Hydration is More Important Than Food!

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Hydration is Key for Brain Health

Don’t get me wrong, both food and water are both very important. However, if you stop eating you will be able to fast for a while. Some people even do 30 days on just water with electrolytes! Stop drinking water, and you will only have a precious few days.
When you get dehydrated, you will notice more severe symptoms than when you are just hungry. Now we mentioned in another article how if your blood sugar is not stable then you may experience symptoms of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.
Read our Full Article on Blood Sugar here if you want to learn more on keeping you insulin, energy, and blood sugar steady.

Food is Important, but Hydration Comes First

We often hear the idea that “you’re not thirsty, you’re hungry”. While its not always true, it is important to understand that often times when we eat uncontrollably, our body is actually crying out for more water and not more food.
This is exacerbated when we have been drinking lots of sugary beverages or beverages with caffeine. These kinds of drinks can dehydrate you more even if they are “natural” or “organic”.
Please buy organic, fair-trade, coffee, but just know that its best to over compensate with more water than you would usually drink after the fact when drinking anything caffeinated or full of sugar.

The Minimum Hydration Equation

The Best Water…

I know this is a bold statement, and a lot of you are going to think that I am going to mention Kangen Water or Dreamtree or some other company. That’s not the case. In my opinion, the best water is real spring water.
In the U.S. there are no regulations on what can be legally called spring water, so Ozarka says “natural spring water” but the mineral content says otherwise.

The Difference Between Hot and Cold Springs

The best kind of spring water for drinking is cold spring water that has a very low TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) count. The best is typically between 20-50 ppm of total dissolved solids.
If the mineral counts are too high as is the case with most hot springs, then it may not be the best water to drink.
However, if the water comes out at or below the temperature of the ground (approximately 58°F year round if you go deep enough), and it as a low TDS count, then it may be the best water you can drink.
This kind of cold water spring tend to have an ethereal blue-green color to them that gives them an almost mystical appeal as seeming like sacred water that comes out of the Earth.
Search the database at FindaSpring.com and see if there is a public spring near you that you can get water from!

For the Rest of Us…

For those of us who live in the city or far away from a public spring, water without toxins is the best! Distilled and reverse osmosis (RO) water have the least contamination, but they also have the least amount of minerals!
Most store-bought “spring water” is actually just distilled or RO water in a plastic bottle. Plastics are all of full of plascticizers, and plasticizers are often at best hormone disruptors, and at worst carcinogens.

Where Does the Junk Come From?

If you do not think that pollution is a real problem on our planet consider that international organizations like the WHO and its subsidiaries estimate that humans are dumping 21 billion pounds of known toxins into the environment each year! 
This problem often ends up in ground water, oceans and fisheries, and into city water systems that do not adequately filter out these pollutants. In Los Angeles, traces of Xanax and numerous other prescription medications were found in the city tap water!
There are numerous toxins that come from industrial processes, the automobile industry, and many other industries like the pharmaceutical industry, petrochemical industry, and even the agricultural industry.
There are those who think a more insidious plot is at play when it comes to fluoride. 
Read our Full Article on Fluoride to learn what is science and what is just hype.

What Kind of Filter Do I Get?!

The short answer is: that depends. If you live on well water, then you will require less filtration then say city water. Remember, you are showering in this stuff, and drinking this stuff every day?!
Your body is mostly made of water. Your brain is mostly water contained in fatty membranes called neurons and myelin, and it sits in cerebrospinal fluid that is mostly water. If you don’t get a filter, then you become a filter!

Well Water and City Recommendations

I recommend you get your well tested to see if there are even traces of lead, mercury, arsenic, flouride, or any other contaminants.
I would use at least a two-stage filtration system with a 5 micron polyurethane filter mainly to remove sedimentary material and a 5 micron carbon filter to remove minerals, metals, and biological organisms.
If a third filter is used then, it is usually added to put some slightly alkaline minerals for flavor, and pH in the water. You can also add it for extra filtration.

Other Kinds of Filters

Most people will do a two or three stage filtration before using an RO system. This is what I recommend for people using city water.
Most counter-top carbon filters like Brita and PUR only filter out chlorine for flavor…and that’s about it.
There are other filters like Santevia, Dream Tree, and AquaOVO that mineralize water the same way the the different layers of the Earth’s crust affects water as it pools in the underground reservoirs.
These filters structure water and change its pH by changing its mineral content. This can make the water more hydrating because the water will have electrolytes to keep us hydrated.
These are best if you are using water that has already been filtered.

What’s Best For Unfiltered City Tap?

