Re: Dehydration is a MAJOR Cause of Back & Joint Pain in America.

This may well be the most important thing anyone will read today. Take it from someone who is struggling with constant pain and weakness and trying her best to avoid back surgery. I spent too many years living on Dr. Pepper and Coke because I did not "like" water. A lot of today's tap water is terrible, both in taste and contents. In the last twenty years I have gone from spring water so hard it left a calcium deposit in pans and kettles in which it was boiled, leaky faucets had little stalactites hanging from them. When rural water became available we switched to it, but the heavily chlorinated and treated lake water was vile tasting. I went from a PUR filter to commercial distilled water that tasted like plastic to reverse osmosis and finally, thanks to a good friend, home distilled water. The difference is incredible. Now I actually crave water. I take a quart container to work and usually have to refill it on my lunch hour. I take a lot of teasing from my co-workers for my new habits while they still guzzle their soft drinks, but how I wish I had never gotten so addicted to Cokes in my younger years.

One word of advice; do not think you can fully rehydrate your body by chugging a lot of water all at once. Water needs to be sipped all day long. Drinking huge amount all at once will only stress the kidneys and do little to replenish the water the body needs on a cellular level.

I encourage every body to print out Owen's post and tape it to your refrigerator. Read it before you reach for your next can of Coke or cup of coffee or sports drink. Get a glass of pure water instead. Tweet