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Water
"And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto
one place, and let the dry land appear and it was so. And God called the
dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he seas:
and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:9, 10
The earth's reservoir of water
We have about 326 million cubic miles of water covering 70 percent of
our planet. There is in addition an untold amount of ground water and water
vapor in the atmosphere. For the last 6,000 years of earth's history this
same water supply has been recycling itself through an endless process of
evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. All along the way it services
and nourishes every form of plant and animal life. It unselfishly brings its
blessings, lingers until its job is done and then departs, many times
carrying a load of waste materials which it kindly delivers to some other
life form down the line as useful food.
Water in the human body
Water is the most common molecule in the human body. Adults are about 45-75
percent water, depending on the percentage of body fat—fat cells contain
less water than muscle cells. Muscle tissue, about 50-70 percent water,
contains approximately ½ of the water found in the body. No wonder
one feels weak when short of water. Blood is up to 80 percent water, brain
grey matter 70-85 percent and bones 20-33 percent. Approximately five eighths
of the body water is inside the cells and three eighths is outside, between
the cells and in the circulation.
Respiration, digestion, circulation, glandular secretion, temperature regulation,
waste elimination, and virtually every body function, require water. Water
helps to lubricate, insulate, protect, and give flexibility to the muscles,
ligaments, and joints.
Water for the outside of the human body
We also need water on the outside. The days of the "weekly bath, whether
needed or not," are gone. Even if we do not get obviously dirty from manual
labor outdoors, our pores are constantly at work secreting perspiration,
body oils, and wastes. Thus our skin is benefited and our overall health
improved by daily bathing, either in a tub or shower. Even washing the
body with a washcloth while standing at the sink will do.
Water is even more than a nutrient and a cleanser. Its many uses externally
as a tonic, stimulant, sedative, and healing agent make it nature's elixir,
if there ever was one. Warm water is relaxing. A short, cold bath or shower
tends to stimulate. Prolonged cold depresses.
Water therapies
Water, in all its forms, (ice, liquid, and steam) can he used to make thermic
impressions on the skin. As these temperature changes are sensed by the
nerves in the skin, they cause profound reactions all through the body that
have a direct effect on health and healing. There are whole books written
on the subject of "hydrotherapy" or "water treatment," as it is often called.
One example of such a treatment is the use of ice packs to lessen the
swelling of an acute strain or sprain. After the initial trauma has subsided,
alternating hot and cold applications to the affected area increase the
circulation, thus bringing in fresh blood to repair the damage and to carry
away wastes, speeding up the healing process and lessening pain.
Infections and inflammations can also he treated with alternating hot and cold.
The hot and cold also stimulates the action of the germ-killing white blood
cells, helping them to do their job better.
A congestion headache, or almost any pain caused by congestion or swelling,
can be treated by applying cold over the affected area while at the same time
immersing the feet in hot water up over the ankles. The cold tends to "push"
the congestion away while the heat draws or "pulls" it away, thus equalizing
the circulation and reducing the swelling and pain.
The human body recycling effort
and making up the gap
The body recycles all but about 10 of the 40,000 glasses of water that it uses
every day. About 400 gallons of blood pass through the kidneys each day, and
about 50 gallons is actually filtered. Of this amount only about 5-6 cups of
water are lost in the urine. Another 2 cups is exhaled through the lungs in
the form of water vapor, ½ cup is lost through the bowels and 2 cups
are evaporated from the skin through the 2 million sweat glands located there.
Of the 10 cups of water lost per day, we gain about three cups in the food
we eat and another one and a half is available as a byproduct of energy
metabolism. This leaves five and a half cups of water per day that must be
replaced by drinking water. Of course this is the minimum requirement. It is a
healthful idea to drink more than that to insure that we have all we need.
Several factors can increase our daily need of water. living in a hot, dry
climate or at higher altitudes, as well as physical exercise and sickness,
can increase our need by 80% percent or more. An excessive amount of salt,
sugar, or protein in the diet requires more water to process. Vomiting,
diarrhea, lactation, and even a runny nose increase water loss and must be
replaced by drinking water.
Symptoms of dehydration (not having enough water) include thirst, dry mouth,
lethargy, mental confusion, reduced skin elasticity, sunken eyes, fever,
scanty dark urine, accumulation of urea, creatinine and sodium in the blood,
thickening of the blood, shock, constipation, kidney and bladder infections
and stones, and elevated hemoglobin/hematocrit readings. A 20 percent water
loss usually spells death. Thirst is not necessarily a good guide in insuring
that we are drinking enough. We usually need more water than we realize.
How to get enough water down
A systematic approach to water drinking is best. Here is one suggestion.
Drink 2 glasses (16 oz.) upon arising. This is a good internal cleanser first
thing in the morning. Then, another 2 glasses midmorning and 2 more mid
afternoon. Another way is to take a quart with you in the morning and sip it
all morning and then another quart in the afternoon and do the same. More
water than this amount may be needed, depending on the circumstances.
By increasing our water consumption we decrease the work load on the kidneys,
whose job it is to cleanse the blood. It's like washing a load of dishes in a
full kitchen sink versus doing the job in a small bowl. Much of the so-called
tired blood is probably dirty blood in need of a good internal bath.
