We depend on water for life. We drink it and cook with it, bathe in it and use to clean everything else we have. We install reverse osmosis and whole house filtration systems in our homes, and we worry about chlorine removal and the safety of our drinking water. About two-thirds of what we are is water, and water is crucial to every single process in our body. Since water is so important, isn’t it important to know what it can do for you?
Being Dehydrated is Worse Than You Think
About 75% of people in the United States are estimated to be chronically dehydrated: so many that it has been called “the hidden epidemic.” Even a little bit of dehydration makes a person feel tired and slow, and there can be a noticeable effect if you lose even 2% of your body’s water content. Since it’s quite common for athletes to lose as much as 10% of their water weight from sweating, it’s hardly surprising that a lot of us are capable of going around 2% dehydrated.
Since being hydrated is so important, it might please you to know that staying hydrated isn’t really that hard. A few extra glasses of water a day is all it takes. Drinking down a full glass of water as soon as you wake up will not only rehydrate you but also make you feel more awake and alive. And studies have shown that most people with headaches will experience complete relief within 30 minutes of drinking two cups of water.
Clean Water is Crucial
Since water is so very critical to every part of our body and all of its functions, it’s very important that the water we’re ingesting and putting all over our skin be clean. There are a lot of water system available, including whole house filtration systems that will make sure the drinking water, the water you wash with, and even the water washing your clothes is safe. The average American household is using 350 gallons of water a day, and whole house filtration is worth looking into for a lot of reasons.
You’re probably already aware of the need for clean water for drinking, but what about for cooking? Boiling or otherwise heating water doesn’t guarantee you’ve eliminated everything potentially dangerous. Whole house filtration can also help your skin and hair, which are easily irritated by things in the unfiltered water.
Don’t Forget About the Hard Water
You might also need a water softener as part of a whole house system. About 85% of homes in the United States are believed to have hard water. Hard water is not necessarily a huge health risk, but it’s a great nuisance. It makes all cleaning and laundering tasks more difficult, keeps dishes spotted and leaves a film on showers and sinks, makes it hard to wash hard, and even wreaks havoc on your hot water heater.
Water hardness is measured by “grains per gallon” of calcium carbonate. Even places without a “very hard” or “extremely hard” water rating can see the effects of hard water, which start at about 7 grains of hardness. And every 5 grains of hardness in the water causes your gas water heater to lose 8% of its efficiency.
Water is Weight Loss
If you are genuinely hungry, i.e., you are in real need of sustenance for your body to continue physiological processes (as opposed to simply feeling munchy) water will not make you feel full. But most of us aren’t eating because we’ve reached a truly hungry state. We’re eating because our stomachs are empty, which is not the same thing, or because we feel like a snack for other reasons. Drinking water 30 minutes before eating can help you feel more full so you make wiser choices about food. And studies show that people who drink 16oz of water before meals lose more weight than those who don’t.
We need water, for lots of things we know about, and even some we don’t. Make sure that the water in your house is clean and safe; for your health, your home, and your family.