191: The Right Way To Hydrate with Carly Stagg, FNP

Bet you didn’t know there’s a wrong way to hydrate but there is. I’m a little cringey when I hear people say they drink a gallon of water a day (made popular recently by the 75 Hard Challenge). There is a thing as TOO much water and, for most people, a gallon is too much. It can flush out the minerals you need for your body to be able to actually get water into the cell so you can be hydrated (not to mention you’ll be peeing your brains out!). The goal is hydration - not a certain amount of water. 

In this week’s podcast episode, Carly and I are talking about:

• The minerals you need for proper hydration

• Our favorite electrolytes and other “nutritious fluids”

• The best filtering options for water

Come listen and refine your water goals to ensure you’re actually getting hydrated!

EPISODE 191: The Right Way To Hydrate with Carly Stagg, FNP

Show Notes

(0:00) Intro

• Hello my friend, welcome back to the club, how are you today?

• We’re going to talk about the RIGHT way to hydrate. Bet you didn’t there’s a wrong way, huh? But there is. I’m a little cringey when I hear people saying that they drink a gallon of water a day. A lot of people who do the 75 Hard challenge - which is kind of popular right now - do that and think they’re doing something great for their body when, in fact, it’s really not and believe it or not can actually cause DEHYDRATION. There’s more to being hydrated than just drinking water. You can drink a lot of water and still not be hydrated and hydration is the goal - not a certain amount of water. 

• Carly and I are teaching a really cool module on water in The School of Christian Health and Nutrition that explains how being low in certain minerals can prevent your body from utilizing water, how you can customize your electrolyte drinks for better hydration, which water filters are the best and so much other great insight. Today, we wanted to share some of the practical takeaways with you so that you can up your water game - which doesn’t necessarily mean up your water intake - it means optimizing hydration to optimize overall body function.

• Carly is here to dive into this with us and especially elucidate the blood chemistry of it. 

(2:55) Why Water is Important:

• Our bodies is mostly made of water 

• 99% of the molecules in the body are water

•  Many/most people chronically dehydrated

(6:14) Signs of Dehydration:

• Early Signs:
  - Fatigue
  - Anxiety
  - Irritability
  - Depression
  - Cravings
  - Cramps
  - Headaches
  

• Mature Signs:
  - Heartburn
  - Joint Pain
  - Back Pain

   - Migraines
  - Fibromyalgia
  -Constipation
  - Colitis  

(10:02) How Minerals are a Key Component of Hydration:

• How Water Gets Into the Cell:

  • The majority of our body’s water is located inside the cells, or “intracellular” water. After we drink water, it is initially filtered through our digestive system and then, it becomes part of the blood system in an extracellular capacity (outside the cell). 

  • The key to understanding hydration is how water gets from outside the cell to where it needs to go inside the cell (i.e. intracellular). 

• There is a 2 step process to make this happen: 

  • #1. You need a sufficient volume of water. (🚨and no, we don’t need to drink a gallon of water every day.)

  • #2. You need sufficient minerals, such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which help to transport the water through the body to where it needs to go. 

• Minerals are a key component of hydration. They are considered the “sparkplugs” of chemical reactions in the body. Minerals essentially act as the gatekeepers of cellular transport. Each one has a unique electrical charge (either positive or negative) which will open or close the cell to either receive the water or remove it. 

  • Sodium specifically is CRITICAL for optimal hydration status. Keep in mind that “where sodium goes, water goes”- meaning, when sodium is low, dehydration is common (water leaves blood vessels). When extracellular sodium is too high and intracellular potassium is too low (which prevents sodium from getting into the cell), swelling of the interstitial spaces, bloating, or water retention can occur. 

  • These are just a few common examples, but there is much more to the world of minerals and hydration than meets the eye. We will continue to explore this content in this and following modules. 

  • The bottom line is: If you’re not getting minerals along with the water you’re drinking (whether from food, electrolyte supplements, or mineral rich water), your body has to use minerals from your body’s stores in order to process the water, and ensure it makes it to the cells. The vast majority of us, even if we eat a wide variety of healthy real food, have incredibly depleted vitamin and mineral stores. (Especially considering the context of our modern diets and lifestyles and how nutrient-poor our food has become, due to overfarming and mineral depletion of the soil).

