Hydration & Your Health

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Learn more about the water in your life.

Water has a tremendous impact on almost every facet of our lives. It improves the world we live in, and keeps us healthy and productive. But in order to truly understand how we can use our water better, it helps to understand more about our water and how it impacts our lives.

It improves the world we live in, and keeps us healthy and productive.

Why Drink Water?

Drinking plenty of water is a simple way to stay healthy. For most people, however, the challenge is making sure they drink enough water.

Water is the most important nutrient for your body:
  • It makes up 55 to 75% of your body weight (that's about 10 to 12 gallons)
  • It's critical in regulating your body's temperature and organ functions
  • It moves nutrients through your body
  • Proper hydration can minimize chronic pains such as rheumatoid arthritis, lower back pain, migraines, and colitis
  • Proper hydration can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure
  • Water is naturally low in sodium, has no fat, cholesterol or caffeine
  • It is absorbed by the body better than many other beverages

Get More Healthy Culligan Water in Your Life

Did you know your body loses water through everyday activities?

In addition to the normal loss of water through everyday activities, there are times when your body loses more water making it more important than ever to replenish your body and drink more water.

Some examples of this are:
  • The day before you travel
  • When traveling on a plane (drink 8 oz. for every hour in the air)
  • During hot, summer-like weather
  • In extremely cold weather
  • When you're sick
  • Before, during or after caffeinated or alcoholic beverages
  • If you’re nursing, for breast milk production
  • If you smoke
Dehydration

Dehydration can occur more easily than most people think. Severe dehydration can lead to extreme health problems, even death. Watch for these early warning signs of dehydration:

  • A headachy feeling
  • Lightheadedness
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • High body temperature
  • Decreased strength, endurance and coordination
  • Cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke
Even a few more glasses of water a day can make a big difference.

Here are a few ways to drink more water each day:

  • Add a slice of lemon or lime for flavor
  • Carry a refillable water bottle
  • Drink chilled water
  • Drink one or two glasses a few times a day, instead of all at once
  • Keep a water bottle in the fridge or on the kitchen counter
  • Take a water break instead of a coffee break
  • Drink at the same times each day

Special Water Needs

Drinking plenty of water is especially important for those who need more water, like expectant and nursing mothers, children and seniors.

  • Expectant mothers should drink six to eight 8-ounce servings of water per day
  • Adjust amount based on other factors such as your weight, age, activity level, weather conditions, etc.
  • Once your baby is born, a breast-feeding mother should be sure to replenish water lost through nursing

Your child’s water needs varies according to body weight and activity level.

  • Active children should drink 8 oz. before playing
  • Children should drink once every 20-30 minutes during play
  • Properly hydrated infants should require frequent diaper changes

Proper hydration is especially important for anyone over 70.

  • They are more vulnerable to dehydration
  • Kidney functions may decrease
  • Thirst signals may become weak or dulled
  • Overall activity levels decline
  • Prescription drugs may require water or cause dehydration

Water is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, especially when exercising and dieting.

Exercise
  • Regardless of whether you do light or vigorous exercise, drinking plenty of water should be a part of your workout
  • Drink water before you feel thirsty to prevent dehydration
  • Replenish fluids at least every 20 minutes
  • Drink plenty of water before and after you exercise, regardless of thirst
Dieting
  • Water is the nutrient your body needs the most when you’re dieting. To avoid temptation of overeating, dietitians and nutritionists urge you to drink a lot of water when dieting
  • Dehydration creates urges for sweets
  • Drinks with sugar and sweeteners actually increase appetite and hunger

Hydrological Cycle

Water serves as the earth’s "universal solvent", dissolving and absorbing just about everything it touches. This ongoing process can have a dramatic effect on the quality of our water as it interacts with different pollutants in the air and on land:

  • Carbon dioxide, smoke, sulfur-dust, industrial emissions, carbon dioxide, spores and smog: may be absorbed by water droplets
  • Acid rain: Atmospheric water vapor mixes with sulfur from industrial emissions, lowering pH and increasing water's capacity to dissolve other substances. The water vapor falls back to earth as rain, sleet, hail or snow
  • Calcium, hydrogen sulfide, iron, magnesium, sodium, radioactivity: as water seeps through the ground, it picks up traces of these substances
  • TCE, PCB, trihalomethanes: runoff into rivers, lakes and underground aquifers located near industrial sites have led to contamination of water supplies by these carcinogenic solvents
  • Fungicides, herbicides, insecticides: these substances enter the water supply through the interaction with agricultural byproducts, fertilizers, insecticides and other man-made wastes

*Pollutants are not necessarily in your water. Culligan water is purified by reverse osmosis and exceeds all EPA and FDA requirements. Culligan uses Ozone (O³) which is one of the strongest oxidizers known. It oxidizes organic, inorganic, heavy metals, nitrates, herbicides, pesticides and other impurities. It destroys bacteria and viruses.

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