Even though the beautiful summer has now come to an end, many of us have spent a lot of time in and around the water in recent weeks – in lakes, pools or by the sea. We have also enjoyed the cool water as a thirst quencher, especially at high temperatures. And that brings us to an important point!
Do you drink enough?
There are none of my patients, not even friends or acquaintances, who do not know that they should actually drink 2 liters a day. But can you manage that? And is it really two liters for everyone, no matter how tall or heavy?
In fact, it is 30ml/kg of body weight. So at 60kg 1.8 liters, at 80kg 2.4 liters and at 100kg 3 liters per day we should drink.
Men in particular often find it difficult to drink these amounts per day and it is not uncommon for me to hear from patients that they barely manage to drink 0.5 liters of water per day. But this is clearly too little to enable an ideal metabolic function!
Start and end the day right.
The simplest strategy to drink enough is to start with two large glasses of water right after getting up. This is because it makes up for the deficit from the night. It is best to drink the water in small sips, then it is better absorbed.
If you now finish with another large glass of water before going to bed, you will have consumed at least 1 liter of liquid and you will spread the rest throughout the day.
But, do we worry about the quality of our drinking water as much as the quantity that is good for our body?
What is pure water?
One scientist has taken a particularly thorough look at the quality of our drinking water, and his findings stand in striking contrast to what our drinking water regulations or mineral water manufacturers tell us.
Prof. Dr. Louis Claude Vincent conducted research on behalf of the French government from 1950 to 1974 throughout France, taking drinking water samples. His goal was to establish a connection between drinking water and life expectancy. He came to the astonishing conclusion that the quality of the water we drink is immensely important for our life expectancy.
What is the role of water in our body?
Prof. Vincent also defined the task that water has in our body. It is by no means a food, but rather an elementary transport and purification agent for our metabolism. As one can easily imagine, a transporter must be as pure – or empty – as possible in order to be able to absorb and transport cargo (e.g. waste products of the body). This brings us to an important quality characteristic of water.
How is water quality measured?
As a layperson, you probably won’t notice anything unusual about a glass of water, unless it smells unpleasant. Even a slight turbidity is usually harmless. So what criteria can be relied upon to determine the quality of water? According to Prof. Vincent, they are primarily the following:
PH value
This will probably not come as a surprise, since the body’s own fluids are also frequently examined by the doctor or alternative practitioner for their pH value. According to Professor Vincent, our body needs water in the slightly acidic range, since such water stimulates kidney function, which is essential for the optimal functioning of metabolic processes. The pH value should be between pH 6.4 and pH 6.8 for pure water.
Electrical resistance or electrical conductivity
Here we are already at the second characteristic, purity. In order to be able to absorb and transport as many substances as possible in our body, the water with which we supply it should be as “empty” as possible. Here the measurement of the electrical conductivity, the reciprocal of the electrical resistance, helps. As we may remember from school, substances, or in this case liquids, conduct electricity better the more conductive particles there are in them. In the case of water, these particles can include not only calcium and magnesium, but also nitrate, chloride and sulfate ions. On the other hand, distilled water contains very few of these particles, so it conducts electricity very poorly. Prof. Vincent gives an upper limit of 130µS as the optimal value for electrical conductivity, measured in microsiemens (µS), since this corresponds to the conductance of our body cells. In order to be able to absorb water into the cell by osmosis (pressure equalization), its conductance must be lower. Since this insight is so obvious and simple, it is all the more astonishing that our current limit value for drinking water in Germany is 2790 µS.
The electrical conductivity does not even take into account hazardous substances such as bacteria, viruses, drug or hormone residues and microplastics. These substances should not be in the water. Nevertheless one hears straight this again and again. And strange: except for Legionella – and there also only in the warm water – these substances in the drinking water are neither examined nor purified consciously!
Is mineral water an alternative?
“Wouldn’t it be better to use mineral water?” some people are probably asking themselves. As the name suggests, mineral water contains all kinds of minerals, if not naturally, then added by the manufacturer. These again lead to a conductivity value that is usually much too high. In addition, the manufacturers of mineral waters have to control this even less strictly than the tap water and already there we have found that it is controlled too little. In addition, many mineral waters are packaged in plastic bottles, which are harmful to health and from which the water can release harmful substances such as BP-A. Leaving aside the environmental consequences of plastic waste, we only need to take a sip of warm water from a plastic bottle that has been left in the sun for some time to taste it and know that it cannot be healthy.
So where do I get my minerals from if not from the water?
The assumption that we could cover our mineral budget from drinking water is an absolute misleading of the media. In fact, you cannot drink so much water that the mineral balance would be covered. Moreover, it is questionable to what extent inorganic minerals are really well absorbed by the body.
No! You should cover your minerals through your food, for example through nuts.
What kind of water should I drink then?
Is there then actually “healthy” water? In fact, in some areas the conductance of tap water is surprisingly low and also some, albeit few, producers of mineral water can be proud of a low conductance and special water quality.
To find out how high the conductance of your tap and mineral water is and what alternatives you have in case of an unpleasant result, I will be happy to advise you by appointment or at one of the recurring water lectures in my practice.
I look forward to meeting you and your water!
Your Sebastian Weber
https://www.wasser-macht-gesund.de/gesundes-wasser-die-franzoesische-wasser-revolution/
Important note: The treatment methods mentioned in my blogs originate from empirical medicine. The majority of these established, medical therapy methods have not yet been sufficiently scientifically validated according to the principles of evidence-based medicine (orthodox medicine). In particular, randomized, controlled studies or comprehensive meta-analyses do not yet exist. A success of the empirical medical therapy forms cannot be guaranteed in every treatment case.