“Interesting water” is a phrase I use to describe enlivened water; by adding salt, fruit, herbs or veggies you can bring your glass to life and increase absorption to better hydrate.

Dehydration can be sneaky

Maybe you notice you’re a little more irritable, you may or may not notice a dry mouth.

By the time you notice you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated.

We are over 70% water, it makes sense to be proactive about keeping ourselves well hydrated for optimal function and clarity!

The Hydration Formula That Actually Works

Here's the simple math I teach: drink half your body weight in ounces of clean, filtered water daily. For a 150-pound person, that's 75 ounces—about 9 cups spread throughout the day. Set a timer if you need the reminder!

Critical timing note: Space it out! Chugging a gallon at once isn't just useless—it's dangerous. The dose makes the poison. When severely dehydrated, sip slowly or consider urgent care for IV fluids.

We are mostly water, and we're electrical beings. What conducts electricity best? Salty water. This is why replenishing both water and electrolytes—through quality salts, minerals, organic vegetables, and fruits—is vital for restoring and maintaining the balance.

Heat game-changer: When it's hot out or you’re working up a sweat, add a pinch of salt to help absorption. Even better, create what I call "interesting water"—add fresh fruit, herbs, or cucumber. The live water molecules in these additions actually help enliven your water, making it more bioavailable to your cells.

Remember: you can have increased water loss through diuretic effects of certain medications, alcoholic beverages or from increased sweating. During exercise or heat exposure, those electrolytes become even more crucial for replacing what you're losing through sweat. Plan ahead with electrolyte packets (and please read labels carefully to avoid excess sugar, artificial flavors or colors and unnecessary synthetic “vitamins”. Celsius drinks and other energy drinks are junk and are NOT helping your hydration or health status.)

Why Your Water Isn't Working (And How to Fix It)

Ever feel like you drank water and immediately peed it out? There's a phrase in Chinese Medicine: "dry earth cannot absorb the rain." Similar to the earth, if a body is too dehydrated or if there are no electrolytes or minerals in the water, it's less likely to be absorbed and more likely to be passed through and peed out.

This is especially important in the heat of summer when we really want to make the hydration count! So adding electrolytes, a little fruit, cucumber slices (think spa water!), a little honey, even a pinch of salt, can help us to slow down absorption and really get the most out of our glass.

Key Solutions:

Drink slowly, don't gulp
Add electrolytes to your water
Create "interesting water" with salt, fresh herbs, fruit, or sliced cucumber

Nature's Hydration Station

Mother Nature has provided the perfect solution: seasonal fruits bursting with water and nutrients. Watermelon, which might feel too cooling for winter months, becomes your hydration hero when temperatures soar. Fresh seasonal produce like snap peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn aren't just delicious—they're natural water sources that help replenish what you lose through sweat while delivering vital nutrients your body craves.

This is the season to embrace eating with the calendar, supporting your health with live water when your body needs it most. With longer daylight hours disrupting sleep patterns and heat zapping your energy reserves, investing in nutrient-dense seasonal foods becomes your secret weapon for maintaining vitality. Fresh watermelon juice, homemade spa water infused with cucumber and basil, or simply munching on crisp seasonal vegetables will boost your antioxidant intake while keeping you refreshed—no artificial colors, flavors, or sugar crashes needed.

Skip the Gatorade and wine coolers (yes, people still drink those!) and reach for nature's hydration station instead. Your kids will love the naturally sweet alternatives to high-sugar popsicles, and you'll love knowing you're building health reserves & healthy habits that will serve your family well when summer fun winds down and the busy school season begins.

Three Essential Tips

#1 Get a good quality filter. Counter top I like Clearly Filtered, though the pitcher can be heavy for the kiddos when full. MultiPure is my top recommendation and preference—they are generous with information about quality.

#2 Also countertop or below sink I love the MultiPure water filter. It's easy, carbon block filtration makes water taste great and gets out almost everything on my list, plus things I wouldn't have even thought of.

#3 I use filtered water for tea and pasta cooking too. As I recently explained to a friend, boiling dirty water doesn't purify it—it actually concentrates whatever contaminants are present as the water steams away. So please, use clean water for all your cooking!

Stay safe, stay hydrated, and make every sip count this summer.

Is there anything better than cold watermelon on a hot day?!

Summer's blazing heat calls for smart hydration strategies, let's also talk about what can go wrong when we don't get it right.

The Real Risks: When Heat Becomes Dangerous

As far as heatstroke goes, prevention is definitely preferable to navigating the fallout. Heat exhaustion is a serious condition that can affect both children and adults, and recognizing the warning signs early is vital to prevent progression to heatstroke, which is life-threatening.

Common Signs in Children and Adults:

Heavy sweating
Cool, clammy or moist skin, sometimes pale or flushed
Fatigue or unusual tiredness
Weakness and dizziness or fainting
Nausea and/or vomiting
Headache
Muscle cramps, especially in arms, legs, or stomach
Elevated body temperature: usually between 100°F and 104°F (38–40°C) but less than 105°F (40.5°C)
Rapid heartbeat and increased thirst
Irritability (especially in children)
Goosebumps on skin even while in the heat
Fast, shallow breathing

Critical Alert: Heat exhaustion can progress to heatstroke, a medical emergency characterized by confusion, lack of sweating, and dangerously high body temperature. Even more concerning, as people pass from heat exhaustion to heatstroke they may lose even the urge to drink water. This is an emergency situation and may require IV fluids.

