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August 2010

Hello, and welcome to the August 2010 newsletter! Regular massage and drinking water can be a powerful combination in keeping you healthy, each enhancing the other. The main article this month discusses some of the reasons water is vital to your health.

One of the greatest benefits massage can offer you is maintaining motion throughout your body. Your health depends on your body’s ability to use the nutrients you consume and to process and eliminate all the used and unneeded substances in your system.

There are many sources of pollutants in the environment that can find their way into your body. Often, our diets include “foods” that do more harm than good. Add to that the many environmental pollutants that are in the air or that we otherwise come into contact with, and your body has to work full-time just keeping your system cleaned out.

Massage is one the most effective and pleasurable ways to contribute to detoxifying your system and to keep it working optimally. Anyone who has received regular massage sessions can feel the difference.

Read on to see how important water is to your overall health.  See you soon for your next massage!

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Top 10 Reasons We Need to Drink Water!

by Clark Bartram
 
Water is the substance of life. Life cannot exist without water. We must constantly be adding fresh water to our bodies in order to keep them properly hydrated. Water can be a miracle cure for many common ailments such as headaches, fatigue, joint pain, and much more. We can go for weeks without food, but only three days without water!

• The body is comprised of 80% water. Water makes up nearly 85 percent of your brain, about 80 percent of your blood and about 70 percent of your lean muscle. (Because there are a lot of tissues that have less water, the average is about 50 percent.).

• It is difficult for the body to get water from any other source than water itself. Soft drinks and alcohol steal tremendous amounts of water from the body. Other beverages such as coffee and tea are diuretics, therefore stealing precious water from the body.

• Water plays a vital role in nearly every bodily function. Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

• Water is essential for proper digestion, nutrient absorption and chemical reactions. The carbohydrates and proteins that our bodies use as food are metabolized and transported by water in the bloodstream. No less important is the ability of water to transport waste material out of our bodies.

• Water is essential for proper circulation in the body. The levels of oxygen in the bloodstream are greater when the body is well hydrated. The more oxygen the body has readily available, the more fat it will burn for energy without the presence of oxygen; the body cannot utilize stored fat for energy efficiently. Not only will the body burn more fat when well hydrated, but because there are increased oxygen levels, you will also have more energy.

• Water helps remove toxins from the body, in particular from the digestive tract. Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits.

• In 37% of people, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger. One glass of water shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

• Water regulates the body’s cooling system. Sports drinks are useful when consumed after or during vigorous and prolonged exercise in high heat. But most experts agree that water works better than carbohydrates or sugared beverages for moderate exercise. For instance, if you drink 12 ounces of plain water, your body will absorb 8 ounces of it within 15 minutes. If you drink 12 ounces of a 10% sugar solution, less than 1 ounce will be absorbed in the same period. The typical soft drink is a 10 to 12% sugar solution.

• Consistent failure to drink enough water can lead to Chronic Cellular Dehydration. This condition—where the body’s cell are never quite hydrated enough—leave them in a weakened state, vulnerable to attack from disease. It weakens the body’s overall immune system and leads to chemical, nutritional and pH imbalances that can cause a host of diseases.

• Dehydration can occur at any time of the year, not only during the summer months when it is hot. The dryness that occurs during winter can dehydrate the body even quicker than when it is hot. When you are dehydrated you tend to eat more.

General Rule: Due to the fact that every body is different, the rule we often hear about drinking eight, eight-ounce glasses of water per day can be misleading. We need to drink half our body weight in ounces of water every day to provide the body with its minimum water replacement requirements…

(Source: bodybuilding.com)

Why we sigh — A sigh is more than just a sigh. In fact, it plays a critical role in helping the respiratory system run properly, says Discovery News. To understand what sighs have to offer, Belgian researchers rigged seated volunteers with sensors that monitored their breathing, heart rate, and blood carbon-dioxide levels for 20 minutes. When subjects spontaneously sighed—a deeper, slower breath—the dynamics of their breathing changed to become briefly more effective. The results suggest that a sigh “acts as a general resetter of the respiratory system,” study author Elke Vlemincx says. Under stress, our breathing becomes less responsive to the need for more or less oxygen, and the lungs stiffen and become less effective at exchanging  gases. But a sigh shakes up the system, loosening up the lungs and allowing for more flexible breath ing.

– The Week Vol. 10 Iss. 465

Water is the most neglected nutrient in your diet but one of the most vital.
— Kelly Barton

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.
— Hans Margolius

The content of this letter is not intended to replace professional medical advice.
If you’re ill, please consult a physician.
© 2010 Massage Marketing.   Used with permission; all rights reserved.