Your body is made up of 75% water. Your skin is 80% water. Even your blood is mostly water. It’s clear to see that replenishing your body’s water supply is important in maintaining health and energy. What’s also important is that you choose the right water. Water intake and quality contribute to many health problems. Here’s my thoughts on why you should filter your water to maintain your health.
WHY IS WATER IMPORTANT?
Water is a life giving force. You need it to function. In fact, it’s so important that every single cell, organ, system, and process in your body needs it to function. In fact, it’s so important that you can only survive a matter of days without it.
According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicines, the average man should be drinking around 15 cups of water per day (3.7 liters). Whilst the average women should be drinking around 11 cups per day (2.7 liters).
Of course, this can be affected by your body weight, temperate climate, amount of exercise you do, your overall health, and whether or not you are pregnant/breastfeeding.
BENEFITS OF DRINKING WATER
Hitting your required intake of water brings huge benefits to your body and overall health, both physically and mentally. Some of the most important benefits of drinking water include:
- Improving concentration and cognition
- Maintaining memory function
- Balancing mood, emotions, and reducing stress
- Preventing and relieving headaches
- Increases your metabolism
- Enables your body to transport and flush toxins out of the body
- Maintains regularity in digestion
- Builds healthy muscles and aids recovery
- Supports healthy hormone production
WHAT’S IN YOUR DRINKING WATER?
One thing we often fail to consider is exactly what is in our water, and if these ingredients really make it better for our health?
Although the water quality regulation differs amongst US states (with California being the strictest), it is pretty unified that they all add cleaning chemicals to your tap water. As a result, your tap water might not be as good for you as you think.
Tap water travels through thousands of miles of pipeline, picking up all sorts of contaminants along the way. This is in addition to the chemicals that are deliberately added. According to the EWG, at the time of writing this, around 80% of the population was drinking tap water that contained around 300 contaminants – more than half of which were not regulated by the EPA.
Tap water is cleansed with the chemicals Chlorine (yip, just like swimming pools), Flourine, Fluoride, Iodine, and Bromine. Let’s look at them individually.
Iodine – Now, our body does need iodine. It’s especially important in healthy thyroid function. The depletion in naturally sourced iodine makes it harder to get, too. However, these other chemical additives are so similar to iodine, that our body misidentifies them and ends up trying to use them instead of the iodine cells. They take up space in the thyroid tissue, you become short of iodine, and your thyroid stops functioning properly.
For more information on how your thyroid works and the importance of looking after it, check out this blog post.
Flouride – added as a means to support dental health, this has long been disproved. Most European countries do not add fluoride to their water and their dental health is no worse than ours. It does, however, hurt your body in other ways, your Pineal Gland in particular.
Chlorine & Flourine – chemical cleaners that kill off the healthy gut flora in your digestive system. Your gut health is directly linked to your overall health, autoimmune diseases, and mental health.
Bromine – Europe, Canada, and Brazil have all banned the use of Bromine. USA not only adds it to your water but still permits the use of it in baked goods and processed foods.
WHAT TO DRINK
Just because there are problems with your tap water doesn’t mean you resort to buying bottled water. In fact, the EPA says it’s not necessarily safer than tap water. Plus, the plastic bottles themselves are terrible for both your health and the environment.
According to the Pacific Institute, over 17 million barrels of oil go into one years worth of plastic water bottles. Additionally, because of the low rates of recycling in the US most of those bottles will end up landfill.
As well as this, reusable bottles are often made containing BPA. As more people become aware of the health implications of using this product, companies are switching to chemicals with only a hair’s difference, so that they can claim they are BPA free. Sneaky, right?
My suggestion is to filter your water at home, and use a glass container. You can buy glass bottles in stores now or do like I do, and simply save your mason jars and re-use them as drinking containers. I particularly like the big Sauerkraut jars as they fit more in when I’m gonna be out and about for a while.
HOW TO FILTER WATER
Ideally, a whole house filtration system would be best. After all, your skin absorbs the chemical additives in the water when you bathe/shower, too. These can be pricey but are worth the investment.
If you’re looking for something a little more budget friendly or suited for a rented home, then you can opt for individual units that fit under your sink or on your shower. As well as this, countertop or jug filter systems are affordable and easy to source for your drinking needs.
When choosing a filter, make sure that they remove the Flouride as not all of them do. NSF International is an independent nonprofit group that tests and verifies the ability of filters to remove certain contaminants. You can check out their online reports and choose a system that meets your requirements. Some of my recommendations are listed below.
Berkey Shower Filter. Low budget option that attaches to your shower. Simple to install and lasts around a year, or 25,000 gallons.
Berkey Tabletop Filter Comes in 3 different sizes, with variable prices, and a timeless design.
Pelican Whole House Filter System Comes in two sizes depending on the size of your home. Eco friendly and kills 99.9% of bacteria. However, this works through a reverse osmosis system which also removes all of the healthy minerals in the water.
Pure & Clear Well Water System A whole house filtration system with two price options.
Kitchen Defender Filter 3 stage filter that fits neatly under the kitchen sink.
IN CONCLUSION
Water filtration is a simple and cost effective way to support your health and wellbeing. There are many different ways to do it so check out your options and see which best suits your needs.
If you need any advice or are wondering how diet, nutrition, and whole body healing could enhance your health, feel free to reach out to me here or head over to my Facebook page and leave a comment!
Already using a water filter? I’d love to know which one. Let me know below