I bet you have never considered how much you spend on your fluid intake each year.   I had certainly never thought about it myself.  Why would I think about it?  How much could it be after all?

People spend a lot more money than they think on their fluid intake.  How do I know?  It started with the question: “How long would it take to pay for a good quality water ionizer if you stopped drinking other liquids.

The human body requires water… lots of water.  The average adult should drink about 2 litres of water per day to replace the water that your body uses each day.  Most of us consume water in many forms including milk, coffee, tea, and juices.  Unfortunately many of us also consume significant amounts of the incredibly unhealthy liquids such as sodas and alcohol. 

Water is the only liquid required by the human body. Our bodies don’t need milk or juices or any of the other tasty liquids that we drink each day.  In fact,  when we drink anything other than water, we are forcing our bodies to eliminate the unwanted sugars and other substances that are added to make the liquids appeal to our taste buds.

Let’s take a look at some numbers. 

First, we need to look at the cost of a water ionizer.  Since 2004, industry benchmark for the retail price of a water ionizer has been nearly $4,000.  In the past three years, many good competitive products have entered the marketplace in the $2,000 to $2,500 range.   Today, you can purchase the best product on the market for about $1,700.  So, lets use $1,700 as the cost of a water ionizer.

Now, lets look at what we spend on the liquids we drink. 

The internet offers plenty of information of our spending habits in regards to the liquids that we drink.  For example, the US department of Labour offers up the fact that the average American adult spends $230 on alcohol per adult  person.  I have no idea what an average adult is, but for now, let’s just accept the number for lack of a better choice.   The Disney Family Channel offers us a figure of $170 per person on soft drinks,  which represents $56 billion dollars per year in sales in the USA.  The dollar figure is significant, but the really scary number for me is the fact that the average adult consumes 30% of their daily calorie intake from soft drinks.  Sodas and sweetened juices are the worst product that we put in our bodies, and they make up 30% of our calorie intake.  I find it very disturbing that we reward the soft drink makers with  huge profits for making us fat and sick. 

The internet also tells us that the average adult spends $165 per person for coffee per year.  That represents another $18 billion dollars in spending for the 108 million coffee drinkers in the USA.

The average American also spends $60 on fruit juices and another $60 per person on bottled water each year.  Add in another $10 per person for sports drinks

Adding up the various amounts brings us to a total of about $700 per person per year in the USA.   That means that the average couple spends about $1,400 per year.  A family of four would easily take the total over $2,000 per year because children  drink more juices and sodas to compensate for not consuming coffee and alcohol.   

While my research on the internet to determine the annual cost of beverages turned up a figure of $700,  I have personally asked quite a few people to provide honest answers to the questionaire below.   It doesn’t surprise me at all that the total cost per year varied between $1,000 and $3,000 per person per year.   Please take a few minutes once you have finished reading this article to see how much you spend each year.  I promise you that it will be worth the small amount of your time and effort.  I think you will be surprised how much you and your family spend on drinking fluids each year.

The following table will help you to calculate your average annual spending on liquids.  Simply multiply the price for each beverage by the number of times you or your family consume that beverage each week.  Then multiply the total by 52 to determine your annual cost for that beverage.  Then, add up the annual cost of each of the liquids.  Remember, this isn’t a survey, and nobody is ever going to see the results, so be honest. 

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If you have taken the test, how did you make out?  Surprised?  I bet you are.  Every person that I know who has taken the test has been surprised at how much their family spends on beverages each year.  If you have been honest with yourself, you will likely see that you could purchase a water ionizer and have it paid for in no time at all as the payback for most families is less than a year.   The water ionizer will last many years and provide the best drinking water in the world.  Your body would be thanking you for the rest of your life.  

If a water ionizer purchase is not in the budget at this time, the very least you can do is purchase an inexpensive pre-filtration system and hook it up under your kitchen sink so that you can drink safe and healthy water.  It is great to save money, but the real investment is in your health.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Related posts:

1. Why are you still drinking bottled water? Part 2 – Cost Issues
2. New Hope for Coffee Drinkers

It is amazing how many people will choose lower prices over healthy foods and drinks. Fortunately, when it comes to drinking water, tap water is usually better for your health than bottled water. Now how often does that happen? 

It is generally accepted that people should drink about half a gallon (64 ounces) or 2 litres of water per day. If you drink bottled water, you will be surprised how much the cost of the water adds up to in a year. If you drink bottled water purchased while “on the go” from vending machines or stores, you will typically pay between 5 to 8 cents per ounce.  That equates to $3 to $5 per person per day, or $1,000 to $1,500 per year.

Very few people drink bottled water purchased exclusively from small bottles. If you drink exclusively from 18 litre  jugs, the annual cost of drinking water for a person is about $300.  That sounds like alot, but if a single person drinks the 2 litres per day(the recommended amount), then they need an 18 litre jug of water every9 days, which sounds reasonable.  A jug of water costs about $7.50 when it is delivered (at home or work), so the math is correct.  If you use bottled water for cooking, the cost jumps again.

People who drink from coolers at home and work oftern supplement their water consumption with small bottles that are purchased “to go” because they are not always around a cooler.  In that case, they typically spend $500 per year.  For drinking water!  For a couple, that means $1,000 per yearn, and the figure could jump up tp $2,000 for a family of four.   Unbelievable!  When I wrote this, I had to go back and check my math as the figure seemed to be too high to be possible.  If you see situation described above, you might want to consider thinking about alternatives that provide you with superior water and allow you to take a nice vacation every year.

Most families who drink bottled water don’t spend $2,000 per year because they simply don’t drink enough water.  They can also cut costs by filling small reusable containers. 

