Water

As most of you know already, I worked in Dargan Healthfoods for about 4 years after I finished college. I always really enjoyed working there; the staff and my bosses were great people to work with, and have remained good friends of mine. Another thing I really liked about working there was learned about all the herbs and vitamins, and alternative ways of living. And if I were to pick the one most useful thing I learned during my time there it would have to be drink more water!

It is definitely the best information I learned for myself and was able to give to people. Unfortunately it was also the one piece of information which I think people had the least amount of belief in. Why? Well, probably because it sounds too easy, and because it doesn't cost anything! People, in my experience, put way to much value in things that cost a lot of money, and sometimes overlook the basic free things in life. Many are happier going to expensive specialists and paying huge amounts of money for a new drug that has just been released (read: you are going to be a guinea pig for this new drug!). Countless times we would speak to people in the shop who said they had tried everything for their specific condition; tried all the orthodox medicine, and gone to the most expensive specialists. But nothing had worked for them, and as a last resort they decided to try the alternative angle. Often we would talk with these people about their lifestyle and find major flaws; drinking 10 cups of coffee a day, not eating vegetables, or not moving their bowels. And with slight and simple changes we often achieved positive results with many of these people.


So my whole point here is drinking water is a simple everyday process that can lead to a much healthier life. Everybody has heard at some stage that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. But most people have never even tried it. If you wanted to see if it actually makes a difference to you, you should try drinking 2 litres of water a day, every day, for 2 weeks. After that time you can make a valid decision, for yourself, whether it makes a difference in your life or not. An important note is not to drink over 3 litres a day for a sustained period of time, as this much water washes water soluble vitamins from the body.

But I'll have to go to the toilet more often!
Yes you will, but after a while your bladder will accustom itself to receiving the amount water, and stabilise itself. Your body will be able to detoxify itself better, and many things in your life will improve. Your concentration and sleeping patterns will improve, your mood will be lighter, and you will have more energy.

In Japan, people do not seem to drink much water!
In the offices that I work in at least, there is no water filter! There is a coffee machine and a water boiler which people use to make green tea. So I keep a bottle at work and fill it from the tap. Unfortunately however, most of my colleagues drink mostly coffee all day. One of my Japanese teachers of English (JTE), the teachers I work with, drinks 6 cups of coffee a day, no water but occasionally one cup of green tea. Many people argue that coffee is good for you. That may be so, personally I'm not convinced - and definitely when people add white sugar to each cup, they are also adding many health risks. (I’m not going to go into the known health risks of white sugar here.) Coffee is a diuretic, which means it takes water from your system. Water, on the other hand gives water to your body.

My JTE suffers from constipation, and regularly takes medicine to alleviate this. One of the primary causes of constipation is lack of water. If the stools are not moist they cannot move. I have encouraged her many times to drink water, unfortunately she didn't try for more than 2 or 3 days. Not enough to have an effect. It's a pity she didn't give it a real try.

I wonder how many people are suffering because they are dehydrated.