Myths & facts about water: Are we having liquidity problems?

Believe it or not, two-thirds of our body is water. We can survive without food for 81 days but without water, we die in five days, according to Dr. Yunjo Chung, author of The Cleaning Side of Medicine. If you lose but five percent of your total water, you will start to hallucinate, become disoriented, and experience twitching muscles. If you lose 15 percent of your water, your life is in grave danger.

The good doctor tells his patients that water is nature’s best beverage vis-a-vis soda or soft drink. (Better than that, now there’s Propel Vitamin Water by Gatorade which provides all the benefits of water with added vitamins for immunity boost.) Just to compare: Good drinking water has oxygen, Dr. Chung points out, while soda has dissolved carbon dioxide gas under pressure. And as we learned in biology class in high school, we breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.

Yes, we can’t live without water. But all these years, we’ve lived with so many myths/false notions about water. So, now, let’s pour out the facts about water.

Myth: The first commandment of good health decrees that we must drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day.

Fact: A lot of nutrition experts have no idea where this rule, which has been arbitrarily handed down through the ages, comes from. But here’s one theory: The number was probably based on the fluid intake measurements taken decades ago among hospital patients on IVs. It has since become a convenient reference point, especially for those prone to dehydration like children, active people, and the elderly — and not really a measure of what people ought to drink.

The experts agree that an average person loses 10 cups (one cup=eight ounces) of fluid per day but also takes in four cups of water from food, leaving a need to drink only six glasses to make up the difference, a tad short of the recommended eight to 10 glasses daily. The eight-by-eight rule is a gross overestimate, say kidney specialists. To replace daily losses of water, according to a kidney physiologist, an average-size adult with healthy kidneys needs no more than one liter of fluid (or four eight-ounce glasses).

Myth: It’s okay to take water in excess.

Fact: Taking too much water (overhydration) is as dangerous is taking no water at all (dehydration). Overhydration can lead to nausea, weakness, dizziness, trembling hands, cramping, and even make one lose consciousness. Thus, Dr. Chung warns his patients not to drink over 12 eight-ounce glasses (about 3,000 cc). The rule of thumb to follow is: Everything in moderation.

Myth: We get enough water from iced tea, soft drinks, juices, and coffee.

Fact: Many drinks that we consume today are considered diuretics (causing us to urinate) and do not help hydrate the body on a cellular level. Caffeinated beverages do not hydrate the body. Truth is, for every cup of caffeinated beverage we take, we need to drink two additional cups of water to offset the dehydrating effects of caffeine.

 Thus, your best bet is water. And a refreshing way to hydrate is to take Propel Vitamin Water, which contains nutrients like vitamins C and E, sodium, and potassium. It’s also a guilt-free (yes, it’s calorie-free) and delicious way of enjoying your water as it comes in natural fruit flavors orange and lemon.

Myth: Fresh water makes up 50 percent of all water resources on earth.

Fact: Only three percent of all the water on earth is fresh (read: drinkable).

The United Nations estimates that a person needs a minimum of 50 liters of water a day for drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitation, which sadly over a billion people in the world don’t have access to. Antarctica is said to hold about 75 percent of the world’s fresh water and 90 percent of the world’s ice — but of course, that cannot be melted for daily use.

Myth: There is much less fresh water today than there was 100 years ago.

Fact: Certainly not! The supply of fresh water is the same as it was 100 or more years ago, long before you and I were born. It may seem less today because the demand for water is so much more (and is likely to be even more in the next 100 years). A note of warning: Our fresh water supply is finite and becoming contaminated to the point where rainwater renewal is not viable. Thus, everyone is enjoined to conserve and protect our water resources.