  • Lack of minerals is one reason why when many of us increase our water intake alone, we end up feeling even MORE dehydrated and have to pee all the time- because when our body is not actually able to utilize the water we are drinking, it will dump the excess (usually through our urinary tract). 

Keep in mind, mineral deficiency is a very important contributor to dehydration, but it is not the only factor involved. The process of aging, stress, toxic burdens such as mold or chemical exposures, chronic infections, and inflammation (some or all of the above in many people) are other mechanisms that can decrease the ability of water to enter the cells. 

(20:15) The Proper Way to Hydrate:

• In order to hydrate properly, we need adequate minerals such as: sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, and more. Many of us are deficient in 1, 2 or even all four of these minerals.

• The major key to remember about hydration is this: Chugging LOTS of water all day without minerals coming in will deplete the body and can actually make dehydration worse. If you’re not getting minerals along with the water you are drinking, your body has to use minerals from its stores in order to process the water and ensure it makes it into the cells. This perpetuates mineral deficiency. For this reason, the QUALITY of your water matters just as much as the QUANTITY that you are taking in. 

How Much Water Should Someone Drink?

• A good starting place for an amount of water is ½ the body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water. For example, a 150 lb person should drink around 75 ounces daily of water with added minerals or “nutritious fluids” as explained below. 

• Too much water and not enough minerals can put a strain on the kidneys. They have more filtering to do, but not enough cofactors to actually filter efficiently. 

• To increase minerals in water you can add a pinch of high quality sea salt, a dropperful of minerals (such as Trace Minerals) or an electrolyte powder (like LMNT, Redmond Relyte, Ultima or NUUN). 

• You can also incorporate “nutritious fluids” such as adrenal cocktails, coconut water, homemade mineral elixirs and bone broth in lieu of plain water. Fruit and vegetables naturally contain water as well so they are a great way to stay hydrated!  (P.S. Many water-rich fruits are in season during the summer because of how God designed our bodies to need extra hydration during this time!) The following is a chart from Quench which shows the most hydrating plant foods.

Our favorite electrolytes:

• Nuun

• Ultima Replenisher

• LMNT

• Vita Coco Coconut Water

(37:05) Water Quality:

• One thing that can make a large impact on our health is filtering the water we drink. Our water supply is loaded with environmental toxicants and additives including chlorine, fluoride, plastic byproducts, and more. Any filtering is better than none- but there is definitely some controversy in our natural health space regarding the best way to filter water. Here are some common options in order from most filtered to least:

• Distilled (have to buy at a store or buy a distiller): this water has been boiled, and the minerals separated (this is the purest result but, because all minerals have been removed, they must be added back in)

• Reverse osmosis (ex: AquaTru): Easier process that can be done at home, water moves from an area of higher concentration of dissolved solids to one with a lower concentration (back to 8th grade science, here!🤓). Effectively removes minerals (including heavy metals), salts, microbes.

• Truly filtered (ex: Berkey): these leave more minerals intact but with less effective filtration of toxicants, generally speaking. Requires an additional fluoride filter. Works more slowly. 

• Fridge filtered- less effective filtration, but most convenient. We like the Clearly Filtered pitcher if you choose to use a pitcher- it is definitely the best pitcher option we have found.

• Fluoride is particularly important to filter from your drinking water because it disrupts the body’s ability to build the electrically charged water inside of the cells which helps power the mitochondria. It also breaks down collagen, the most abundant protein in the body. This leads to more incidence of connective tissue injury and faster aging of skin. Another reason fluoride is so problematic is that it can displace iodine (another critical mineral!) and prevent it from binding properly to thyroid receptors. Insufficient iodine binding can lead to the inability to make thyroid hormone. 

• Ultimately, the type of water you feel best with can depend on your individual health context and may require some experimenting. Carly prefers AquaTru, which creates reverse osmosis, but is okay with the Berkey as an option. Chelsea has a distiller and drinks water from the ranch. 

(44:55) Water On The Go:

• It’s always best to carry your own clean water in a glass or stainless steel container to avoid the endocrine disrupting properties of plastic bottles, but if you need to buy something on the go, look for spring or glacial water which are more rich in electrons (ie: Evian, Mountain Valley Spring, Gerolsteiner). If filling up on-the-go with tap water, you may prefer to use a filtering bottle. Berkey and Clearly Filtered both have great options.

(49:24) Outro & Disclaimer

Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!

XOXO,

Chelsea