Water - the Ultimate Elixir of Life

Billions of years ago life as we know it today, began its journey in the rarest compound of this universe thankfully found in abundance in our planet. What began as a single cellular, simple life form, has evolved into  the most complex piece of machinery and art, we call it the human body.  As we all know it, 80% of the body is made of the transparent, odorless, neutral fluid from where the life evolved, i.e. Water ! The more the complex the machinery, the more the complex will be its maintenance and slowly we transformed from living a nomadic life to a civilized full blown city life, with added complications almost every decade, the wear and tears became complex and the breakdown (partial or total) frequency increased exponentially. Though the human body including brain has stopped evolving for more than 10000 years now, but everything else created by we the humans evolved phenomenally during this period.

Pharmaceutical industry is valued at close to $700 Billion per year. The premise of the industry lies in investing in R&D and filing patents for theydrugs discovered, invented in the process. No doubt, the industry has saved several lives in past 100 years. And in lieu, it has made enormous money for its shareholders and owners. Somehow, the modern pharamceutical/ medicine industry has not invested much time and resources to discover the potential benefits of omnipresent Water. The reason is simple, it cant be patented, its comparatively much easily available and most importantly it belongs to the state and the people to a very large extent. 

Thanks to our 21st century increasingly sedentary life style, our body is under attack of toxins, harmful chemicals, pollution, free radicals and saturated fats. The traditional pharmaceutical and not so traditional wellness companies knows it. The highest selling Drug in the world is Lipitor used for treatment of Cholesterol, with annual sales of $14B. Other popular drugs are for treating Hypertension, Gastro-Intestinal disorders, Headaches, Fever, Migraine, Hypertension etc. Source (Wikipedia)

Water the forgotten Elixir of Life, the ultimate panacea, can solve most of the problems almost at zero cost ! Sounds too trivial to be true ! Perhaps we are getting used to complex lifestyle and solutions for problems which can be solved easily otherwise !

Coincidentally I tried water treatment for headaches and mild fevers caused by heat strokes, excessive stress, excessive physical activity etc and it worked. Somehow I tend to catch cold easily then most of the people around me, sometimes due to allergy and sometimes due to unknown, unidentifiable reasons. In recent past, I started drinking warm water 3-4 times a day, whenever I encountered a sneeze attack and so far I have been reasonably successful in combating the sneeze force ! I have experienced that sore throats, congested nose and cough can be easily tackled by gargling with hot water and salt. 

Drinking enough Water is the most simple solution to treat high blood pressure and lower cholesterol to a great extent. This website is a great resource to find out what all can be treated by simply drinking water. Water not only helps in hydrating our body, but it helps in flushing the harmful toxins out of the body, eases transportation of vitamins and minerals. So the women and all those beauty conscious men will be glad to know that drinking water can reduce acne, improves texture of the skin and provides a overall state of well being and alertness in the body. One glass of warm water with half lime/lemon early in the morning can do wonders to anybody of any age, shape or size.

As per this research medically supervised water only fasting treats Hypertension and lower blood pressure. Without doubt, water is THE solution to treat constipation and dehydration which in turn can cause headaches and several other unwarranted diseases.

This blog has several simple suggestions about the benefits of water. I was surprised to know that by increasing the water intake, even Depression can be cured much more easily.

A very simple variant of water which can help fight several diseases easily and effectively is Alkaline Water. The normal water we drink is usually neutral and its very easy to make it slightly Alkaline. Most of the food we eat is Acidic in nature and hence disturbs the pH of the body, which in turn has several repercussions such as inflammation, heart burns, gastric problems, liver and kidney related disorders. I found this website an excellent source of information on Alkaline water and the overall Alkaline way of life.  

Ayurveda has always put a great emphasis on the role of water. Water is one of the Five main elements. Drinking water stored in Cooper vessels improves the immunity of the body. Ayurveda recommends not to drink too of much water during or immediately after the meals. Chilled water, soda water or cold drinks consumed along with food can negatively affect the digestion process ultimately leading to weight gain, increase in cholesterol levels. As per Ayurveda and ancient Japanese, Chinese medicines, drinking luke warm water after food, enhances the digestion process and body is easily able to retain the vitamins and minerals from the food. I was never a fridge water drinker. I just love the smell of water stored in the earthen pot, Mataki as we call it. The water stored in Mataki not only tastes great, but quenches the thirst more effectively without any side effects.  

As we wake up every morning, the world becomes more complex then it was yesterday. However the solution to all the problems need not be complex as we usually tend to believe or are made to believe. Drinking Water can not only improve our health, but emotions and psychology to a great extent in a positive manner.

If you do your own research and small experiments, I'm sure you will discover several benefits of drinking water in various forms. Do share your Water Experiences...

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Disclaimer - I am not a medical expert and the views expressed are based on my personal experiences, discussions with some doctors and internet research. I have tried to provide url of the websites which I found were providing balanced views, without any hidden agenda. I am not associated with any/all of these websites and in no ways responsible for the views and suggestions provided on these external websites/ blogs.

Image Source - Mouserunner, Photovaco

Water Bulb !

An amazing idea, which can light up millions of houses across the world. Something very simple and very basic but powerful and innovative.

I have seen houses (including my own rented house in early childhood) where some kind of light is required even in the day time. Its because Either the House is not constructed properly (my case) or too much of congestion in the neighbourhood preventing the sunlight to enter. To make matter worse especially for the Urban poor living in slums, the electricity connection is either not available at all or its kind of illegal, hence unreliable and unsafe.

During our childhood, I used to read Hindi Comics in which if somebody gets some really crack-nut kind of idea, it was depicted by a Bulb. And yes, the bulb it is, this time in real life !

A Water Bulb !

An amazing concept to harness the energy using two of the most powerful elements in nature - Water and Sun. The idea is so simple that sometimes I wonder how come nobody thought it before in past 2000 years! But as they say, better late than never. So as you can see for yourself in the video below how it works -

Pretty simple, isnt it !

These water bulbs can be used only during the day light. Unlike Solar cells, the Water bulbs cant store and reuse energy at some other time and place. Some of us might not like these water bulbs from aesthetic point of view but I think its a least cause of concern. If not fitted properly these water bulbs can cause water leakages during the rainy season. But since these Water Bulbs are easy to install, maintain and practically of zero cost, the advantages far outweighs the minor disadvantages and limitations.

This bulb was originally developed by some students at MIT has been successfully implemented in Philippines by eco-Entrepreneur IIlac Diaz under the aptly named project - A Liter of Light !

The Hidden Advantages - lack of proper lighting inside the house has far reaching affects not only on the ambiance but psychology of those living in lowly illuminated houses. Absence of light encourages rodents and mosquitoes and other insects, which we might consider a trivial issues. But the mere presence and sounds made by all these Life forms (who by the way also have equal right to live) can be haunting and depressing at times. The darkness inside the houses can also lead to random accidents thus adding to agony and pain.

By implementing this solution at a large scale, government and private operators engaged in Transmission & Distribution of electricity can save a lot, thus directly adding to their bottomline. A zero carbon foot print ensure that no further damage is caused to environment unlike all other sources of electricity.

Sometimes the solutions to most challenging problems lies in thinking simple and that what Water Bulb is all about. Incredible, Innovative, Impelling !