Picture for a moment a stagnant creek passing through a slum, then picture water cascading down from a pristine glacier. These represent accurately the need for the right balance of ‘ingredients’ in our internal sea.
The solvent properties of water underlie some of its other functions and are nutritionally important in several ways. Enzymes, hormones and coenzymes are all dissolved in watery body fluids and act on metabolites (amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals) that are similarly dissolved. Water also serves as a solvent for waste products such as urea, carbon dioxide and various electrolytes that the body excretes. As a solvent containing these substances, water is necessary for transport to and from all cells of the body.
Water is an active participant in Hydrolysis, which is a major chemical process of the body. During this process water molecules separate into hydrogen (H+: acidic) and hydroxyl (OH-: alkaline) groups, each of which reacts with other substances. Sucrose, for example, is hydrolyzed into fructose and glucose forms, which can be utilized by body cells. In addition, water serves as a reactant in intracellular reactions and plays an important role in the maintenance of our electrolyte balance.
Approximately 60% of the bodies total water content is contained inside the cells and makes up the intracellular compartment. The balance of the extracellular compartment has two major divisions. Intravascular fluid represents 20% of the extracellular fluid in the body and is the liquid component of the blood and is present in the heart, our arteries, veins and capillaries. Interstitial and transcellular fluid accounts for 80% of the extracellular fluid in the body. These fluids include the fluids that bathe all the cells, spinal fluids, ocular fluid for lubricating the eyes, the synovial fluid that lubricates joints, various secretions such as (saliva, bile, gastric juice, mucus) and lymph.
It’s obvious therefore that the composition of the water that surrounds our 100 trillion cells and the water that is in those cells is of prime importance.
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