Im a pretty good authority on water so will give some points below. As always though, these are just my thoughts and everyone should consult their G.P. Surgeon or GI disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer etc etc etc…. so….
This will be long but if you read it all I think it will help not only in giving good advice, but explaining all the details behind how water works with our bio chemistry. I will do a summary at the bottom though for those that want to skip the details
Firstly, Hydralyte is sold in chemists is really good for rehydration. So if your struggling, head for that.
I DON’T recommend people to drink tap water. It has alot of heavy metals, chlorine, fluoride and devoid of any mineral content.
Boiling tap water helps remove heavy metals, chlorine etc which is good, but you end up with “pure H2o” or “distilled water”. The problem with this is your body won't absorb pure H2o very well. It needs a variety of minerals present to absorb the H2o, so if you drink pure H2o the only way your body can get those minerals is to leech them from your bones and teeth, leading to tooth decay and osteoporosis! This was shown in a 12 year study at the university of newcastle, where cities around the world which had their water distilled showed increased reports from dentists and doctors to the World Health Organisation for massive increases in osteoporosis and tooth decay, and it was in people very young to typically get it!
So no tap water, no boiled water, no bottled water that is marketed as "pure". As its going to cause tooth and bone issues and wont really provide optimal hydration anyway.
GETTING HYDRATED
To get maximum hydration (i.e water carry over into your cells) you need a high level of total dissolved solids (known as TDS), or mineral content. When you sweat how does it taste? SALTY! Your cells and your body are approximately 70% water, and that water is SALTY. It is in fact as salty as the ocean! So drinking tap water or bottled water which is VERY different to whats in your cells WILL NOT hydrate you. The cell wall is very protective in its design so unless what is on the outside is very similar to what is on the inside it won't let it cross over. Make sense?
So when you drink bottled water or tap water, its very different to the water in your cells, so the cell does not let the water cross over very well. This is what we call “EXTRA-CELLULAR” hydration. Means you have a lot of water in your body, but not in your cells. When this occurs your body eventually flushes the excess water out, so you pee a lot, sound familiar? Drink a lot of water, pee all the time! Thats NOT hydrating the cells of body. Thats just flushing water through your system and making your kidneys work overtime.
To get “INTRA-CELLULAR” hydration you need H2o, (without chlorine, fluoride and heavy metals), and it needs to have over 300TDS in mineral content. How do you do this? EASY. There are a few options….
1. Boil tap water for a good 10 minutes. This destroys all the chlorine and leaves pure H2o.
2. Alternatively, go buy a VERY GOOD water filter. A double reverse osmosis one is the best. This also gives you pure H2o
3. Go buy water from the shops that is branded as “pure H2o”.
So we want to START with pure H2o, without the metals, chlorine etc…
Now go to your local Health shop. Not your big chain commercial food supplier but the little health shop on the corner and ask for: RAW, CELTIC SEA SALT. You want to get one that is a FINE GRAIN, and it should be unbleached, unprocessed. It will look grey and a bit dirty almost. This is REAL salt taken straight from the ocean. If its pure white, it has been processed, bleached and is NOT goodyou’re your health. So inspect your salt!
Now you put a pinch of this per litre into your pure H2o. (note, if you can taste it, you put way too much!). So its only a pinch, but this adds the mineral content to the H2o that the body needs to assist in absorbing the water. There are hundreds of minerals on the planet. Celtic Sea salt has 78 specific minerals. Now if I was to take your blood plasma, and pull it apart and analysed the mineral content, you also have 78, and it’s THE SAME 78 as found in celtic sea salt. THAT is how you hydrate the body. That’s no coincidence, that’s mother nature, or god, whatever you want to belive in, designing us to survive on this planet. When we try to be intelligent and bring in plastic bottles with chlorine, and fluoride and devoid all the mineral content just so a big company can make money, you don’t get hydrated that way! That’s not how the body works!
You will find by adding a pinch of the salt this makes the water you drink almost identical to the fluid inside your cells, allowing the water to get absorbed into the cells, giving you maximum hydration… and the best side effect, much less peeing! I typically drink 1.5 litres before lunchtime, and normally don’t pee until atleast 200pm when im getting closer to my 2litre mark for the day.
BOTTLES
A few points on bottled water. Your other alternative is to buy water that already has all the right stuff in it ready to go, the brands I am aware of that are global are: FIJI and EVIAN. Both have TDS above 300, bottled at the source so no heavy metals are picked up in pipelines and no chlorine or fluoride added. So it’s a very good quality. However, only use the bottle once, never refill plastic water bottles. There are oodles of studies showing chemicals, particularly estrogen and phytoestrogens found in plastic bottles and if used over and over these chemicals leech into your water. For a male, this is very problematic as it really can be detrimental to your hormonal system, thyroid and adrenal glands. Also, the softer the plastic, the worse it is and the more it leeches. I recommend buying stainless steel drinking bottles that have proven to have BPA free testing as well as 100% zero leeching of metals. These are basically 100% clean bottles to drink from. I get mine from
http://green-canteen.com.au/ or
www.cheeki.net.au/HOW MUCH TO DRINK?
Really varies person to person. A simple guide is this:
Multiply your body weight in Kg’s by 0.03.
So a 70kg person needs about 2litres, a 100kg person is 3 litres.
Also for every hour of strenuous exercise add another litre
If you live in a very hot climate add more as well.
A 100kg male, living in a hot climate who does an hour of exercise really should be up around 5-6 litres to stay optimally hydrated!
So in summary:
• Hydralyte is a good option if your really struggling
• No tap water
• No bottled water unless its FIJI or EVIAN
• Drinking boiled water removes nasties but causes bone and teeth issues
• All water filters remove nasties but again causes tooth and bone issues
• Add a pinch of celtic sea salt to your boiled water, reverse osmosis water or Pure H2o water purchased from the shop to get the needed mineral content to increase hydration and prevent bone or tooth issues
• FIJI and EVIAN are ok, just don’t re-use the bottles.
• Drink out of stainless steel bottles for decreased toxin exposure
I personally buy Pure H2o from the shops in large casks (10 litre cask – I get 6 at a time so 60 litres!). Then I fill up my 1 litre bottles and add a pinch of my celtic sea salt to it every morning and away I go. Fast, effective and easy to do. Clean water, optimal mineral content, maximum cellular absorption.
Hope this helps!
JH
