Let’s face it. The struggle is real when it comes water. How much should we attempt to consume each day? What kind of water is best to drink anymore? And how much are we actually absorbing into our cells? As a skin care professional I can tell you water is key to keeping your skin’s health and appearance in order. It obviously holds all kinds of other internal health benefits too numerous to detail, but if you are not absorbing water or drinking water that is subpar and stripped of all it’s minerals, you are just taking a lot of trips to the bathroom since it’s reaching the toilet more proficiently than penetrating your cells.
Most bottled water is crap. Reverse osmosis and distilling strips the water of the minerals needs for maximum absorption into the body, and let’s not even talk about the chemicals you leach from the plastic bottle. Tap water is like drinking from a chlorinated pool. Home filtered water such as Brita systems pass the water through too quickly to do much good and only really cut down on the chlorine and not the other crazy things in municipal water systems. Alkaline water ionizers, well, my personal opinion you ask? They are an expensive fad that may or may not work and I truly believe keeping the body in too much of an alkaline state neutralizes the good acids in your gut to properly digest your food.
I could probably write a book on what I’ve learned on the subject, so I’m going to do my best to narrow things down to some helpful guidelines.
1. Run don’t walk to get a filter on your shower head. Amazon has many. They may not block everything, but they will cut down on the chlorine you absorb and shower your body, face and hair with…if you have hair that is. This is especially mandatory for people that have dandruff, eczema, acne, sensitive skin or any other topical skin disorder.
2. If you are renting or can’t afford the big installed household water filter or purification system, get a slow drip counter top filter. I found Berkey is a great brand. I fill it every night and it takes about 2 1/2 hours to filter through a pretty serious filter weeding out chlorine, fluoride and arsenic to name a few. This completely eliminated my need to buy plastic bottles due to having a great stainless steel reusable one. When I work out I remineralize the water with a dash of Himalayan pink salt. This also helps the body absorb better. There are also a variety of stir wands that are available on line for remineralization.
3. If you do buy bottle water, buy the one with electrolytes and minerals added.
4. A good practice and habit to get into is drinking 12 ounces to a liter of water upon waking on an empty stomach to flush the gut. I follow that with a big cup of warm water and lemon juice which has multiple benefits. Increases absorption, cleans out digestive tract, boosts immunity and does wonders for the skin. You also get a big kick of potassium, magnesium, calcium, antioxidants and vita B and C!
5. A good rule of thumb is to try to consume half your weight in ounces of water per day. 150 pounds = 75 ounces. And always try to follow your dehydrating caffeinated beverages with a glass of water.
6. Last but not least is a great tip about CHIA SEEDS. For those of you who might enjoy drinking these little gelatinous power seeds, this is the tip of the day!
- They hold 10-12 times their weight in water and can help you absorb water into your system up to 60% better if you drink them in your water increasing your hydration game. Get crazy and add lemon with about 1 tablespoon of chia seeds per liter.
- They are a superfood super high in Omega-3s, fiber, antioxidants, protein, minerals including iron, copper, magnesium, calcium and zinc.
- They aid in digestion and fight free radicals and oxidation in the body providing amazing support to your entire body and skin. They have also proven to lower cholesterol and help with brain function among many other benefits.
- There really is no down side to these mighty seeds that do so much more than grow funny hair on ceramic heads. Oh yeah, they do get caught in your teeth. You’ve been warned.
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