How to Fight Heart Disease With Water

One of the most remarkable medical research findings is how consumption of water reduces the risk of heart disease. That's water, plain water.

Professor Jacqueline Chan of studied the water consumption habits and health histories of 20,000 people. She found that drinking three or four glasses of water a day reduced the risk of coronary heart disease, 40 percent for men and 43 percent for women. What about drinking even more water? Consumption of five or more glasses of water a day cut heart disease risk 62 percent for men, but oddly only 39 for women.

Here are even more really unexpected results. That risk reduction from drinking water was greater than that found for other more acclaimed heart-protecting steps, namely quitting smoking, reducing cholesterol, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight. It was even better than taking a daily low-dose aspirin or having a glass of wine.

What is in drinking water matters. Other research found that drinking hard water results in less cardiovascular disease than drinking soft water. Hard water has more calcium carbonate and magnesium in it. Similarly, it has also been found that people who drank water higher in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) had lower death rates from heart disease, cancer and chronic diseases than people who drank water with low amounts of TDS. TDS not only includes calcium and magnesium (the hardness factors), but also zinc, copper chromium, selenium and other elements.

Beware, drinking other fluids, notably coffee, soda, milk and other caffeinated drinks did not reduce heart risk. Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics, meaning they pull more water out of your body than they put in.

The average person loses about 2 percent of their body weight every day by producing urine and perspiration. Replacing this water is crucial in keeping your blood volume normal. Otherwise your blood gets heavy and harder for your heart to pump. Water protects against blood clot formation by decreasing blood viscosity.

Naturally, exercising in hot and humid weather means even high water loss. The American Heart Association recommends drinking 8 ounces of water before, during and again after exercising. Drinking too much water without replacing electrolytes can be dangerous. Many sports drinks provide electrolytes, but try and use the low calorie versions.

Also, recognize that some foods provide another way to get water in your diet. Soups, stews, vegetables like celery and peppers, and juicy fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges and grapefruit.

In addition to reducing heart risk, maintaining adequate water intake helps prevent getting kidney stones, constipation and fatigue. It also helps you lose weight.

Never take water for granted. And don't think that expensive bottled water is necessary or better for you than your tap water.