Yan Zonghai (Director of Clinical Toxicology Department, Department of Nephrology, Chang Gung Hospital) We often hear that "women are made of water", because women always give people a gentle feeling, but as far as human body composition is concerned, this sentence may not be correct. From the analysis of the proportion of muscle and adipose tissue, generally speaking, the muscle tissue of men is higher than that of women, while the adipose tissue of women is higher than that of men, so generally speaking, the water content of men's bodies is about 60%, while that of women is about 50%, which shows that men are really made of water. Besides sex, age also affects the amount of water in the body. For example, the water content of premature infants is about 80%, full-term infants are 70% ~ 75%, children are 65% ~ 70%, and adolescents after puberty are about 60%. Whether male or female, at any age, water is the highest proportion of body composition, so it is really important to replenish water for health! Doctors often advise patients to drink more water, but what kind of water is the best? How to drink is the most beneficial to health? Don't underestimate the matter of drinking water, which is actually a science. If you drink it wrong, it will have a great impact on your health. Two years ago, a mother came to see a doctor with her child. Her four-year-old son found that arsenic in his body exceeded the standard in other inspection institutions, and quickly transferred to Chang Gung Hospital for further examination and treatment. Later, we confirmed that the boy was polluted by inorganic arsenic, which was related to drinking groundwater for a long time. After treatment with chelating agent, arsenic in the body has been eliminated. There are two kinds of arsenic: organic arsenic and inorganic arsenic. Organic arsenic exists in marine products, which is a kind of natural arsenic and has no toxicity. However, inorganic arsenic is toxic, which may cause liver and kidney problems. Inorganic arsenic is a first-class carcinogen announced by the World Health Organization, so long-term large-scale exposure will increase the risk of cancer. There is a lot of inorganic arsenic in groundwater, which is one of the reasons why I don't recommend drinking groundwater. In fact, at the end of 1950, many people in the southwest coastal areas of Taiwan Province Province suffered from cancer because of drinking groundwater, which was caused by inorganic arsenic in groundwater. Most of the drinking water in Taiwan Province Province comes from tap water and must be boiled before drinking. The water opened by the water pipe comes from the reservoir, and the water supply company will also add chlorine gas for disinfection. Some people worry that chlorine is harmful, so they drink mountain spring water instead, thinking that the water on the mountain is relatively clear, but the mountain spring water is not inspected by the water company. Is the water clean? Are there any pesticide residues? Is there any nitrite residue? Is there any heavy metal pollution? These problems are worrying. In particular, the water source is polluted by heavy metals, which cannot be removed even if it is boiled. Some people will use reverse osmosis equipment to filter tap water and drink it directly. Many operators selling drinking water equipment require that raw water can be filtered through their equipment without boiling. From the doctor's point of view, this is wrong. Raw water must be boiled before drinking, because high temperature can sterilize it. Filtering equipment may be able to filter out impurities in water, but it can't effectively kill microorganisms, so it is not recommended to drink. What is the best water to drink? There are many kinds of bottled water products on the market, such as mountain snow water, pure and pollution-free mineral water, deep ocean water, aerobic water, pure water, bamboo charcoal water, etc ... I suggest drinking boiled tap water, but we must pay attention to the correct way to boil water. In the process of boiling tap water, there will be 500 or 600 kinds of metabolites related to chlorine, of which trihalomethane is the most famous. To avoid the problem of residual chlorine-related metabolites, it is suggested that after boiling water, the fire should be adjusted to the minimum, and then the cover should be opened to continue cooking for three minutes to let the trihalomethane evaporate. Many bottled water on the market can be said to have various names, but these functions are not needed by the human body. There was a time when drinking alkaline water was very popular in the market. The manufacturer's theory is that the human body produces acidic substances every day, and drinking alkaline water can maintain the acid-base balance in the body. But in fact, as long as the lungs and kidney function are normal, the acid-base balance of the body can be maintained. What is more important is to return to a balanced diet, not to drink alkaline water and not to eat extra alkaline food. I also advise people to buy less bottled water for three reasons: First, bottled water is easily exposed to high temperature during transportation and storage. Most bottled water is made of PET, which will release plasticizer when it encounters high temperature. Secondly, in the manufacturing process of PET, metal antimony is needed, so there may be antimony residue in the PET bottle, and the harm of antimony to human body is all-round, including cardiotoxicity. Third, PET is made of plastic, which is not easy to rot. Even if it is left for many years, it is not easy to decompose, which can be said to be the killer of environmental pollution. Some office drinking fountains use large plastic buckets to hold water, which actually implies the problem of plasticizer pollution, because a car often has to hold hundreds of bottles and transport them to different places in turn, and these large plastic buckets are likely to be exposed to outdoor high temperature during transportation, releasing harmful substances such as plasticizers. It's safer for people to boil tap water and put it in the water dispenser and then boil it. Many people are also used to going to the supermarket to buy drinks to quench their thirst, but these drinks contain many additives, which not only have no extra points for health, but also have negative effects. For example, people who want to refresh themselves may drink energy drinks, but in fact, the ingredient in these drinks that can really improve physical strength and brain power is caffeine, which will stimulate the cardiovascular system and the central nervous system and make people feel more awake and energetic. But relatively speaking, excessive caffeine can make blood pressure soar in a short time, which is very dangerous for patients with cardiovascular diseases. Besides, we often see people buying bottled tea. Although these products often emphasize that they contain antioxidants such as catechins, which are beneficial to the prevention of chronic diseases, these catechins may be reduced due to exposure to light during transportation and sales. In addition, tea drinks also contain caffeine, so patients with cardiovascular diseases should not drink a lot. As for many young people who like to drink carbonated drinks or fruit juice, these products contain a lot of sugar and artificial additives. They are worried that if they drink too much, they will get fat and have cavities. I remember that many years ago, there was an advertisement that emphasized that "it is no problem to drink more water, and it is no problem to drink more water", which made consumers mistakenly think that the more water they drink, the better. In fact, this is just the marketing slogan of the industry. If you stand in the doctor's position to evaluate, drinking more water will still lead to accidents. How much water should we drink a day for health? According to the suggestion of the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), infants under 6 months should consume 100 ~ 190 ml/kg of water every day, and infants under 6 ~ 12 months should consume 800 ~ 1000 ml every day. 1/kloc-0 ~1200ml of water is recommended for children after 0/year old, and 13 ml for children aged 2 ~ 3 years old. Children aged four to eight drink 1600 ml every day, boys aged nine to thirteen drink 2 100 ml every day, girls aged nine to thirteen drink 1900 ml every day, and teenagers over fourteen drink the same water as adults, that is, women need to drink 2000 ml and men need to drink 2500 ml every day. As for pregnant women, it is recommended to drink 300 ml more water every day, and lactating women drink 700 ml more water every day. People's daily drinking water can refer to the recommendations of the European Food Safety Agency. Drinking proper amount of water is the best for their health. (This article is taken from How to Protect Yourself in the Age of Food Insecurity? /Yan Zonghai (Director of Clinical Toxicology Department, Department of Nephrology, Chang Gung Hospital)/Ping An Culture)