Liquids
Why call it liquid and not water? Nobody drinks water. Water in its purest form does not contain anything else than H2O. This is hardly available on earth. All water known to men is a solution of minerals and other chemicals in this base of H2O. To get pure water it is needed to sterilize and let the liquid pass many chemical actions. That is why it is all about liquids.
This is a typical liquid water analysis. It is clear that water is never really “clean”.
It is important to know this fact in coming topics. There is interference of ingredients of the liquids with all that is eaten and the human body. These chemical reactions are partly responsible for actions in the body initiating aging processes. Hereby a summary of liquids active in the body:
Other body fluids are:
Bile is a brown to the dark green fluid that is produced by the liver, stored in the gallbladder (a synonym for bile is gall), and released into the intestines when we eat. It is partly responsible for the color of vomitus and stool. Its most important ingredient is bile salts, which function like soap to break down dietary fats, enabling them and fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, and E to be absorbed. They also help to prevent the cholesterol-containing bile in the gallbladder from forming gallstones.
About 15 grams of bile salts are excreted into the intestine each day, yet the human body contains only about five grams in total. How is this possible? The answer is that bile salts are recycled, being reabsorbed into the blood through the small intestine and then secreted again by the liver.
The most important body fluid is blood. The average adult contains about six liters of blood, which functions to transport oxygen to cells, carry metabolic waste products such as carbon dioxide away from cells and transport infection-fighting white blood cells, glucose, hormones and other essential substances throughout the body. Blood also contains cell fragments called platelets and clotting factors that help to seal leaks that may develop in blood vessels.
An adult’s body contains about 25 trillion red blood cells – about one-third of all the body’s cells. Red blood cells survive on average about 120 days, which means that every second of every day, an adult human produces about two million red blood cells. If lined up end to end, the tiny blood vessels in which gas is actually exchanged, the capillaries, would reach a length of about 40,000 km.
The average woman menstruates every 28 days over 42 years of her life, for a total of about 520 menstrual periods. The average volume of menstrual fluid is approximately 40 milliliters or about 2.5 tablespoons in total. The fluid itself is about one-half blood and contains tissue from the inner lining of the uterus, mucus, and secretions from the vagina. If the amount of bleeding is abnormally high, it can result in anemia, a deficit of red blood cells.
A slippery, clear liquid produced by mucous glands, it lines the cells of the bronchi in the lungs, the stomach and intestines, the urinary and reproductive tracts, and the eyes and ears. Mucus contains a variety of important substances, including antiseptic enzymes, antibodies, and mucins that give mucus its gel-like properties. The average adult produces about one liter of mucus per day.
Mucus keeps the lining of the respiratory system from drying out and also filters out dust and infectious agents in the air we breathe. Microscopic hair-like projections from the cells lining the lung’s air passages help to propel the mucus back up toward the mouth at a speed of about one millimeter per minute, where it can be swallowed or expectorated.
A white, yellow or brown viscous fluid that accumulates at sites of infection, pus usually consists of bacteria, white blood cells, and other proteins and cell debris. Pus under the skin is often found in a pustule, but deeper in the body a larger collection is known as an abscess. Pimples and abscesses represent the body’s attempt to contain the spread of an infection.
Semen, the fluid released by males at ejaculation, generally contains spermatozoa, the gametes that fertilize the female egg, though this is not the case for males who have undergone the most common sterilization procedure, vasectomy.
In addition to providing a medium through which sperm can “swim,” semen also contains fructose, a sugar that nourishes the sperm, as well as alkaline secretions that help to neutralize the normally acidic environment of the vagina.
Saliva is secreted by salivary glands in and around the mouth. The average adult produces about a liter of saliva per day, with peak secretion at meals. Like mucus, saliva contains antibacterial enzymes and antibodies, as well as mucus itself. Saliva helps to moisten food, which is important to lubricate chewing and swallowing. It also enhances taste, because if the chemicals in food were not in a liquid medium, they could not be detected by taste receptors.
Sweat, like saliva, consists almost entirely of water, though it also contains minerals that account for its salty taste. Sweat production can vary widely between one-tenth of a liter and eight liters per day, and during intense exercise, an adult may produce two liters per hour or more. The body’s three million sweat glands come in two types. Eccrine glands are found all over the body, with the highest density in palms and souls. Apocrine glands are located most prominently in the armpits.
Tears are produced by the lacrimal glands above and lateral to the eye and are spread over the eye’s surface by blinking. They are drained into the nasal cavity, which explains why people often get a runny nose when they cry. Tears serve three functions: to lubricate the eye, to remove irritants such as smoke (and a sulfuric acid-producing chemical from cut onions) and in association with emotional states such as sorrow and joy.
Dry eye syndrome, the most common eye disease, affects as many as one-third of elderly people, though it can occur at any time in life. The most common cause is decreased tear production, which in most patients occurs for no known reason, though it is associated with a variety of diseases and medications. The most common treatment involves, naturally enough, the use of eye drops.
The average adult produces about 1.5 liters of urine per day. Produced by the kidneys and stored by the bladder, urine contains many substances that must be removed from the body to maintain a state of health. These include the breakdown products of protein metabolism, which would become toxic if they were allowed to accumulate in the blood. Urine also serves as the principal means for removing excess salt and water from the body.
A common diagnostic procedure in medicine is urinalysis. Finding glucose in urine could indicate that a patient is suffering from diabetes mellitus, a disease that got its name in part from the fact that the urine of diabetic patients tastes sweet. Likewise, finding bacteria suggests that the patient is suffering from a urinary tract infection. Interestingly, most of the amniotic fluid that cushions a fetus in utero is made up of urine produced by the fetus’ kidneys.
Vomitus differs from the other body fluids discussed here because it is not produced under everyday circumstances. Everyone vomits at some point in their life in response to one of several types of stimuli. The balance center of the inner ear can induce vomiting, as in motion sickness. Another cause is irritation of the gastrointestinal tract by infections and poisons.
In some cases, vomiting purges the body of toxins, but in other cases, vomitus contains only food. In either case, the fluid is usually highly acidic, because of the acids normally secreted by the stomach. In individuals who vomit frequently, such as patients with bulimia, this acid can erode the surface of the teeth and cause dangerous changes in the pH balance of the blood. The presence of blood in vomitus is generally a sign of bleeding from the esophagus or stomach.
In the human body, there are many active liquids with each its specific function. These functions vary in interior and exterior excretion. Fact is that they all are based on the water with additional chemicals. The amount of liquid in the body is decreasing with age. The total amount of water-related substances goes slowly down which makes blood thicker, digestion more difficult, sweating harder and urination more often. The balance slowly turns to negative which has an effect on all bodily functions. To drink more liquids is not an option as the body will not store more liquids than it can handle.
Conclusion: during the aging process the water balance is changing. Hydration is an important tool for activity. It is important to pay attention to the way how the body responds to certain liquids and how it will be possible to keep the body in a constant state of optimal saturation. One of the first physical responders on bad liquid filling is the skin. Watch the skin flexibility and tonus for a clear view on liquid balancing.