By Shirley Vanderbilt

Water is much more than just a thirst quencher — it’s your body’s best friend. Water gives vital fluid to the systems and organs that process nutrients, and then it helps take away all the unwanted refuse, such as bacteria and toxins.

When you go for a massage, the intake of water is doubly important. Massage puts the body into a trash-pickup mode by stimulating your cleansing system into action. After a massage, all that garbage has been collected and is just waiting to be tossed out. This is why your massage therapist encourages you to drink plenty of water after each session.

The cleansing process relies heavily on the lymphatic system, which processes various collection sites for waste. Lymph is a clear, colorless fluid which flows through your body much like the blood circulation system, but at a slower rate and in a one-way direction through capillaries and lymph nodes. Tension in muscles can produce constriction in the lymph and blood systems, causing the body to become unbalanced and toxins to build. Releasing these toxins and flushing them out of the body is of vital importance to maintaining good health. When the lymph system is unobstructed, you experience more physical and mental energy and a greater sense of well-being. If the lymph system is sluggish, your body retains all those waste products and extra fluid, leaving you tired, stressed and susceptible to disease.

The lymphatic system is a comrade in arms for the circulatory system, assisting in feeding and cleansing body tissues. When nutrients are deposited into the tissues, excess fluid carrying unwanted waste products leaks back into lymph capillaries. During its journey through the body, the fluid passes through lymph nodes where noxious products are filtered, destroyed and absorbed by the lymph. The waste is eventually deposited into the blood system which carries it into the kidneys, spleen and intestines to be processed for elimination.

The more water you take in, the faster the system works. If your body doesn’t have enough fluid for elimination, you’re going to be carrying around a lot of garbage.

“If these toxins do stay in the body, they can cause conditions such as back pain and arthritis,” massage instructor Mark Braukman says. “You have to be well-hydrated in order for proper elimination to take place.” Braukman recommends drinking one or two glasses of water after a massage. But he notes it’s even more important to monitor how much water you take in consistently throughout the day.

“The minimal rule of thumb,” he says “is half to two-thirds of your body weight in ounces. If you are 100 pounds, you should drink at least 50 ounces a day.” If you exercise or have a massage, you should drink even more. Also, as you age, your kidneys may function less efficiently, requiring an increase in water consumption to aid proper elimination.

WATER FACTS FOR YOU

• Water helps digest & absorb nutrients.

• Water is an anti-inflammatory.

• Angina is a dehydration signal.

• Two glasses of good water when you get up flushes the system.

• For ever cup of coffee or soda you need to drink an extra 8oz of water.

• Caffeine is dehydrating.

• Bathroom breaks will decrease as your body learns how to use the water more efficiently.

• As we get older we get progressively dehydrated and become completely oblivious to our need for water.

• Water is a source of energy.

• Whenever you become dehydrated your cells die.

• Water actually holds your cells together.

• When you are dehydrated nutrition and exercise won’t help.

• Water helps remove free radicals.

• Dehydration is one of the greatest producers of free radicals in the body.

• Drink water ½ hour before meals to make sure that your body does not have to withdraw water from other organs to produce digestive juices for the stomach.

• Water lubricates our joints.

• Water keeps our skin moist.

• Water gives flexibility to muscles, tendons, cartilage & bones.

• Water gets rid of toxins and solid waste.

• Water helps us loose weight.

• 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

• In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so week that it is often mistaken for hunger.

• Even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

• Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

• Without water, proper hydration – the utilization of ingested nutrients will be very limited.

• Drinking water can dramatically improve our health, increase our energy, help prevent premature aging and disease, and often reverse disease states.”  Tonita d’Raye, in her book, “What’s the Big Deal About Water?”