I have gotten something of a hard time from folks over the years simply because I drink water carefully, religously as it were, each day in a fairly regular regimen. Of course, most people do consume water, at least I think they must: in one form or another, although there really is only one form (with slight variations from place to place). After all, we are, what, 75% water? I forget the exact figure, but if you take the water away from our bodies there’s not much left except very dry skin and rattling bones.
Around 1992 I started to drink water every day. I’ve forgotten the exact reason, although it related partly to a discussion in passing with my friend Chris who is an avid triathelete. He was saying that if your urine is yellow, you’re not drinking enough water, that it should have only a slight tinge of color. Makes sense. The digestive system is for absorbing nutrient energy from the environment, and water is the main means of transporting things around in the body including the all-important function of filtering and flushing out impurities and all the other poisons that build up in the course of a normal day of activities. Without enough water to carry on this cleansing process, the body quickly fills up with garbage.
At any rate, I drink two medium-sized glasses (up to 1000 ml, 1 liter) of water each morning the moment I wake up. It wasn’t easy to begin with, but after a while I mastered the technique that many beer-guzzlers already know — how to slam down a glass of liquid libation without swallowing any air. It helps if the water is at room temperature and is not carbonated. A critical point in the process is to drink BEFORE you have had any food enter your stomach at all. The moment the stomach detects saliva (pre-digestion enzyme) the pyloric sphincter (at bottom of the stomach opening to the intestines) closes so that food be held and digested rather than be passed on to the intestines. A glass of water passes right through the stomach to the intestines without triggering this response and is quickly absorbed for use. Drinking a lot of water during eating has the effect of diluting the stomach’s digestive acids which will lead to poor digestion. Having a store of water in the system (not in the gut) aids tremendously in digestion as it is the solvent and carrier for all digestive enzymes and fluids.
Subsequent to the adoption of the morning regimen, I extended and fine-tuned things to include a large glass of water about fifteen minutes before lunch and more in mid-afternoon and again before dinner — never while eating and never after starting a meal.
Nowadays I always carry a 1-liter Nalgene water-bottle with me, preferably full, at least filling it at every opportunity — never know, as a traveler, where the next good water is these days! I have it at the bedside, full, for that morning wake-up flush. And that is exactly what it is. I used to have great trouble waking up in the morning, usually drinking coffee or tea (which are both strong diuretics), and still having gritty eyes and a slow head. No wonder, it takes about a cup or two of water for the body to process a strong cup of coffee, so, it is adding insult to injury having coffee without any water! The two glasses of water, on the other hand, within seconds, deliver life. As my body begins to absorb the liquid, I feel my eyes moisten, my sinuses loosen up — basically all the mucous membranes, you can imagine… Within five minutes I am wide awake and in no need of caffeine or other stimulants. Often I will take a big slug or two the moment I am aware I am waking up, even if it is not time to get up, as it makes it a pleasure to fully wake up later, albeit with a full bladder…
Of course, now you are thinking, this guy is ludicrous, everybody drinks water, I just had a Coke, that’s mostly water!
Well, yes, it is, but it is mixed with a cocktail of chemicals that require water for the body to process, so the net intake is only a fraction of what you think it is. And let me tell you, I basically haven’t gotten sick in the eight years since I started! No flu, no colds, no viruses, nothing, not even a hangover (because I am careful to drink water when consuming any alcohol, but that is another story). Before serious hydration, I usually got sick at least twice in the winter, possibly more, and suffered from the occasional flu. Especially having a kid around, one seemed to pick up whatever was going around.
Anyway, I wanted to lay this one on you, to see what YOU think. Any comments? Maybe you have a similar story or advice to all of us folks carrying our bag-o’bones around in the bliss that comes straight from ignorance. I swear, when I discovered this small secret (for me it was a secret that I never knew for the first 35 years on the planet), when I discovered this, it changed my whole being in a very fundamental way. Now I gotta start looking at other ways of fine-tuning what goes into the old body — I eat too much garbage these days… Need to watch that. This water consumption is a deeply affecting change which made me realize how sensitive (and insensitive!) the body is. Sensitive in that small changes can make great improvements — insensitive in that it will tolerate gross imbalances. Breathing is the next target of awareness. More fundamental than water even. It will be difficult, though.
Without clothing or shelter, a human might possibly survive some years, depending on the environment.
Without food, a human might survive some weeks.
Without water, a human might survive some days
Without air, a human might survive some minutes
Without a heart, a human might survive some seconds…
Well, maybe I have missed the point, but…