We can only live a few minutes without air, and a few days without water.

It is critical that we drink purified water…and lots of it, as most of us are chronically dehydrated!

When people ask me if they HAVE to get a water filter, I tell them that they can either get a filter or BE the filter. And, trust me, your body’s filters are VERY busy these days dealing with the toxicity on our planet.

There are many good filters on the market – I recommend the Berkey Filter or a Reverse Osmosis system. Typically the refrigerator filters or pitcher filters do not remove enough toxins.

Happy to chat about options if you’re interested.

USA Today reported on a study where the Environmental Working Group (EWG) cited 22 carcinogens commonly found in tap water — including arsenic, byproducts of water disinfectants and radionuclides such as uranium and radium — that could cumulatively result in over 100,000 cancer cases over the span of a lifetime.

Most community water systems meet legal standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yet the study listed 22 contaminants with carcinogenic risks present in 48,363 community water systems in the United States — estimated to serve about 86% of the U.S. population. Based on a cumulative risk assessment, EWG found that for every 10,000 people, four will have cancer over the span of their lifetime due to contaminants in water.

When you drink water from the tap, you expect it to be safe. But just because it’s clear and tastes normal does not mean it’s pure.

The Safe Drinking Water Act was put into place in 1974 to keep Americans’ tap water safe, but the EPA has not added a new contaminant to the list of regulated drinking water pollutants in more than 20 years. This means that there are no legal limits for the more than 160 unregulated contaminants in the nation’s tap water.

EWG analyzed data from U.S. agencies and the EPA on drinking water tests conducted from 2010 to 2015. In tests from nearly 50,000 water utilities in 50 states that were tested for 500 different contaminants, 267 were detected, including:

• 93 linked to an increased risk of cancer
• 78 associated with brain and nervous system damage
• 63 connected to developmental harm to children or fetuses
• 38 that may cause fertility problems
• 45 linked to hormonal disruption

EWG’s analysis revealed many alarming trends, like the fact that nearly 19,000 public water systems detected lead at levels above 3.8 parts per billion, which would put a formula-fed baby at risk of elevated blood lead levels.

Several Michigan state and local officials are facing criminal charges over their involvement in the Flint lead water crisis.

Between 2000 and 2004, Washington, D.C. was also plagued with lead-contaminated water. As in Flint, some of the lead levels in the water were high enough to be classified as hazardous waste. At least 350 schools and day care centers across the U.S. test above the EPA’s action level for lead content in water.

Each year, red flags over toxic drinking water are raised across the U.S., with reasons varying from location to location. One major problem is aging water pipes. The American Water Works Association estimates it would cost more than $1 trillion to update and replace all the water pipes in the U.S.

Another concern is water pollution. Water treatment plants cannot filter out all of the toxins now entering the water, from firefighting chemicals and agricultural chemicals, to drugs and microcystins, nerve toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria.

If you care about your family’s health, filtering your household water is more a necessity than an option these days.

This is one reason why it is SO important to drink purified (filtered) water!

For those that want the full story – I recommend a book called “The Fluoride Deception”. One of the best products I recommend is something called the Berkey System – get one HERE.

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Our bodies do lots of repair work at night while we sleep, and really need water for this work. It is the water that helps the cells to process out the toxins and waste products from the cell…

…yet another reason to drink more water…AND…EAT more water (in the form of fruits and vegetables)!!

If you’re feeling a bit tired on a consistent basis and you don’t get a full eight hours sleep, research conducted at Penn State University (PSU) suggests that simply making it a point to drink more water throughout the day may help you get more sleep. Investigators said they found your hydration status affects how your body’s hormonal system regulates hydration, and ultimately your sleep cycle.

On the flip side, “If you are only getting six hours of sleep a night, it can affect your hydration status,” a university press release said. While this data is observational and therefore not to be viewed as a cause-and-effect study, investigators said their findings will help them study how hormones and sleep work together.

It’s not surprising that researchers are studying how sleep and hydration are connected. But while the jury is out on which comes first, one thing we do know for certain is that hydration is about more than just drinking water. More specifically, it’s about getting the water inside your cells, where water acts as the ultimate mechanism by which you remove toxins and naturally produced oxidants from your body.

To that end, virtually everyone is dehydrated to some extent, and I have interviewed a physician and researcher, Dr. Zach Bush, who explains that when we talk about hydration, we’re not simply talking about drinking enough water throughout the day, but getting that water into those cells.

So how do you know that you’re dehydrated? The most obvious sign, of course, is that you’re thirsty, or you have a dry, sticky mouth. Beyond that, if you’re regularly dehydrated, you may also be experiencing — guess what — persistent sleepiness or tiredness. Producing few tears when crying, a rapid heartbeat and low blood pressure, as well as muscle cramps and dark yellow urine are more signs that your body is starved for hydration.

One thing you probably don’t realize is that water isn’t the only source of hydration. Many plant foods such as leafy greens are a major source of “structured water,” or the gel phase of water that is found inside your cells, and which is absolutely necessary for getting and staying hydrated. Chia seeds are another excellent source of this structured water.

The bottom line is, hydration is not just about input of more water. You also need to remember that input affects output, and a hydrated body is better able to detoxify and get rid of waste via sweat, stool and urine.

Almost every biochemical reaction in our body requires it!

This article describes some of the best ways to get something called structured water, which is important for cellular health and respiration.

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As the message below states, it’s interesting how the type of water we most resonate with tends to relate to a big part of our life mission. For me, this waterfall translates into one of my major life lessons – surrender. So easy to say, but yet quite challenging to implement…but making progress every day! 🙂

Our bodies are over fifty percent water, so it makes sense that human beings have always considered water to be a sacred source of life and healing. It is literally half of who we are, and well over half of the earth’s surface is water. Water cleanses and hydrates, contains and produces nourishment, and when we enter it, holds us in an embrace that leaves no part of us untouched. Meditating with water can be a powerful way of aligning ourselves more fully with this support system that makes life both possible and pleasurable on so many levels.

We may wish to conduct our meditation while in physical contact with a body of water, whether in the intimacy of our bathtub or the vast container of an ocean. We might float on our backs in a swimming pool or sit with just our feet submerged in a pond or creek. On the other hand, we may simply close our eyes and choose a location based on our imagination. Whatever we choose, we can begin by closing our eyes and listening to our breathing. At the same time, we tune in to the particular music of the water we have chosen—the loud rushing of a river or waterfall, or the surreal silence of the world beneath the surface of the ocean. We might consider how the type of water we choose reflects what we seek—the peace beneath the hectic surface of life, the cleansing power of a river racing through a canyon, or the mood lifting, melodic bubbling of a lively creek.

As we move between awareness of our breath and awareness of the water in which we find ourselves, we can begin to release the things we no longer need into the rushing river, or release ourselves completely into the water’s embrace as we float, in our minds, in the watery womb of an ocean or a lake. When you feel you are ready to return to more solid ground, ease your body back onto earth, in your mind or in reality, and lie flat on your back, allowing the water to bead and roll off your skin, soaking the earth and evaporating into the air, leaving you cleansed, healed, and renewed.

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