Water

The book that I'm reading for my Quarter 2 IRP, as you may know from my last post, is What to Eat by Marion Nestle. In chapter 34 ("Healthy" Drinks: Sugared and Artifically Sweetened) of Nestle's book, she covers different types of drinks including water, juice, and diet drinks. In addition to talking about types of drinks, the author also included different types of sugars, like saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, and others. One part of this section that really caught my attention was the first section that talks about water. 

On an average day, I usually drink about 24 fluid ounces of water. According to Nestle's research and knowledge, "Most people need to drink at least two quarts of water a day" (Nestle 401). Two quarts is equivalent to 64 fluid ounces. So essentially on a daily basis, I am only consuming about 37% of the amount of water that I should be in order to stay healthy. Although, you can get water from just about anything (food, juice, coffee, etc.), so that just means that I am getting 37% of my daily required water intake from water itself.

Along with the amount of water that you should be getting and where you can get it, Nestle also talks about the different things that are added to water, especially bottle waters She talks about how many beverage companies add minerals, vitamins, and/or herbal supplements because it gives the companies more to promote and allows them to sell their product for a higher price (Nestle 416). This inspired me to look at the bottled water that I most often drink, which is the Kirkland Signature brand.

As I looked at the packaging on the bottle, the part that stuck out to me was "Purified Water with minerals added for taste". For a case of 40 Kirkland Signature 16.9 ounces water bottles, it costs $4.63. I decided to contrast the price of the Evian brand of water with Kirkland Signature. Evian costs $16.96 for a case of 12 one liter water bottles. The things added to Kirkland Signature water are potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium citrate, sodium chloride, and magnesium oxide. In Evian water you will find that their is nine different minerals in the water. This proves what Nestle was saying about how the more additives in water, the higher it can be valued. 

Overall, in Marion Nestle's book she spends time assessing the importance of water in your diet and where you can get it. She also goes into detail about the things that are added to water in order for companies to advertise their product, persuade consumers to purchase their product, and raise the value of their product, thus causing the company's revenue to increase.

Question: How much water do you think you drink on a daily basis? Are you drinking the right amount? What do you drink most?

Works Cited: Nestle, Marion. What to Eat. New York: North Point, 2006. Print.