Hydration

Water is so vital to our existence that we can only survive a few days without it before we die, yet many of us are chronically dehydrated. Up to 70% of an adult's body weight is water, making it the largest single substance in the human body. We need water for almost every bodily function: it carries nutrients into the cells, carries waste from the cells, speeds lymph flow, regulates body temperature, aids food digestion and helps to lubricate joints. Dehydration at a cellular level is the beginning of disease. Cells protect themselves against further devastating dehydration by coating themselves with cholesterol. This short term solution causes long term problems, as effective cell communication and regulation is vastly diminished.

There is no one thing you can do to improve your pH more quickly than hydrating, and yet we've learned to silence our thirst with liquids which sate our palette, but do not rehydrate us. Tea, coffee, soft drinks and bottled juices are often our first point of call when we feel thirsty, yet most of these drinks are actually diuretics (they irritate the bladder wall, creating more urgency to urinate, and in the process dehydrate rather than hydrate us). Even green tea, touted as a cancer healer due to it's high antioxident levels, falls into this category. Despite it's health giving benefits, it can actually be depleting if drunk in excess. 

Ideally adults should drink up to 2 litres of water a day (but never more than 2 pints in an hour which is dangerous as it can flood the system). Unfortunately, nowadays we must be mindful of where we source our water. Modern cities recycle tap water and much of it contains drug residues, hormones (from the birth control pill), heavy metals, toxic organic compounds (pesticides and herbicides) as well as added chemicals like chlorine and fluoride. All of these substances are toxic to the body, suppress the immune system and are potent endochrine disruptors. Bottled water may seem like a safe solution, but it's best avoided as plastics can leach xeno-oestrogens. 

There seems as yet to be no one ideal filtration system. A Reverse Osmosis unit is the most effective method (the same as is used for bottled water). It removes chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and (some) oestrogen (important for those of us with hormone sensitive cancer). However it strips necessary minerals, creating acidic water and a lot of wastage. Ionisers on the other hand, alkalise water (a great aid to detoxification) but are ineffective at removing heavy metals and hormones. Carbon based whole house filters remove chlorine and organic compounds but the water produced is inferior to drinking water, and is instead intended for bathing and washing. However when you learn that we absorb more chlorine though our skin than we do from drinking, the importance of a whole house filter becomes apparent. In the words of Dr Mercola "When you heat the water, in your shower, your bath, your dishwasher or your sink, you are releasing chlorine, DPBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, herbicides – all of it – into the air you breathe! And onto your skin, your body's greatest tool for absorbing chemicals. It's true. By taking a seven-minute shower you are exposed to more chlorine, DPBs, and VOCs alone than by drinking a gallon of tap water" 

I've prioritised water filtration as a necessary part of my healing regime. Having recently moved, I'm relying on a colloidal silver jug filter until I can reinstall my all-singing, all-dancing filtration system (a whole house filter so that we can bathe and shower in chlorine-free water, an RO unit for clean, oestrogen-free drinking water, and an Ioniser to counter the RO unit's acidity). This combination is not without problems; the flow is incredibly slow, and we waste a lot of water. However, I've found it works for us, and gives me peace of mind. 

One important thing to remember is that water dilutes stomach acid, so try to avoid drinking (anything) for 20 minutes before a meal, and 40 minutes after.

Finally, if anyone based in the UK has found a good water technician, or system installer PLEASE let me know!!!!