cancers.
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- The $117 billion (or four hundred dollar per U.S. citizen) of annual obesity-related health costs are made up of health expenditures and lost productivity.
Regardless of blame, obesity related health costs continue to escalate as no concrete action gets taken. Even in India, changing lifestyle continues to take toll on the health of Indian children. School surveys have shown that 30 percent of adolescents in our cities are already overweight. As these adolescents reach adulthood they will add to the spiralling numbers of diabetics, heart patients and hypertension sufferers.
A study on a sample group of school going children by New Delhi’s Fortis Hospital found 28% of kids were obese. According to Dr. Anoop Misra, the number of obese children has gone up by about 12 % in the past two years alone. Coming from a director and head of the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Disease, Fortis Hospital and a WHO expert in childhood obesity – this is SHOCKING NEWS cannot be taken lightly.
The findings are based on a study he and his team conducted on school going children screened since October 2005. The findings revealed a drastic increase in the percentage of childhood obesity over one year. – it was 28% in 2006, while earlier it was recorded at 16-18% in 2004.
Students from government and public schools in Delhi got screened from November 2005 in this study called ‘Medical Education for Children / Adolescents for Realistic Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes for Healthy Ageing’.
If current trends persist, fifty years from now obesity will be up there with climate change and water shortage as one of the biggest problems facing India.
There is something very real about obesity-linked diseases and their prevalence in India. We have the world’s largest population of diabetics and the number that is already at 37 million – is set to more than double in the next 25 years, according to the W.H.O.
A study by a Canada – based professor of medicine warns that by 2010 nearly 60 percent of the world’s heart patients will be in India.
Imagine the impact of this on the not too robust Indian healthcare system. We still have no basic health care reaching out to everyone in the country. It would be nightmarish to consider what will happen in 25 years time.
As a rapidly developing country, India has a poor prognosis for its growing obesity problem. Globally, the link between economic development and nutrition transition has been proven.
Prakash Shetty, of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), says lifestyle and food habits change as an economy develops. There is a significant increase in the consumption of fats, sugars and energy-dense foods. Main drivers behind changing lifestyle and food habits are;
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Rising incomes & urbanisation lead to the substitution of servants or appliances for physical work around the house, while family bread-winners take to desk jobs instead of ploughing the fields. These factors also encourage more sedentary pursuits such as television viewing and computer use, and well-off city-dwellers travel by car instead of walking or cycling.
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At the same time, globalisation puts junk food and fast food within easy reach of a population often hard-pressed to find time to cook healthy meals, but has more than enough money to buy a greasy lunch at a nearby restaurant.
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In India, these factors have contributed to the rise of bad eating habits and lack of exercise amongst a growing urban middle class, and their effects are startlingly visible. A University of North Carolina study conducted in Andhra Pradesh showed that 37 percent of women living in cities are clinically overweight or obese, and a study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) found that 76 percent of women in Delhi suffer from abdominal obesity.
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India’s obesity crisis gets further exacerbated by some peculiarly Indian factors. Despite India being a vegetarianism stronghold, the average Indian’s diet severely lacks fruit and vegetables – an abysmal low of 150 gm a day against the WHO recommendation of 400 gm a day.
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Instead, our calories come mostly from refined carbohydrates and fats. Indian food also tends to be amongst the most oil-rich in the world, and while we have taken Western junk food to heart (quite literally!) we have our own array of fried snacks (think pakoras, samosas and vadas) which make us susceptible to weight gain without even factoring in globalisation.
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To add to this dismal picture are schools that promote a culture of fierce academic competitiveness and leave children with no time to play or exercise. That we are as an ethnic group more genetically prone to obesity and its health consequences is the cherry on top. Indians have up to five percent more body fat than Caucasians at a given weight and height, suggesting that we may face higher health risks than we expect at our weight. Some researchers have even gone so far as to suggest that Indians are genetically more likely to store fat due to a ‘thrifty gene’ that evolved out of undernourishment in the past.
Of course, obesity-related health issues alone are not enough to establish blame on fast food. The simple fact that fast food is fattening is not enough to link it to the obesity-related health issues or enough to require fast food companies to internalize any of the health-related costs of obesity. However, overall research studies have shown that fast food is less healthy than food prepared in the home.
