Water: The Essential Skin Remedy

There's so much water in our bodies, one may wonder why we don't drown in all the water in our brain, blood, and lungs!

Water regulates body temperature; carries glucose, oxygen, and nutrients; cushions joints; and removes waste from the body. Drinking water is a well-known health and beauty tool, but how many of us actually drink the recommended eight glasses a day?

Keep water flowing. Dehydration is the surefire way to increase the toxic burden in your body. It has been estimated that when we feel thirsty, approximately 28 percent of blood plasma is lost. Even mild dehydration slows cell metabolism by 5 percent, which speeds up the accumulation of toxic metabolites in your blood.

Skin cell turnover slows down and bowel movements become scarce, which leads to clogging your body's "plumbing system" with waste. Not drinking enough water has been linked to colon and bladder cancer as well as fatigue and worsening memory (Altieri et al. 2003; Manz, Wentz 2005). Dehydration can intensify the symptoms of diabetes and has been shown to raise blood pressure (Manz. 2007).

From 1971 to 2002, there were 764 documented waterborne outbreaks associated with drinking water in the United States, resulting in more than half a million cases of illness and 79 deaths, according to a report by the University of Arizona (Reynolds et al. 2008). Scientists noted that, according to epidemiological studies, people who drank filtered water had 20-35 percent less gastrointestinal illness than those consuming regular tap water.

san pellegrino

Which type of bottled water is best? It's mineral water certified by a dependable source and bottled in glass, not plastic. Bottled water in plastic containers is bad for two reasons: first, plastic is known to leach phthalates and other toxins into the water, especially when heated during storage or transportation or when you leave the bottle in a warm place.

PETE or #1 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic water bottles have been shown to leach antimony into water, while the xenoestrogen bisphenol-A has been routinely added to polycarbonate (#7) plastic water and baby bottles.
If you must buy bottled water on the run, choose glass bottles of Perrier or San Pellegrino, to name a few. Reuse your glass bottles by filling then with filtered water, and always, always recycle glass bottles.

brita

The most ecoconscious and economical way to have unlimited access to pure drinking water is to install a tap water filter. Jug filters, such as Brita made of nonpolycarbonate plastic certified by U.S. National Sanitation Foundation, are a good, inexpensive option, but a tap water filter gives you more water for your buck.

Resource For This Article: The Green Beauty Book, Author, Julie Gabriel