If you are undergoing chemotherapy treatment, the amount and the quality of the water you drink can make a big difference in your recovery. Drugs and side effects of chemo treatment can lead to severe and chronic dehydration and contaminants in water can present a risk to your weakened immune system. Therefore it is recommended that all chemo patients drink lots of clean purified water to help them cope with the stressful nature of cancer treatments and to protect their bodies from it's adverse effects.
More is Better
Drinking plenty of water is very important if you are undergoing chemotherapy. Staying hydrated can help minimize the fatigue and constipation caused by chemo, and it also protects your kidneys from the toxic waste buildup caused from cancer drugs. Unfortunately the process of chemotherapy can actually cause your body to lose more water and become dehydrated. The many side effects of chemo treatment including sweating, vomiting, diarrhea and appetite loss which will all lead to dehydration. For cancer patients, dehydration can occur rapidly and can cause serious long term damage to the body and organs and should be avoided at all cost. If the average healthy person needs 8 glasses of water a day, a chemotherapy patient should drink at least 10-12 glasses just to be on the safe side.
Quality Does Matter
Chemotherapy patients should drink ultra pure water to protect themselves from the chemicals and bacteria that can be found in many sources of drinking water. Natural bacterial contaminants such as E.Coli can cause people to experience nausea, diarrhea, cramping and headaches, not to mention it can cause sickness or rarely even death. Man-made water pollutants are just as bad. Plastic chemicals such as Bisphenol-A (BPA) have been reported to actually reduce the effectiveness of cancer treatments as they can induce proteins that protect cancer cells from chemotherapy agents. Even worse, some compounds in water such as radon, uranium and combined radium 226/228 can actually produce new cancerous growth in the body. Other suspected carcinogens found in water include arsenic, fluoride, herbicides, THMs and VOCs just to name a few. Since our bodies are composed of 60-70% water, there is no question that the quality of drinking water is directly connected to our health and well-being.
Water Filtration Solutions
Since the quality of tap and bottled water sources can vary greatly, it is important for people to be aware of the different options we have for purified drinking water. One solution would be to install a water filtration system in your home. Unfortunately, basic faucet and pitcher filters only use activated carbon and cannot remove bacteria, viruses or radioactive heavy metals so they are not very effective. Another option would be a distillation system which would remove these contaminants and more. However distillers are notoriously energy inefficient and it takes very long for them to produce even a gallon of water. The best solution would be to install a reverse osmosis water purification system. These advanced multi-stage filters can remove up to 99% of all the aforementioned contaminants plus much more, giving you bottled water quality at just a fraction of the price and without the risk of plastic chemicals from bottled water.
The Best Medicine
Drinking plenty of clean water is one of the most important things a person can do for their health during chemotherapy treatment. While water on its own may not cure a disease or illness, it does give our bodies the support and fuel it needs to fight, heal and repair the damage leading to recovery. It also cleanses and flushes our bodies of the built-up toxins that plagues our conditions.
Quality water consumption is a key component to our health and should be a priority for everyone including cancer fighters, survivors and the cancer-free.
You may qualify for a FREE Reverse Osmosis System through the FreeDrinkingWater charity program. To learn more about this donation program please click here.