By Andreas Moritz
Dehydration
Dehydration is perhaps the most common, yet largely unrecognized problem prevalent in modern societies today. Alcohol, coffee, tea and soft drinks have become the primary choice for satisfying thirst, especially among the younger generations. The principal effect of these beverages, however, is to remove water – the most important and precious resource in the body – from the blood, cells and organs. Drinking enough fresh water is an essential prerequisite for avoiding disease and slowing the aging process. Anyone who is healthy and wants to stay that way needs to drink about 6-8 eight-ounce glasses of fresh water each day. This will ensure that the 60-100 trillion cells in the body receive their daily-needed ration of water in order to maintain efficient digestion, metabolism and waste removal. Children may need to drink 4-6 glasses of water per day, depending on how physically active they are.
Simple guidelines for keeping your body sufficiently hydrated
Start the day by drinking one glass of warm water to end the ‘drought’ of the night and remove accumulated wastes from the excretory organs. As previously mentioned, this can be followed by a glass of warm water with lemon and honey.
About half an hour before each meal, drink one glass of water. Doing this will keep your blood thin and thereby enable it to take up nutrients and distribute them to the cells. The water also helps increase the secretion of digestive juices and prevents bile from becoming too viscous. Drinking a lot of water or other beverages with your meal, however, dilutes the digestive juices. This should be avoided because it undermines the digestive process.
Following a meal, the blood uses up a considerable amount of water to distribute nutrients to the cells and can, therefore, become water deficient quite quickly. Drinking another glass of water approximately 2