Water, Water, EveryWare!
Everyone is selling water. At a Natural Foods trade show last week I found some that interested me, lots that didn't, and realized how much misinformation is out there. Everyone knows we are largely made of water; I have always encouraged my clients to drink half as many ounces each day as they weigh in pounds, including a glass first thing every morning and last thing every night. That lubricates the joints while they are resting, keeps the muscles free to float inside the fascia (restless legs are often the result of friction resulting from dehydration), and provides for a host of basic body functions. First response to that is usually "but I will have to get up at night!", which is usually only true for a few days, after which the kidneys aren't making up for lost time.
People say they don't like the taste of water. It's the universal solvent, so what you are tasting is either contaminants in the water, or toxins breaking down in your mouth. Only reverse osmosis and distillation are actually considered purifiers-anything else is a filter. Boxed water is better for the environment than plastic bottles, but I am more concerned about health issues and boxes are tetra-packs, which contain plastic. Most producers use BPA-free plastics, but it was decades of use before studies showed negative impact and we will see the same thing in another few years. Plastics are estrogen disruptors. Refill glass or stainless bottles!
Alkaline water is a trend I am glad to see diminishing, because people don't know how to use it. We do NOT need alkaline bodies, we need alkaline blood. Our skin and stomach especially are supposed to be quite acidic, and ph literally changes from minute to minute as our bodies function correctly. Drinking alkaline water within an hour of eating creates waste acids by preventing the stomach from breaking down protein and calcium; before bed and during strenuous exercise is about the only time it's a good idea for most people. How it is created also matters; Qure water mimics nature by filtering it through multiple layers of ionic minerals, while most are not much more than baking soda added to water.
Trendiest waters, and some of my favorites, are nopal and maple waters. I don't care if there are documented superfood claims for them; I need hydration and trace minerals and they, along with coconut water, offer both. Again, the processing -or lack thereof- is key. Raw is always better because it retains the enzymes that allow the body to utilize trace nutrients contained in the waters. Nature varies even from tree to tree, so some coconut water will be pinkish and other clear, and the intensity of nopal flavor and maple sweetness will vary from batch to batch and time to time. I had a conversation with the founder of Lakewood juices many years ago when they began adding grape juice concentrate, a refined sweetener, to some of their products. I was furious but he said customers insisted on a "consistent flavor profile" so they were accommodating the insistence that pineapple juice taste exactly the same every time. (They now use the 'pure' label to indicate that only the label-named fruit is in the jar.) Learn to rejoice in the subtle flow of the seasons. We have lost much by being able to get anything we want any time. One indication (cause or effect?) of depression is not having anything to look forward to. Look forward to maple water for spring, nopal for summer, and better health all around as you make water a living part of your day.