It is best to avoid drinking anything for 10-15 minutes before eating and for
1-2 hours after meals. This practice improves digestion, as the digestive
juices are not diluted. Also, very cold water is not good to drink with meals
because it arrests digestion temporarily. Very cold water also deadens the
thirst signals so that one would tend not to drink enough. The best water to
drink is slightly warm or cool. Hot water just before meals is a good medicine
when one is sick.
Plain water alternatives—
bad and better
However, drinks like tea, coffee, cocoa, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages,
are better avoided, as they contain some unhealthful ingredients and actually
increase thirst by acting as diuretics. Many people prefer these beverages
to the taste of their drinking water. Bad taste is usually due to algae,
minerals, gases, or organic chemicals in the water. However, small amounts of
impurities in the water are less harmful than either reliance upon these
substitute fluids, or not drinking enough water.
There are healthful herb teas that are much better than regular tea. Cereal
beverages such as "Postum", "Pero", and "Roma" have a coffee-like taste and
can take the place of regular coffee. 'These products contain no caffeine at
all and no caffeol (a stomach irritant) which even decaf coffee still contains.
Carob is a naturally sweet and nutritious substitute for chocolate. It can be
made into a hot-cocoa type of drink. Carob candy may or may not be a health
treat, depending on the other ingredients added to it.
For alcoholic beverages there are nonalcoholic sparkling fruit juices, or
sparkling mineral waters. These drinks will not mar that special occasion
as alcohol so often does.
Soft drinks can't win. If you take out the added caffeine, there is still
the sugar. Remove the sugar and caffeine, and there are still the acids that
contribute to calcium excretion and bone demineralization. How about good old
water in place of the pop? An occasional fruit juice may do. But these should
not be overused because they are really a refined product. You get a heavy
dose of the fruit sugar, and sometimes a lot of added sugar as well, without
the fiber. Remember, it takes five oranges to make a glass of orange juice.
Watch out for the sodium content of some vegetable juices. Pure water is
still the best choice to drink. A little lemon or mint in a pitcher of cool
water makes normal tap water quite pleasant to drink.
Sources of drinking water
There are four sources of water: precipitation (rain, snow, et cetera),
groundwater (underground reservoirs and springs), surface water (lakes, rivers,
et cetera), and sea water. Only about 3 percent of the earth's water is fresh,
but most of it is frozen in glaciers and icecaps. There is plenty of fresh
water up in the sky—about 326 million cubic miles of it. Little drinking
water is obtained directly from the sky or the oceans. We get about half from
surface sources and half from ground sources. We are almost entirely dependent
upon precipitation filling our rivers and lakes. It is estimated that around
4.2 million million gallons of rain fall on the United States each year, only 6
percent of which is used by man; 70 percent evaporates or is used where it
falls, and 24 percent returns to the sea.
Surface water tends to have more suspended matter, plants and microorganisms;
but fewer minerals than ground water. Ground water is usually more potable than
surface water, and there is much more of it—twenty times more, the
equivalent of 20 years of solid rain on this country. About 30 percent of the
surface water comes from ground water percolating up to the top. Although
only about 2 percent may be currently considered polluted, most of it is near
population centers, where it is used for drinking. And when it does get
contaminated, it takes much longer to cleanse itself due to the lack of oxygen,
sun, and movement.
Sources of water pollution
About half of the water pollution problem stems from leaking gasoline storage
tanks, storm sewers, sewage treatment plants, septic tanks, and industry. The
rest comes from parking lot runoff; lawns, agriculture, and construction sites.
These sources not only affect surface water, but solvents and pesticides are
also able to slowly trickle down through the ground to the aquifers deep
beneath the earth's surface.
The age-old pollutants, viruses, bacteria, and other microbes are still with us,
producing polio, colds, flu, hepatitis, cancer, typhoid, salmonella, cholera,
amebic dysentery, shigella, myelitis, and other diseases. Many of these
organisms get into the water supply through public bathing, cesspools,
outhouses, septic leach, inadequate water treatment, and the lack of good
sanitation. Most of the time these can be controlled by proper sanitation
and chlorination. Chlorine, for all the good it has done in controlling
microorganisms, may facilitate later chronic ailments. The chlorine combines
with various organic chemicals, producing chloroform and trihalogenated methanes,
which may promote atherosclerosis and cancer of the rectum, colon, and bladder.
The risk-to-benefit ratio of adding fluoride to our water (to prevent tooth
decay) is still being debated.
In view of the sheer volume of contaminants now being introduced daily into our
water supply, nature is overwhelmed in her purification efforts. Our efforts
toward cleaning up our water have not kept pace with our polluting.
Purification—small scale and large
Hopefully, we will see more innovative solutions to the water-pollution problem.
At least there are methods of insuring pure drinking water with home-treatment
units if these are needed or desired. But how long can we survive if we continue
to pollute at the present rate? Whatever the answer to that question and
whichever way we decide to go with our management of earth's resources, we do
have this assurance from God: Our abused earth is going to undergo a colossal
remake in which the polluted oceans will be a thing of the past, and only pure,
clear water will flow through it.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. . . . And he shewed me a
pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb." Revelation 21:1; 22:1
This series of health information flyers includes the following titles:
Pure Air
Sunlight
Abstemiousness
Rest
Exercise
Proper Diet
Water
Trust In Divine Power
Compiled by Kurt Unglaub, M.P.H.
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