In addition, fast food contains a significant amount of fat and empty calories with little nutrients. This indicates that increased fast food consumption is likely to act as a catalyst for the obesity epidemic. One study shows that food companies began increasing portion sizes in the early 1990s and, when food gets served in larger portion sizes, “both lean and overweight adults increase their food and energy intakes.”
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An increasing number of Americans are eating out each day.
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As a percentage of total food spending, money spent away outside the home was twenty-five percent in 1970, forty percent in 1995, forty seven and a half percent in 1999, and estimated to reach fifty-three percent in 2010.
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As this spending increased from 1970 to 1995, fast food sales increased two hundred percent, whereas other restaurants only increased one hundred and fifty percent.
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The fast food industry forecasted to gross an annual $134 billion for the 2005 calendar year.
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Adolescents have been a large factor in the increased fast food sales. The average adolescent visits a fast food restaurant twice a week.
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To read more about the hidden dangers of fast food please also look up the following link …. http://media.www.theprospector.org/media/storage/paper321/news/2004/10/26/News/Hidden.Health.Dangers.The.Fast.Food.Lie-779921.shtml
Also read the following excerpts from the book titled – Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser – more on the author and book c/o Amazon.Com – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060838582?ie=UTF8&tag=kelthekitkop-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0060838582
“…OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society.
An industry that began with a handful of modest hot dog and hamburger stands in southern California has spread to every corner of the nation, selling a broad range of foods wherever paying customers may be found.
Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-throughs, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, and universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias.
In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined…”
You can also check the following link to read more on the above title … http://sandeepozarde.rediffiland.com/blogs/2006/10/18/Fast-Food.html
However, the problem is that kids actually don’t think Junk Food is Dangerous for them. Most UK kids don’t think junk does harm Seventy-three percent of British kids ages 8 to 15 said they didn’t know eating a steady diet of junk food could shorten their lives. The British Heart Foundation survey found that 45 percent of kids said the worst thing that could happen to them from eating junk would be gaining weight, messing up their teeth or getting acne. And 56 percent of kids said they expect to live to 80 or more, while 11 percent said they’ll live to be more than 100. In the hope of helping kids learn to make healthier choices the foundation released an online game, Yoobot, that requires kids to feed their virtual persona healthy food so they don’t become obese and unhealthy.
Role of Marketing
The patterns for increased fast food consumption should not single-handedly establish a basis for tort action against the industry because these numbers might simply indicate good marketing and a change in the public lifestyle. However, what is difficult to understand is that the power of good marketing could be a mechanism to facilitate the dependence on a potentially dangerous product.
Children have impressionable minds, and marketing techniques used by the fast food industry have a significant impact on the way they think. “Current food and beverage marketing practices put kids’ long-term health at risk,” warned Dr. J. Michael McGinnis, senior scholar at the Institute of Medicine. Researchers at the Institute of Medicine also found “strong evidence” that advertising influenced the diet of “children between the ages of 2 and 11.”
Despite this evidence, critics disregard the potential link between food marketing and child obesity because the problems are not significant compared to the “leading nutritional problems of socialist Third World countries,” including “famine and blindness caused by nutritional deficiencies.”
Comparing “famine and blindness” from nutritional deficiencies does diminish the relative importance of child obesity. However, the comparative urgencies of child obesity and “famine” should not discourage corrective measures. Critics also worry that regulation would take away too much personal “freedom.”
This concern is persuasive because individuals should remain in control of their lifestyle. However, lifestyle choices today are being guided, by misinformation due to the deceptive “puffery” involved in fast food marketing.
Fast-food can be addictive – Let us find out how. In an interview with Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Dr. Barnard notes that a typical serving in a fast-food restaurant is loaded with ‘addicting components.’ For instance, cheese proteins contain mild opiates. And when a cheeseburger is washed down with a soft drink, you’re adding the addictive powers of sugar combined with caffeine.
As Dr. Barnard puts it, a 12-year-old brain is no match for these foods. A 12-year-old liver doesn’t fare very well either. This neatly parallels another sobering moment in an interview with US physician William Klish, head of the Department of Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Klish cites a study in which biopsies conducted on the livers of obese children show that about half have scarring of the liver; an indication of fibrosis. Dr. Klish puts it bluntly: If their diets don’t change, their livers will eventually fail.
