| Water, Sink or Swim | ||
by Kevin Thomas Posavetz
Water – H2O: 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Oxygen. The earth is often referred to as the blue planet and is made up of over 70% water, we are indeed surrounded by it. Our bodies are about 75% water, the brain is 85% water and extremely sensitive to any dehydration. Even a loss of just 1% will keep the brain from functioning correctly. We can last for months without eating food but would only last a few days without water. Water gives life — nothing living would survive without it. Just take your lawn or plants, for example, and watch what happens when they don’t get enough water. The same is true for humans and of course drummers, even the ones that are super human. Water, in fact, is living and has its own energy. It is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption and elimination, aids circulation, helps control your body’s temperature, helps regulate metabolism, lubricates and cushions joints, keeps the skin healthy and helps remove toxins from the body. Dehydration is a very serious issue and plays a crucial part in your overall health and wellbeing. Conditions such as heart disease and stroke, obesity, infection, osteoarthritis, depression, sleep disorders, lack of energy, addiction, osteoporosis, cancers, attention deficit and constipation can be avoided by preventing dehydration. Your cells must be hydrated to function properly and without an adequate daily supply of water, if not detected, your body will be sent into a state of disease. Most people reach for water to drink only when they have a dry mouth, which is actually the last sign that your body has already reached the state of dehydration. And as we age, this mechanism will start to diminish. The best way to make sure that you are always hydrated is to develop a good habit of drinking enough water daily. So how much is enough? Experts say a good guideline is to drink one quart of water for every 50 lbs. of body weight. For those very active drummers out there, this may need to be increased depending on your activity level and state of health. Now, for all you working drummers who are sweating it out night after night, tequila, beer and energy drinks do not take the place of water. The fact is, alcohol, caffeine and manufactured beverages of any kind will cause your body to become even more dehydrated. One important thing for any drummer/musician is their creativity, and a dehydrated body loses creativity and versatility. Drinking enough water is essential for helping the body function at its optimum and the type of water you drink is extremely important, with bottled spring water in glass containers or clear polyethylene bottles being the best choice. A few brands that are highly recommended by the experts are Mountain Valley, Fiji, Evian, Volvic and Trinity. Distilled water and tap water should be avoided whenever possible. Distilled water can leach necessary minerals from your body and tap water is just plain nasty and loaded with toxic heavy metals, like mercury, lead and arsenic, harmful minerals like chlorine and fluoride, not to mention parasites. I know that a lot of people believe that fluoride is good for them, but the truth is that fluoride is extremely toxic and is even listed in the Merck manual as a lethal poison. If you find you must drink tap water, make sure you have a good filtration system on the pipes. Water should be drunk first thing in the morning, 30 minutes before eating meals, two and a half hours after eating, before exercise and whenever thirsty. Also, avoid ice cold water because it can damage the lining of the stomach. It is also recommended that you put a pinch of good quality sea salt in your glass or bottle of water. This is important because the more water you drink, the more salt you pass out of your body. Salt is an important mineral element to the human body and it needs to be replaced. A sweating drummer will be losing even more salt, which can cause muscle aches, cramps and lack of energy. I don’t know too many drummers who could perform at their best with muscle cramps and no energy. Your movements while drumming will be easier achieved with a well-hydrated body. Parasites are another thing to consider when drinking unfiltered or untreated water. A few years ago when traveling overseas I picked up a parasite from contaminated water. I have been paying for it ever since and I am currently working with doctors to kill it. Researchers and experts say parasites cause a host of problems because they put a relentless burden on your immune system and poison the body with their toxic wastes. They also rob the body of vital nutrients. Common symptoms may include fever, asthma, coughing, abdominal pain, anemia, diarrhea, weakness, weight loss, nausea, chronic fatigue, arthritic pain, immune dysfunction, teeth grinding, IBS, allergies, skin conditions, joint and muscle aches and pains, nervousness, sleep disturbances and candida infections. You don’t have to be in a Third World country anymore to get a parasite, they are everywhere now. And most people who have them are unaware of it. So, all you drummers traveling on the road, stick to bottled spring water only (making sure the seal is intact), and if you are going to drink something else, don’t use any ice cubes. Most health problems or illnesses take time to manifest inside the human body. If you want to prevent a host of health issues, it could be as simple as good quality water and of course a healthy diet. http://www.drumheadmagazine.com
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