What do people drink?

Water is the universal solvent.  But it is much more than that.  Water is the most important nutrient for our bodies.  It is involved in every function in the body, yet people give their houseplants better water than they drink themselves or give to their children.  Many people don’t drink water.  Some don’t like the taste of water or were never taught how important it is.  They were brought up on juice, cool drinks, milk, or anything else but water.  Adults often suffer from headaches, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, limited concentration capabilities, wrinkled skin, constipation, gout and kidney stones, caused by i.a. dehydration!  Children continue with this habit when they are adults.  When they are thirsty, they drink tea, coffee, fruit juices, iced tea – caffeine and sugar!

Why drink water?

Water is a compound of two elements: oxygen and hydrogen.  The specific property of water makes it the ideal solvent for all the chemical substances for the body’s processes.  Sufficient water of a good quality is necessary for optimal functioning of the whole body – from the brain to the toe nails!  In his book The Seven Pillars of Health Dr Don Colbert describes how doctors prescribe medicines for conditions caused by dehydration.  Instead of drinking water patients drink medicine!

Dr Christiaan quotes a study done by the University of the Witwatersrand in his book Gesond vir ‘n Leeftyd, where the importance for children to drink clean water is emphasized.  The study suggests that a child should drink two glasses of water per day, plus one glass for every 10kg he or she weighs.

Because they are growing, children are constantly and naturally dehydrated.  The process of cell expansion and division uses up a great deal of water.  The body of a growing child constantly needs and calls for water; otherwise growth would not be possible, says Dr Batmanghelidj in his book with the significant title You’re not Sick, You’re Thirsty!  He continues: If the natural calls of the body for water are satisfied by manufactured chemical-containing fluids and sugar-containing drinks, healthy growth and development – events that water itself initiates – may not take place efficiently, and crisis events such as asthma and allergies may occur.  Parents should become aware of the volume of water their children drink and educate them about the importance of water.  Caffeine in cool drinks may cause attention deficit disorder.  Water by itself generates hydroelectric energy.  Drinking water with caffeine stimulates the kidneys and cause more water to exit the body causing dehydration and exhausts the brain cells’ reserves of energy.

Why drink purified water?

Children and adults have to drink water.  But the drinking of purified water is more important.  Dr Don Colbert warns that we have to drink the right kind of water and tap water is not.  A government report in the USA identified more than 2 000 chemical substances in drinking water, according to Dr Colbert.  Pesticides, medicines, chlorine and fluoride are all poisons and most of them known carcinogens.  According to Dr Christiaan two big problems exist in South Africa:

1. Employees working at water treatment plants can make mistakes.  They can also participate in strikes or deliberately make mistakes.
2. Even if all the correct procedures were followed at the water treatment plant, there is no control over what happens to water further on.  Water can leach out toxic minerals from old pipes, etc.

In his informative book New Nutrition, Dr Willem Serfontein warns: Heavy metals, like lead, mercury and cadmium in drinking water is another source of contamination that should be avoided as much as possible by using only suitably purified drinking water.  The subject of chemical pollution from the environment and its health consequences is a vast one and not many of us appreciate its significance.

Dr Christiaan warns against bottled water.  The perception exists that bottled water is good for you, but minerals in bottled water are inorganic mineral salts and can not be utilized by the body.  It is useless to drink the water for its mineral content.

This warning is also echoed by Dr Willem Serfontein:  We must assume that all drinking water is contaminated and therefore the use of a good water filter is a necessity. We must also discard the idea that bottled drinking water or “natural” waters in fountains and streams are pure.  That is not necessarily so.

The US Environmental Protection Agency reported that as many as 90% of illness outbreaks are not reported because many people fail to associate their illness with contaminated drinking water.

One of the most effective means to get rid of bacteria, viruses toxic, heavy metals, agricultural, industrial and mining toxins that pollute our dams, rivers and boreholes is to use a reverse osmosis membrane.  Reverse osmosis or crossflow membrane technology is the most advanced technology in water purification.  The size of the membrane pores are 0,0001 micron and filters in the ionic range.   Please contact one of our water specialists for more information.

The US EPA  has recognised membrane processes such as Reverse Osmosis as a ‘best available technology’ (BAT) for meeting a wide variety of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regulations.

Sources

• Dr Don Colbert (2007).  Die Sewe Pilare van Gesondheid. Struik, Kaapstad.
• Dr Christiaan (200).  Gesond vir ‘n Leeftyd.  Tafelberg, Kaapstad.
• Dr F. Batmanghelidj (1995).  You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty!  Warner Books, New York.
• Dr Willem Serfontein (2001).  New Nutrition.  Tafelberg Publishers, Cape Town.