Please consult help immediately! Immediate action can prevent severe complications and potentially save a life.

(insert photo of summer sunshine)

A clear way to tell if you are dehydrated is by checking the frequency of your peeing (results may vary) and more telling, the color (or odor) of your urine. Concentrated means not enough water coming in, a strong smell can be because of something you ate, too concentrated or a health issue you might want to get checked out.

Even minor dehydration can be an issue, “Mild dehydration is associated with headache, irritability, poorer physical performance, and reduced cognitive functioning among both children and adults” link here

There are other signs of chronic dehydration worth being aware of:

fatigue
muscle aches
confusion
irritability

More long term chronic low grade dehydration can cause:

increased back pain
reduced capacity for running or exercise
increase risk for depression (yikes) link here

There’s a fascinating resource book called “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” by F. Batmanhelidj M.D.

He says "You are not sick, you are thirsty. Don't treat thirst with medication."

In it he claims many of our current health challenges, including weight gain, hypertension, allergies, asthma, back pain, fatigue (& others) are actually symptoms of chronic dehydration and that people can treat these and reduce their suffering simply by drinking 8-10 glasses per day of clean water.

Certainly I think with all the distractions of sports drinks, coffee, soda and alcohol, not to mention the hindrances of life in general- it takes effort to remember to drink enough clean healthy hydrating water. (When did you last have water or tea?)

This all gets worse when things heat up, whether from the temperature outside or feeling taxed by life in general. Feeling challenged? Make sure adequate water is in your self-care regimen. Being well hydrated will make a difference in your clarity and improve your ability to meet and solve difficulties.

Before and after on the MultiPure annual filter change. Helps me feel better to see what I’m filtering out!

The Water Quality Question

Now, about that water you're drinking and cooking with. I've coined the phrase "interesting water" to describe water your body can more readily absorb and use. Plain old tap water? No thanks.

While municipal water has been "cleaned" and chlorinated, and should be safe to drink without getting any major infections, rarely has it been cleaned of: 1. old medications 2. pesticide runoff 3. metals 4. etc

Then there's the fluoride question. Recent research has again linked fluoride to lowered IQ, and here's something worth knowing: current fluoride levels in tap water are calculated to deliver the "recommended dose" in just one glass. But what happens when you drink the 8-10 glasses I'm suggesting? The math doesn't add up. If you want fluoride, you can always add it to your own water. Mass medicating an entire population without individual consent raises serious questions, especially considering that children and people with kidney issues may struggle to excrete fluoride properly, leading to higher-than-intended levels in their systems.

And when you look at tap water quality, California ranks #4 for worst water quality in the US (my guess is due to ag run-off). This is a health hazard and needs to be remediated immediately. There are other cities on par with Flint, Michigan, including Cleveland OH, Chicago IL, Detroit MI, Baltimore MD. When people drink unhealthy water they cannot themselves be healthy. This is a travesty for our children.

Bottled Water Reality Check: Bottled water offers undeniable convenience, especially when traveling, and certain brands definitely outperform others. But here's what might surprise you: many popular brands are simply filtered tap water—which isn't necessarily bad if the filtration is thorough. A few key concerns keep me cautious, though. First, plastic bottles can leach chemicals into the water, particularly when stored in heat. Second, always check that initial seal—during our time in Morocco, we learned that some vendors cleverly reuse bottles, creating potential health risks. A broken seal is your red flag. Third and perhaps most importantly, companies (like Nestle) have been able to secure water rights for ridiculously low annual fees, removing water from the areas that need it and profiting immensely, while creating mountains of plastic waste.

Reverse Osmosis Trade-offs: Reverse osmosis delivers impressively pure H2O by forcing water through specialized membranes—but at what cost? While these systems excel at creating truly clean water, they strip away beneficial minerals in the process. Can mineral drops really replace what nature provides? The jury's still out. Plus, with high costs for a household system and lingering questions about whether ultra-pure water might be too inert for optimal health, this powerful filtration method comes with questions worth considering.

My Filter Solution

At home we have a MultiPure filter, which I love. After purchasing the initial unit the only cost is a replacement filter, which at 750 gallons I figure once a year is enough.

Why did I switch? I first noticed that the old Brita had me leaving unfinished water glasses around, I just wasn't thirsty when that was the option.

A good quality water filter should be able to tell you what it removes, and be 3rd party certified. MultiPure filters list all they remove here.

I've settled on filtering our tap water and using reusable travel bottles as my go-to approach. I add back electrolytes and minerals, plus treat myself to glass-bottled spring water occasionally. Lately, I've been daydreaming about using camping filters to collect water directly from our local hillside spout—literally a pipe delivering fresh water that's been naturally filtered through rock. Even then, I'd probably filter it again just to be safe!

I hope this has been a helpful reminder, feeling off? You probably need to drink more water. Come in for individualized care to get more specific suggestions, let’s get you feeling GREAT!

Waterwise ~ Staying Cool: Why "Just Drinking Water" Isn't Enough for Summer Health