Water hazards: How much of the plain stuff do we really need
Water hazards: How much of the plain stuff do we really need
Maria Endah Hulupi, Contributor, Jakarta
Many people take the advise to drink plenty of water every day
without precisely knowing its important role for our health.
Water makes up around 65 percent of the human body, and every
function inside the body depends on and/or is regulated by water.
It works to control body temperature through perspiration, carry
vital elements, nutrients and oxygen, as well as providing
moisture for the skin and other tissues, cushioning joints,
helping strengthen muscles, ensuring regularity and removing
waste from the body through urination.
Due to water's importance in sustaining human life, some
health practitioners design various health programs that
incorporate plenty of water in a daily regimen. Others consider
drinking at least two liters of water every day -- depending on a
person's lifestyle -- as water therapy.
While stressing the need for proper hydration, urologist M.
Alam of Mitra Keluarga hospital in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta,
warned people not to underestimate the amount of water lost every
day, such as through perspiration, bowel movements and urine.
"When we ignore signs of thirst, we are not aware that we have
lost enough fluids and burdened the kidneys. In turn, this
condition will impair our general health," he said.
He explained that water was crucial to allow good kidney
function. When there is insufficient water flushing through the
kidneys, the organ must compensate by excreting more concentrated
urine, leading to the formation of kidney stones.
A water shortage also triggers the body to use up the water in
the blood, thus disturbing its ability to transport nutrients to
cells and remove waste from the system.
Insufficient water in the intestines causes the fiber from the
food we consume to turn into hard and dry feces, and will likely
cause constipation.
Alam said that a person needed to properly replenish the lost
fluids, and the best way to do it was by drinking plain water.
Some liquids -- like alcohol, coffee and tea -- should not be
part of the two liter target since they were diuretics and would
cause the body to lose even more water through urinating.
"Limiting caffeine intake is important and after drinking
coffee or tea, make sure to guzzle more water to help rinse the
kidneys and replace the lost fluid," Alam said.
Symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth and skin, fatigue,
headache, nausea, dark colored urine of small volume,
constipation and potentially labored breathing and increased body
temperature. By the time dry mouth occurs, the body has lost
around 250 centiliters of fluid, and thirst is a signal that the
body is already dehydrated.
Alam said that a simple way to determine whether you were
properly hydrated could be done through observing the urine.
"When you do not take vitamins, which can alter the color of
urine, and you discharge brownish yellow urine, it means you're
not drinking enough water. If it's pale yellowish in large
volume, it is a sign you have adequate water intake," Alam said.
A healthy person weighing 50 kilograms, he said, discharges
around 150 centiliters of urine every three hours, meaning a
daily loss of 1,200 centiliters through urine alone.
And with perspiration, bowel movements and respiration, an
intake of 2 to 3 liters daily would be reasonable.
"People with a sedentary lifestyle need to drink at least 2
liters, even more for active people. To maintain their
performance, athletes should drink more water but since sweat
also carries electrolytes, drinking plain water is not enough to
rehydrate them."
He added that taking bottled mineral water that meets the
Indonesian National Standard (SNI) was safe and does not burden
kidneys, the fear of many people.
Bottled drinking water is safe as long as it is processed and
bottled according to standards for purity.
The founder of Equil natural mineral water, Morgen Sutanto,
said that water inevitably contained contaminants, which include
microorganisms, chemicals and minerals that it dissolves and
absorbs as it flows through soil and rock in the ground or from
runoff from plantations or farming.
Most bottled water has received prior treatment using chlorine
and ozone, or is processed using ultraviolets light, reserve
osmosis, distillation and deionization to meet the standard for
drinking water.
"The quality of water varies from one source to another and
depends on the treatment it receives. Most drinking water has
been processed or treated to kill microorganisms like bacteria,
viruses and protozoa, or reduce the level of contaminants before
being bottled," said Morgen.
He added that from certain sources, the naturally occurring
inorganic contaminants, like minerals, were harmless.
Unlike drinking water, Morgen explained that natural mineral
water was a mineral water that was tapped from a (pristine)
natural spring or a bored hole, with no added chemicals or any
other treatment used. The water is hygienically bottled at the
location, preserving its natural quality that meets standards for
purity.
"Those which do not meet this standard are classified as
drinking water," he said, adding that untreated natural water was
also called live water -- or water which in its natural state is
safe for consumption.