Water and hydration Jacqueline Young Dehydration can cause headaches, digestive problems, dry skin and even kidney stones. But how do you know if you're drinking enough?

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Preventing dehydration

Water and health

Many people are dehydrated without even realising. Often this is because they don't drink enough water, consume excess amounts of caffeine (which has diuretic effect causing fluid loss from the body) in coffee, cola and alcohol, and spend long hours in dry environments such as offices, with air control systems and lots of electrical equipment.

To prevent dehydration, you should drink at least six glasses of good quality water every day. This amount should be increased when exercising and on hot days or if you've been sweating excessively (for example, due to nerves).

You might want to consider fitting a water filtration system at home to remove any chemical residues from tap water.

As well as keeping you hydrated, water is a powerful cleanser - many toxins are flushed from the body in urine.

Water may also be used in healing. Some people believe water is a powerful messenger that can hold electromagnetic traces as a type of 'memory'. This principle is applied in homeopathy, where it's believed that the more a substance is diluted the more potent it becomes. However, this theory remains controversial.

Implosion researchers have found that if water is put through a spiral its electrical field changes and it then appears to have a potent, restorative effect on cells. In one study, seedlings watered with spiralised water grew significantly faster, higher and stronger than those given ordinary water. Using this technique on drinking water is said to be beneficial for health, although the evidence is mainly anecdotal at this stage.

Waters from certain areas have historically been used for healing particular diseases and are often found to contain high levels of specific minerals that may help to relieve the condition. 'Holy' or 'blessed' water, either from sacred sites or blessed by spiritual teachers, is often highly prized - and some have prompted claims of miracle cures.