Reverse Osmosis (RO) and distillation are the best for clearing out all toxins. They also get rid of all minerals.
This means that you would need to either supplement electrolytes, or make sure to add plenty of them to your foods.
Reverse osmosis is not a very efficient system so it is a bit inefficient energy-wise which can make it more costly. Distillation is even worse in this regard.
Most of the water machines at grocery stores are simply RO water systems that charge per gallon.

Other Options for Urban Use

Some filters, like Berkey’s 5 micron carbon filter with added fluoride/arsenic filter, get very close to everything for a pretty decent price. Otherwise you can get filtered water at grocery store.
A filter like the one on the right would be best for adding minerals after the main filtration process occurs. This is way less necessary on well water than it is with city water.

Whole House or Point of Use?

If you have plenty of money to invest, then a 2 stage whole house system with RO attachement, and mineralizing cartridge after the intense filtration.
It will get all of your sinks, showers, and bathtubs in your entire house so you are completely protected from pollution in the water. They are more expensive, but they are worth it.

The Less Expensive Route…

They are more complex, but they are also more convenient. Luckily for those not ready to drop thousands of dollars on a water system, there are point of use systems that you fill, and small RO and filter system for one sink.
This can really drop the cost, and still give you quality water.
I’ve mentioned many of the ones that I like, and the pros and cons of each type except for the ones that shift the pH using electrical energy pulsed through water via platinum coated plates that charge the water.

The Water Chargers

These machines like Kangen and the Varunizer can alter the pH of water by running electricity through platinum coated plates. This transfers electrons into the water which changes the pH or potential hydrogen of the water.
These machines are expensive because of the platinum plates, but the upside is that they also come with pre-filters (two 5 micron filters; one polyurethane & one carbon). Some of them even have a mineralizing cartridge like the Varunizer.

Is All of That Electricity Safe?

My one warning about these machines is that they can cause heart palpitations among other symptoms if you are drinking water that is too alkaline all of the time. Alkalosis has a lot of the same side-effects as acidosis.
Some of these machines are adjustable pH which is good so you can adjust your water as you need to. Our optimal blood pH is 7.356 which is just slightly alkaline. You don’t want to be drinking water that is at 9.5 all the time or you will get out of balance.

This Water Machine is Epic and It Will Set You Back About 3 Grand:

This is one of my favorite water machines on Earth that is currently available to the public now. You can adjust not only the pH from 2.5 up to 11.5, but you can also adjust the oxygen radical potential or ORP of the water.

This basically means that you can raise the water’s antioxidant potential at will. However, most people a machine that just makes drinkable water, not a machine that turns water into a technology for cleaning, healing, and hydration.

What About Bottled Water?

I avoid plastic bottles as much as possible for health reasons and environmental reasons so Mountain Valley Spring Water is in a glass bottle and it is real spring water with a decent TDS count.
There are a few brands that I like in BPA-free plastic bottles that I drink on occasion. Evamor is slightly alkaline artesian water that feels really balanced to me, and it is a good pH range that naturally occurs underground.

Science Water!

Essentia Water is another brand that I like. They do not add a blend of natural electrolytes, but they have done preliminary studies using blood tests that show that their water does hydrate faster than the average bottled water. Its pH is about 9.5.
Core Water and some other brands that are pH balanced are also pretty good because they can hydrate you without throwing your blood or organ pH out of whack.
Alkaline 88 is an 8.8 pH caused by naturally occurring minerals. It is also a great store-bought brand that is slightly alkaline.

How is pH Calculated?

Just remember that pH is a logarithmic scale that goes up by base 10 so neutral water like distilled water or RO water is at 7 pH whereas Gatorade and even Perrier is at a pH of 3 which means that these drinks are 10,000 times more acidic than distilled or RO water!
Your optimal blood pH is at 7.356 so sometimes a little alkaline water is good if your diet has been off kilter. Ultimately, you are the one who knows what water gives you the best feeling in your body.

BONUS: More High-Tech Ways to Transport Your Water

There are fancy EHM flasks that change the pH, mineralization, relative hydrogen, and ORP of your water.
It sets automatically to a good ratio where you have slightly alkaline water that has a lot of antioxidant potential and a form of hydrogen that also acts like an additional antioxidant that increases cell longevity in vivo.
These flasks will set you back a $160 dollars on Amazon, but we also love this other much more affordable Contigo AUTOSEAL Chill Stainless Steel Water Bottle. It is easy to use, easy to clean, and has no BPA or other plasticizers. You can also find it on Amazon.
And if you want to learn about hydration and gastric feeds, this is a Full Article on Hydration and Tube Feeds as well as our Full Article on Gastric Feeds for people who cannot eat conventionally.