Drink for thoughts
We Fund the Forward-Thinking Water Research
& Education that Is Vital to our Health.
One in Five U.S. Children and Young Adults Don’t Drink Water on any Given Day (but Only Sugary Drinks)*
- They consume almost twice as many calories from sugar-sweetened beverages as children who drink water.
- Sugar-sweetened beverages are leading sources of added sugars in the American diet.
- Excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout.
Children are used to nutritional recommendations focusing on food intake. Yet, both the quantity and quality of the beverages they drink every day can be a game changer for their well-being and long-term health.
There is still so much we can do to strengthen education around water and nutrition, mostly when it comes to water drinking habits !
*Survey published in 2019 in the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics
Nearly 1 in 7 American Adults now Has Diabetes!
The Highest Rate on Record
The increase is especially troubling amid the pandemic.
Diabetes is one of the chronic medical conditions that increase the risk that a coronavirus infection will lead to severe illness, hospitalization or even death.
- Excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout.
Source: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recom- mendation published in JAMA Network, August 24/31/2021
1/3 of U.S. Adults have
High Blood Sugar Levels
- A condition called pre-diabetes that often precedes Type 2 diabetes and can progress to full blown disease.
- Most are unaware they have the condition.
Choosing water drinking habits instead of sugary drinks from a young age would be a good place to start!
Life Expectancy vs. Health Expenditure
- Overall, Americans spend far more on health than any other country in the world, yet the life expectancy of the American population is shorter than in other rich countries that spend far less.
And while life expectancy for people around the world continued to increase, life expectancy of Americans has declined since 2014.
Estimate of the death rate from obesity related factors is higher in the US than in any other countries.
We can do better! And it all begins with good water drinking habits.
Half of the U.S. Population Consumes Sugary Drinks on a Day-to-day Basis.
- 1 in 4 people get at least 200 calories from such drinks and 5% of the U.S. population get at least 567 calories.
- Globally, especially in developing countries, sugary drink consumption is rising dramatically.
- This due to widespread urbanization and beverage marketing.
We are what we eat
(and what our food ate and drank!)
Finally we’re looking into water quality standards in food production including fresh produce processing and livestock. Why? We typically get about 20% of the water we need from the food we eat! Fruits and vegetables contain from 75% up to 96% of water while lean meat and poultry muscle is approximately 75 % water. Let’s try now to picture that amount of water as part of our regular intake… Huge!
Poor quality of the water used among farm water supplies can have great detrimental impact on final products (contamination from microorganisms, chemicals, pollutants etc.) Yet, the fundamental importance of water quality in irrigation, in livestock drinking and overall food production is often underestimated.
+ Water quality in agriculture & food production
In the context of crop productivity increasing at a rapid pace to meet global demand and specifically meat plants’ needs, strict water quality standards are necessary, not just for drinking water, but for our whole food supply chain: agriculture, livestock conditions, food processing and preparation.
+ Optimize the use of antibiotics
- By improving water quality on both preventative and treatment applications
- Consequently, this will help reduce overall drug-resistant infections in the coming years.
+ Both farmers & consumers can gain from quality control, transparency & federal laws governing water quality
- Water is used to process 27 billion pounds of beef in the U.S. each year
- Water is used to raise and process 46 billion pounds of chicken in the US each year.
Ever heard about Virtual Water?
Food is the main source of “virtual water” consumption. In fact, the average American consumes an average of 1004 gallons of water everyday or, in other words, about 33,000 glasses of virtual water every day.
36 gallons
Our Domestic Consumption
(Drinking is only 4%)
44 gallons
Water for Industrial Products we Use Daily
(Cotton, paper, clothes)
924 gallons
Water used for the food we eat
& specifically 4,068 gallons of water used for 2 pounds of beef.