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.