Health

The need for sufficient fluid consumption is beyond dispute. Water is irreplaceable and its quality is of greatest importance for our health. Numerous scientific studies lead to the presumption that water deficiency is the cause for a lot of physical ailments and that it rapidly accelerates the ageing process.

Drinking a lot of water keeps you in a good shape and the circulation going, improves the blood circulation, detoxicates and purifies the organism. Water stimulates the metabolism and helps against acidity. Therefore, many nutritionists and alternative practitioners recommend filters for drinking water. Depending on age and weight your body needs 2 litres of fluid per day ?preferably in form of water. People who prefer mineral water have much to carry. By filtering water from the tap, you get fresh and tasty water that is comparable with excellent still mineral water.

Our tap water is conditioned in the water works. But the water that gets to our tap does not always have the same quality after being pumped through long pipe networks and maybe through old pipes in our houses. Transportation and stagnation in the pipes lead to ageing of the conditioned water. A filtration at the tapping can reverse this process and guarantees you water of best possible quality.

For balancing the fluid loss, doctors advice to drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily. Of course it may and has to be more during the summer when tropical temperatures make you break out in sweat. The same applies for athletes and people going to the sauna. If the water balance is not levelled, the ability to concentrate quickly decreases and the efficiency reduces. A lot of pure water from within also helps to provide dry skin with fluid. If you want to be really certain that the blue element out of the tap is as pure as possible then you can revert to water filtration. Cola or lemonades are rather inapt to satisfy one's thirst lastingly and also stresses the metabolism.

 

Getting exercise is healthy

Regular physical activity peps up the metabolism and trains the cardiovascular system. Whether hiking, running, cycling or more modern alternatives like inline skating, walking or mountain biking: the number of sports is growing continuously. Attention should always be paid to a sufficient fluid consumption.

One thing is obvious: We sweat during every sportive activity and with the sweat we loose important minerals. Especially the ?sport minerals? calcium and magnesium are very important. Concerning the amount that should be drunk it can be taken as an approximate guideline to drink at least as much as has been excreted. One and a half times more would be better. Of course additionally to the daily need.

Proper drinking means to drink notably more to balance the fluid loss. And also not to drink all at once but distributed well before, during and after sport.

Serious fluid loss

If somebody is on the move he is getting warm. The body emits this heat by sweat. Someone who does exercises is sweating. And this is very important. During a persistent training the body must sweat permanently to avoid overheating.

However the human body looses water by sweating. The more intensive the sport is, the higher is the loss of water. Normal athletes loose approximately between 1 and 1.5 litres of water. If the temperature or the air humidity is high it could be up to 2 litres. Competitive athletes lose much more e.g. marathon runners for example lose between 4 and 5 litres. And they have only two hours to make up this great loss of fluid. This is almost impossible. Also normal athletes can not manage to make up this loss during their activity.

For this reason it is better to drink before exercising, preferably a quarter up to half a litre. And during sport small amounts of water should be drunk every ten or fifteen minutes. It is also very important to drink after sport in order to balance the body fluid.

Prophylactic drinking in advance is the motto. If you get thirsty it is often too late. The body has already reacted. The blood becomes thicker and circulates slower, the muscles receive less oxygen and a loss of power is the obvious consequence. At this point drinking is not very helpful then the effects will remain.

What to drink?

Most useful is to drink exactly the same what the body has lost. Water, this can assimilate the body immediately. Inside the body the assimilation of water takes place within the small intestine. Therefore the drink has to pass the stomach first before being assimilated. Drinks that leave the stomach quickly are best. And this fact applies mainly to water.