Child obesity levels rising
Spurlock says, ‘If current trends continue, one out of every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.’ And a trip to a school lunchroom reveals why current trends ARE likely to continue. Several students happily show the items they’ve chosen for lunch that day. By and large the choices are a train wreck. One young girl’s tray contains two packs of potato chips, a pretzel, a chocolate bar, and a soft drink. After watching this scene, you’ll have no further questions about why so many kids are diagnosed with ADHD, obesity and eating disorders.
We must admire people like Jamie Oliver who has drawn attention to the sad state of school dinners and is working to improve the standards of the food we feed our children. The standard of school dinners definitely needs to improve if we are to tackle the increasing trend of child obesity.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) website, the UK has the fastest growing rate of obesity in the developed world. The BFH states that between 1995 and 2002, the prevalence of obesity in children aged 2-15 in England doubled in boys – from 3% to 6% – and almost doubled in girls – from 5% to 9%. This is not the kind of problem that we can ignore and think it will just disappear. You may also like to read a older post on this blog related to the subject of ‘are we killing our kids?? – under the title obesity in children’ http://sports4healthunlimited.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/obesity-in-children/
FAST FOOD MAY BE MORE HARMFUL THAN IS CURRENTLY UNDERSTOOD
Fast food may be more harmful than is currently understood because of fast food’s addictive qualities. There are several definitions and levels of addiction. Psychiatrist Michael Brody, M.D., defines addiction as “[a] person [who] needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him or her going,” and, “[i]f the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, she or he becomes miserable and irritable.” Dr. Michael Brody also listed the following characteristics of an addicted person: “[g]reater sense of isolation, [d]iminished social interaction, [r]educed attention to personal hygiene, [m]ore legal difficulties, [c]hange in eating and sleeping patterns, [i]ncreased irritability, and [r]eluctance to change the compulsive behavior.”
Before you read further you may also like to take a look at what is written about “FAST FOOD – DANGERS” http://www.slimdynamics.com/fast-food.php
The Cigarette Papers notes that virtually all tobacco use begins during adolescence. More than one-third of all smokers try to quit each year, with less than ten percent succeeding. Unfortunately because “addiction develops insidiously,” those plagued with addiction often do not realize they are addicted until they are at such a state that it becomes nearly impossible to stop. Nicotine addiction was deemed to result in an addiction that chemically caused the consumer to be unable to restrain himself from smoking, despite the knowledge of its health hazards. Further, the Big Tobacco companies knew that nicotine was addictive and went as far as to alter the levels of nicotine delivered in the cigarettes in order to enhance the addictiveness. Nicotine was narrowed down as the independent substance that was addictive. In addition, it was proven that Big Tobacco altered the levels of nicotine in cigarettes to hook consumers.
There is no research that conclusively proves that fast food is addictive. However Wisconsin University has performed studies of rats’ diets that suggest fast food may contain addictive qualities. One study found that a high-fat diet appears to alter the brain biochemistry in a similar way to drugs, such as morphine. This was said to be caused by the release of opioids, which are chemicals in the brain that reduce the feeling of being full. Thus, when introduced to fatty foods, the rats would continuously eat. Additionally, when the rats were deprived of the fatty food, they exhibited addiction-like behaviors such as “chattering teeth, anxiety and shaking.”
However, these tests are inconclusive because there were several substances and certain words that caused similar reactions. One author is claiming the fast food industry promoted its products despite knowing the inherent dangers. This same scholar is also positing that the fast food industry altered its products to enhance the food’s addictive qualities. If this is true, then consumers are exposed to a much higher health risk than was originally thought.
Fast food clearly contains more fat, sugar, and cholesterol than homemade foods. However, fast food companies do not necessarily add more fat, sugar, and cholesterol for addictive purposes, as these substances are probably added for taste purposes. Moreover, fast food has not been proven to be unhealthy when consumed in moderation. Nicotine, however, is colorless and does not have a desirable taste; therefore, nicotine is more easily identified as a substance added solely to cause addiction. In addition, smoking has been scientifically proven to be harmful, regardless of the quantity of intake, whereas fast food does not appear as such when consumed in moderation. If a plaintiff can demonstrate that fat, sugar, and cholesterol have mildly addictive qualities, the plaintiff will still have to defeat the presumption that those substances were simply added for taste purposes.
S4HU
