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Water Greetings, Holidays are wonderful, no arguments about that! But equally wonderful is the anticipation of "back to normal plus new resolutions" Waving the kids goodbye, looking so clean & fresh in their ironed uniforms and schoolbags full of new stationary. Us going back to work, looking forward to our colleague's tales of holiday experiences etc. and anticipating all the things we will do better than last year. Let's hope that the majority of us will fulfill their New Year resolutions. One way of doing that is by staying healthy. In order to remain healthy or to achieve a higher degree of health, we need to understand how our bodies function and why certain foods or practices will help us achieve our goals. That is precisely the purpose of these newsletters. As mentioned before, we follow the teachings of "Life Science" and the articles are based on their course ( for further information on Life Science, please refer to newsletter No 29b 30th of May 2001 ) We do not impose our beliefs or philosophies but expose them to whoever is interested. The final decision of how to conduct one's life is one of the gifts given to us. We are the masters of our destiny, this of course applies to all the decisions we make, not only health, but the ancient Romans already knew the entwining between physical & mental when they said " mensana in corpore sano " ( Healthy mind in Healthy body ). Health is not just about what food to eat and what pills to pop into our mouths, it also has to do with our mental attitude, the way we exercise, breath, sleep, react to stress etc… just like a headache tablets affects the whole body, to it's minutest cells, so our general health affects our body, mind, reactions, thoughts. You are thus invited to hop on board and explore with us the wonders of our creation, starting with: The role of water in the body Water is the prime essence of life! The functioning of our planet is dependent upon its massive reservoirs of water and its complex of atmospheric water dispensation. The fact is that water is a major need for all forms of life. Fortunately for us, in most places on earth water is abundant. There's water in all the foods we eat. Even dry foods like nuts and seeds have water content. Fruits posses plenty pure water, which is ideal for human functioning. The average adult is composed of almost 60% fluid. That's more water than the total of all other substances in the body! Our body's water is obtained from the fluids we drink and from the water content of the foods we eat. It is also obtained from the body's internal oxidation reactions. The oxidation process occurs in the combining of hydrogen in the food we eat with the oxygen we breathe. The water within our body contains many materials in solution; that is, it contains many substances dissolved in it. The complement of minerals dissolved in the body fluid are referred to as salts. These salts include sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, chlorine, phosphorus and other elements. They possess electric charges and are thereby referred to as electrolytes. Some salts possess positive electric charges and others possess negative charges. These charges, inherent in the salts, are part of the regulatory process in the movement of fluid within the body. The positively and negatively charged particles exist in equally balanced amounts in the body. The resultant charge between the particles is therefore neutral. About three-fourth of the body's fluid is stored within the cells and is known as cellular fluid. The extracellular fluid is composed of plasma and interstitial fluid. Blood plasma, a clear, yellowish fluid, is approximately 92% water. The plasma carries within it a huge volume of substances. It transports mineral salts and carries carbohydrates, protein, gases, enzymes, fats and hormones. There are certain plasma proteins that are always present in the plasma. Other materials are in a constant state of change. The amount of food materials ( such as glucose ), carbon dioxide, and nitrogen wastes are constantly changing in the plasma. Interstitial fluid is similar to plasma except it does not contain the plasma's complement of proteins. However, interstitial fluid does contain glucose, minerals and urea and it continually bathes the cells. Through this bathing the cell is supplied with all its needs for existence. In addition to the circulatory system formed by the blood, yet another system exists and flows through the lymph vessels. The lymph circulation, along with blood, is responsible for the flow and mixing of the extra-cellular fluid. One of the major functions of the lymph vessels is the return of the proteins to the circulation after they leave the blood stream. The lymph provides the only routing whereby these "plasma proteins" can be restored to the circulation. Another part of the lymph system consists of small filtering organs called lymph nodes, which filter the lymph fluid as it passes through. To be continued next week... Wishing you all a wonderful week, The Crazy Nut team.