How much and what kind of water should you drink?

February 13, 2017

How much and what kind of water should you drink?

You may think that you are drinking enough water. But chances are very high that what you think is a lot is clearly not enough. The health benefits of drinking more water are well documented, but we often

forget to hydrate as much as we need to.

Your brain sends out thirst signals when your hydration level dips 2-3%. But only a 1% dip in hydration can impair your mental and physical performance. Probably the reason why most of us are chronically dehydrated. Water is SO essential to the body that a person can live one month without food, but only a week without water. All of this you probably knew already, but it’s important that you take action and make it a habit to drink more water. 

How much water should I Drink?

You may have heard the suggestion to drink 8 cups of 8oz of water per day also called the 8x8 rule. The other common rule is drinking half your body weight (lbs) in oz of water. However, each individual’s need for water can be drastically different. Factors such as the individual’s metabolic rate, environmental conditions (hot humid, hot dry, cold humid, cold dry), and activities determines how much water she needs.

Since these factors vary from person to person, instead of an average requirement, the National Institutes of Health came up with adequate intake based on a person’s calorie consumption per day. Use this chart as a guideline to decide how much water to drink.

As you can see, a 25 year old female that burns 2,100 calories a day should drink 2,700 ml of water minimum. That's about 0.7 gallons of water, which is considered adequate intake. If she works out or lives in a dryer environment, she should drink even more than that. Use this chart as a guideline to establish the minimum amount of water you drink per day.

What Kind of Water Should I Drink?

The amount of water you drink is very important, but even more crucial is the quality of water you consume. All water is not created equal. So many people say “it’s just water”, but really it’s not. Are you going to pump Arco unleaded gasoline into your Porsche Carerra GT? Respect your body and make sure you drink high-quality H2O.

Bottled Water
Try to avoid plastic bottled water if possible and opt for water in glass bottles. Plastic leaches chemicals into the water that the body perceives as hormones, which can throw your hormones out of whack. If you happen to forget a plastic bottle of water in the car, don’t ever drink that chemical infused trash.

The best bottled water to consume is spring water, artesian water, or glacier water bottled at the source. It’s sometimes inevitable to buy bottled water, so avoid bottled water such as Dasani, Aquafina, or Smart water, which are basically filtered tap water.

Look on the bottle of water under the nutrition facts for the water source. If it says “municipal water” that means it’s tap water and it should be avoided. There are some bottled water companies that claim that their filter system is extra unique and filters the tap water extensively to produce AMAZING water. It’s up to you if you want to believe that. But for me, if I buy bottle water, I get something from a natural source. Fiji water is my personal favorite.

Tap Water

Although water may be readily available to you via tap, you shouldn’t ever drink straight tap water due to all of pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, traces of prescription drugs, xenoestrogens, chlorines, and fluoride.

Chlorine is added to tap water to kill harmful bacteria, but it also combines with minerals and heavy metals to become toxic materials that clog up your cells. Fluoride is added to prevent cavities but it slowly makes you dumb and sick. Research has shown that fluoride LITERALLY lowers IQ.

Invest in some good filters, especially ones that remove fluoride and chlorine along with everything else. Reverse osmosis filters with activated charcoal filtering are usually a solid choice for pure clean water. There is some concern about reverse osmosis removing all the minerals in water and making the water acidic. However, these filters make water slightly acidic (~6pH) which is not a big deal, and you can always add minerals back into the water.

A very affordable water filter that I recommend is the Berkey Water Filter. The Royal Berkey Filter for example costs $283.00 and it’s good for 6,000 gallons of water (Enough for a family of 5 for 3 years), coming out to $0.05 per gallon. This is a great investment for the health of you and your family. There are different sizes available so check it out!

Another great water filter is the UltraStream. It’s 8-step filtration design removes 99.99% of pesticides, chloramines, and chlorine, 98% of heavy metals, and 80% of fluoride. It also adds the powerful antioxidant Molecular Hydrogen into the water, along with the alkaline minerals magnesium and calcium. This is the filter that I use and it produces great tasting, healthy water for me all year long

Making Sure Your Water Has Minerals

Distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or water without any minerals is not the best kind of water to drink. Your body has a delicate balance of water and minerals at any given time, and it’s important not to dilute or concentrate the minerals inside your body too much. Diluting the minerals by drinking too much mineral-free water causes your body to steal minerals from your bones and organs.

In order to prevent this issue, you need to add minerals to your water if it’s distilled or from a reverse osmosis filter. For every 35-40 oz of water, try adding 1/4 teaspoon of Pink Himalayan Salt. This natural salt contains 84 minerals and elements. It’s pure and untouched by toxins and pollutants, matured over 250 million years under intense tectonic pressure. This salt is structured in a colloidal form that your cells can absorb and utilize easily.

If you’re drinking spring water, artesian water, or water from a natural source, it probably has a good amount of minerals so there’s no need to add extra minerals to your water.

Temperature of Water
Cold water seems to quench thirst the best, and many people are accustomed to drinking ice water. But your body temperature is 98.6F. What do you think happens when you dump ice water into your stomach? Your whole gastrointestinal tract contracts. According to ayurvedic (indian traditional) medicine, your “digestive fire” is extinguished leading to inefficient breakdown of foods. If you like drinking cold water, it may be the reason why you suffer from cramps, nausea, gas, or constipation. Try your best to avoid drinking cold water 30 minutes before and after meal time.

Take care of your body by drinking purified, high-quality water in the right amounts. Women especially seem to have a hard time drinking lots of water. But water helps in so many ways including giving you clearer skin and aiding in weight-loss. Try these 5 tips to help you drink more water so that you can have a healthier energetic life. Hydrate to dominate!

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