Reflections
Welcome to GreenNote Fitness Reflections.
Each month I share with you what I’m doing for longevity - to live my life fully with joy while serving others.
We will deep-dive into optimizing brain function and mitochondrial health while
maintaining strength and balance of body, mind, and spirit.
This monthly newsletter, Reflections, focuses on longevity and anti-aging. It delves into healthspan; living healthier. There are so many exciting modalities that can help us on our journey. Before getting too far down the "latest & greatest” avenue, there are fundamental elements that need to be covered first.
One of the most fundamental elements to life is water. What longevity and anti-aging discussion would be complete without digging a little deeper into what it does for us? And what discussion would be complete without looking into the quality of that fundamental element? You see, although fundamental to life and improving our longevity, not all water is created equal. In fact, some water can very harmful to us and set us on a path to chronic illness.
We begin with a look at the importance of hydration.
Hydration (healthy)
It’s no secret that proper hydration is very important to our overall health. “Drink plenty of water!” has been repeated by most everyone. For good reason, it helps regulate body temperature, keeps joints lubricated, delivers nutrients to cells, and keeps organs functioning properly. It also improves sleep quality, cognition, and mood. Proper water intake guards against cravings, abnormal appetite, and overeating. There is a strong link between overeating and dehydration. Dehydration impedes your body to perform optimally. To burn fat we need proper water intake.
Ok, we know hydration is important for many reasons. What about the quality of water we ingest? We will soon learn not all water is created equal.
Why not just drink tap water?
Although our public water systems report annually on the quality of the water, including minerals and any contaminants that have been found, there may be an issue with acceptable levels. The EPA hasn’t set new tap water standards in almost 20 years. Some standards are more than four decades old.
As Dr. Jocker’s points out, the EPA regulates municipal water to ensure that water borne illness will not occur and contaminates stay down. Chlorine and disinfectant byproducts (DBP’s) are added to waterways to disinfect the water and kill off pathogenic bacteria. While this has successfully reduced water borne infection, unfortunately, chlorine and DBP’s are highly toxic for human consumption. Other problems with tap water include industrial waste, nitrates, pharmaceuticals, fluoride, and arsenic.
Why I don’t like plastic water bottles
Plastic water bottles (or plastic anything) although convenient and inexpensive, is made up of harmful chemicals that pass on to us. The water in those plastic bottles may be just as bad as tap water. Plastic water bottles have chemicals i.e. Bisphenol A (BPA), that seep into the water. Those toxins can disrupt hormonal balance in the body. They can mimic the hormone estrogen. BPA can stimulate premature puberty and even lead to breast development in males. BPA has also been linked to breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
Again, Dr. Jockers, “The EPA has no regulating standards that are applied to bottled water facilities. Studies reveal that 40% of bottled water is actually regular tap water with possibly no additional filtering treatment. There are also no laws enacted to keep bottled water facilities away from industrial plants or waste dumps."
Plastic bottled water summarized from Dr. Axe’s article you can read in full here:
National Resources Defense Council estimates at least 25% of bottle water is really tap water and 22% of the brands they tested contained containment levels above state health limits
Chemicals leach from the plastic bottles - Bisphenol A is one of them (BPA)
BPAs are found in plastics, including water bottles
Even if the water wasn’t originally tainted with BPAs, they can be transmitted from the bottle to the water
These chemicals are an endocrine disruptor (disrupts hormones)
They mimic estrogen, interfering with all hormone levels and genetic messages
BPAs are linked to reproduction health problems and breast, ovarian and prostate cancers
I try to limit my use of plastic water bottles to when traveling and the only option in the airport is to purchase a plastic bottle of water. I do travel with a stainless steel water bottle and transfer the plastic water bottle contents and then recycle the plastic bottle when airports provide recycling as an option. Approximately 1 million plastic bottles are bought every minute and less than 50% of those are recycled.
My solution!
This leads us back to the main message - quality hydration is a fundamental element to good health. This is why every month I have delivered to my door glass 5-gallon bottles of Mountain Valley Spring Mineral water.
These are a bit heavy but with proper handling one can place onto the cooler without incident. I may have learned that one the hard way! Just like you might see in an office, place your water bottle underneath the spout and voila! It’s cool, great tasting, good-for-you, clean water.
Some benefits of mineral water:
Drinking mineral water can definitely add to your intake of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals.
Bottled mineral water contains up to four times as much calcium and magnesium as regular tap water.
One study found that people whose drinking water was low in magnesium were able to lower their blood pressure by drinking a liter of mineral water every day.
Another study found that drinking mineral water reduced kidney stone formation in people prone to get them.
I’ve noticed that I’m actually consuming more water now that we have mineral water. Why? Anecdotally, it just tastes good. More likely used to describe a scotch or wine, I find that it is very “smooth”. I use the mineral water to make my Kion Coffee, in my Organifi Green Juice, and for guests. Overnight guests receive a glass bottle filled with mineral water on their nightstand paired of course with a drinking glass.
This article turned out to be longer than I had intended. I realized that before we can even begin to talk about one of the most fundamental elements to life - water - we must first address modern living. Modern living in this country is synonymous with plastic. It is cheap, light and easy to transport. Please understand it is also very harmful. Bottom line is that for longevity, healthspan, and functioning properly, hydration is a fundamental element to good health. Take that further and it very much depends upon the quality of the water we drink.
To our reflection,
Lisa Schaffer
Do you have a friend that would benefit from this information?
***Please forward it to them!***
See my last newsletter Importance of Stillness…?
