One of the simple, yet most important, health benefits that I have seen in practice is the value in drinking an adequate amount of water each day. I personally have noticed that people tend not to drink enough water on a daily basis. This can lead to a number of different health issues. And, as most of you already know, I especially see this issue affecting many people who have chronic Lyme disease. Adequate water intake is essential in helping to prevent or lessen the effects of Herxheimer reactions (worsening of symptoms due to toxin buildup).

Let’s look at this example of a 40-year-old patient of mine, I’ll call him Bob (not his real name). Bob was fatigued all of the time, had mild daily headaches, leathery older looking skin, as well as other health issues. During Bob’s first office visit with me, one of the questions that I asked was how much water he drinks on a daily basis. Bob’s answer was, “I don’t drink water. I only have coffee and juices during the day.”

I explained to Bob what I’m about to explain to you in this article. You can change your diet and do many other things to try and improve your health, but if you don’t drink an adequate amount of water, your issue(s) won’t properly resolve. So, I gave Bob one simple instruction, go home and start drinking at least two twelve ounce glasses of water each day for at least one week, and come back and see me. When Bob returned the next week, he was happy to say that he actually felt better. I then had Bob work on increasing his water intake each week until he reached a specific goal that we agreed upon. Within a month, Bob claimed that his energy returned, his headaches were gone, his skin cleared up and he looked young again.

Basic Information Regarding Water

Water makes up about 60% to 70% of our total body weight. It is used in our blood, as well as our tissues and bones. Water is essential to life, and on average, most people can’t survive more than a few days without water depending on their overall health, environment, activity level, etc.

If you wait to feel thirsty before drinking water, this means that you have already allowed your body to fall into stage one of dehydration. Each time this happens, it can result in an accumulation of toxins in the body, causing some tissues to become damaged. If this keeps happening over and over again on a daily basis, the accumulation of toxins reach a point where they can cause significant damage to the tissues that they occupy, resulting in disease.

In addition, the damage that toxins cause results in inflammation in the affected tissues. Inflammation causes a stagnation of blood and lymph, which means the nutrients needed for repair and normal maintenance of your body’s tissues, aren’t able to adequately reach their destination (cell/tissues of body).

The Benefits of Drinking Water

• Drinking water helps detoxify the body.
• Adequate water intake helps prevent constipation. Having a proper bowel movement each day is essential to being healthy.
• Water lubricates the joints, helping to prevent damage and pain.
• Water may help to relieve some types of headaches.
• Water helps to cleanse the kidneys.
• Water can help boost energy and athletic performance.
• Water can help cleanse the skin, allowing it to look healthier and younger.
• Drinking adequate amounts of water each day may help with weight loss.

Some Additional Tips Regarding Water

• Drinking water doesn’t mean drinking it in tea, juices, coffee, etc. I’m talking about clean water by itself. Now, that’s not to say that you cannot drink tea, but the tea shouldn’t be counted in your total water intake for the day.
• Water is essential to life. However, this doesn’t mean that drinking any old water is sufficient. Tap water in most places in the USA may be fine to drink provided you’ve had your water tested for contaminates, and it has been deemed safe. But safe doesn’t necessarily mean toxin-free. Adding a good quality filter to your tap water can help provide additional protection from any potential toxic substances (heavy metals, chlorine, fluoride, etc.) that may be present. A good reverse osmosis water filter can be very helpful to accomplish this goal. These filters are sold online, as well as at many different local hardware stores.
• Avoid bottled water unless you have no choice due to your local water being contaminated with toxins. Most bottled water is contained in plastics, which are known to leach many kinds of chemical toxins into the water that they contain. These toxins can be harmful to your health, in some cases causing cancer. Instead of plastic, try purchasing glass bottled water, but be sure to investigate the company that bottles it. For example: Where is the water coming from? Does the company use glass bottles manufactured in the USA? I’ll discuss this more at another time.

So, How Much Water Is Enough?

Well, that depends. There isn’t agreement about the exact amount that one should drink, but I have found that drinking half of one’s body weight in ounces each day tends to provide the most benefit.

Water Is Powerful

Lastly, there are other powerful benefits to water, other than drinking it. When strategically applied externally, it can be used to help treat people for numerous health conditions, both acute and chronic. I will talk about this more in a later article.

In conclusion, there are many benefits to drinking water. It is an easy, yet essential way to prevent disease, as well as to begin one’s journey towards reclaiming one’s health.