If you do fill up reusable containers, the options typically include: glass, plastic, or stainless steel.  Glass is always the best as they don’t leach anything into the water.  Glass bottles are much more sturdy than most people think and they are able to absorb a significant impact without breaking.  For example, the glass bottles that we use can fall off our kitchen counter and land on a tile floor without breaking.  Don’t ask! 

If you participate in vigorous activities and are concerned about your bottled water container breaking, you can choose stainless steel or plastic, with stainless steel being the choice of preference.  If you happen to be one of the lucky/smart people who have access to ionized water, don’t use a stainless steel container as the container will deionize the water.

If you have made the smart choice to drink water because it is the ideal liquid for your body, don’t feel bad about whatever you are spending.  The alternatives to water cost a lot more money, and force your body to work much harder to get rid of the extra calories or contaminants that your body doesn’t need.

Before I leave the subject of the cost of bottled water, please consider that we pay about 2 cents per ounce for gasoline versus 1 to 8 cents for bottled water. Think about that for a minute! Procuring bottled water is virtually free while it cost millions to explore and drill for oil. Then the oil has to be transported to refineries that cost about $4 billion to build to be refined into gas. Then the gas has to be shipped to storage areas and then shipped to gas stations that are expensive to build. Then you must consider the labour costs involved in all of the processes. Now you get to the really expensive part, which is government taxes on the gas. All of these costs are included in gasoline that you purchase for about 2 cents per ounce. Think about that the next time you purchase a 20 ounce bottle of Dasani or Aquafina for $1.75 out of a vending machine.

When you consider the phenomenal profits margins available on water sales, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that bottled water companies spend tens of millions of dollars convincing the public that “pure” bottled water is good for you. It should also come as no surprise that our natural water sources are being bought up and privatized. If you think water is expensive now, wait to see what water costs in the future.

But what about the awful taste and the contaminants such as chlorine, chloramines, and fluoride that is in our municipal drinking water?

Governments mandate that municipal drinking water is safe. What does that mean? It really means that the water that comes out of your tap won’t kill you right away.  Municipalities take the bacteria out of the water which chlorine or chloramines, and they do a good job of it for the most part. However, there are always exceptions.  

In order to remove the bad taste of chlorine or chloramines, a simple and inexpensive charcoal filter that can be installed under your kitchen sink will do a great job. You should be able to purchase a good filter and canister housing for under $100.

If you want a more sophisticated filter system, a three canister system will most likely remove virtually all the bad stuff while allowing the healthy minerals to remain. A three canister system, including the filters typically cost about $250. The filters should last about a year, and the replacement filters should cost about $100

The bottom line is that you can provide clean, safe, good tasting water for your family for about $100 per year if pre-filter your tap water. Talk about a “no-brainer”

Stop drinking bottled water. If not for your health or the environment, do it for the $500 you will save each year.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and the quoted sources.

Related posts:

1. Why are you still drinking bottled water? Part 1 – Health Issues

Coffee is the most common drug in America.  Fifty four percent of adult Americans drink coffee to the tune of 146 billion cups per year.   

There is an interesting article on CNN tonight that brings to light some of the benefits of drinking coffee.  You can read the article written by Sarah Klein at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/28/coffee.studies/index.html?hpt=C2

Coffee has had a bad reputation in health circles for a long time. It is common knowledge that caffeine remains in your system for up to 12 hours, and can lead to insomnia or less restful sleep. 

The one statement that the author made that I disagree with is that coffee is a diuretic, which means that it increases urine output which can cause dehydration.  The reason that I disagree with this statement is that the current information from studies that I have researched indicate that coffee is not a diuretic.  I think the author is relying on old information on the diuretic issue and needs to do a bit more research. 

The article discusses the health benefits of coffee, and summarizes recent studies from 2009 that reveal that coffee drinkers:

• may be at lower risk of liver cancer, colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease
• seemed to have lower risk of advanced or lethal prostate cancer
• who are middle aged and drink 3-5 cups per day had the lowest risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in later life than people who drink more or less coffee.
• may live longer according to a 2008 study whether the coffee was decaf or not, which indicates that caffeine is not the issue

The article goes on to focus on the fact that coffee contains antioxidants, which people associate with fruits and vegetables.  Food items like berries, beans and pecans have much higher levels of antioxidants than coffee, but people drink a lot more coffee.  In fact, a 2005 study showed that Americans get more antioxidants from coffee than anywhere else.

There are downsides to drinking coffee as well besides insomnia.  Coffee can affect heart conditions and can cause a racing heartbeat and anxiety.  Drinking coffee with cream and sugar adds calories… a lot of calories.  The common“double double”  which adds double cream and double sugar is going to add to your waistline.   

The one significant omission to the article is that the acidity of coffee was not addressed.  Coffee is acidic which is not good for a body that craves to be alkaline.  A list of the pH levels of ten coffees show a range of 4.9 to 5.7 according to the tests performed by Ken Davids (see http://www.coffeereview.com/article.cfm?ID=9). 

Remember that a pH of 5.0 is 100 times more acidic than pure water.  That means that when you drink a cup of coffee, you need to drink about 8 cups of water to neutralize the acidic effects of one cup of coffee.  Alternatively, you can make the coffee with alkaline water, which is loaded with antioxidants, and will reduce the acidity of the coffee.  As an alternative, drink alkaline water to put things back in balance. 

The jury is still out on the benefits of coffee, but at least people are studying this widely used drug.  More studies need to be conducted that span longer terms and address a multitude of factors such as age, sex, financial status (people with more money are healthier and live longer than people with less money) etc., need to be conducted to provide a more thorough analysis.  In the meantime, coffee drinkers that feel bad about their addiction have something to feel good about today.

As always, the opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors that have been quoted and of this author.  It is recommended to always seek out the advice of your health care provider for health issues.

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