Welcome back to More Than Healthy as we continue the countdown of a Full Year of Resolutions. Today we are going to talk about Tip #47, the health benefits of quality water.
The health benefits of quality water…because quality matters
Water is so important that our very first tip of 2022 was all about drinking enough water. (You might want to take a look at that one again, as it’s full of great information.) But this time we’re going to talk about the importance of the quality of your water, because all water is definitely not created equal.
Let’s review some “fun facts” about the importance of water:
- You can live for up to one month without food, but only about one week without water.
- 66% of your body is made of water, and 75% of your brain is water.
- A living tree is made up of 75% water.
- By the time you feel thirsty, your body has already lost more than 1% of its total water.
- Water covers about 71% of the earth. Over 96% of that is ocean water.
- Of all of earth’s water, only 2.5% of it is freshwater, or drinkable water.
- Only 1% of all freshwater is accessible in rivers, lakes, and streams. The rest is stuck in glaciers and snowfields.
- Over 80% of disease in the world is attributable to poor drinking water sanitation.
Water filtration is extremely important. How much do you really know about the quality of the water that you drink? It’s pretty much impossible to determine water quality based on appearance. Sometimes we can taste a bit of a difference, but even our palettes aren’t discerning enough to truly determine water quality.
The history of water filtration
Methods to improve the taste and odor of water occurred as early as 4000 BC, when the Greeks used charcoal filtering, exposure to sunlight, boiling, and straining to treat their water. It wasn’t until 1854 that someone connected unclean water to disease, when a cholera outbreak in London was linked to a contaminated well. In 1908, chlorine was first used as a primary disinfectant of drinking water in the U.S.. Federal regulations for drinking water were instituted in 1914.
Physical, chemical, and biological analyses have been developed to test contamination levels of water for organic and inorganic chemicals. In America, our tap water is filtered in a water purification facility before it reaches us. However, there is a lot that is unaccounted for between that facility and the taps in our homes.
What’s lurking in your pipes?
Did you know that in the U.S. and Canada, there are enough pipelines and aqueducts to circle the earth 40 times? And it’s not uncommon for these pipes to be decades old. As our water travels through them, filtered water becomes polluted with everything it encounters along the way. Old pipes redistribute microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses.
There have been times when whole communities have been exposed to harmful contaminants, such as lead, through municipal water pipes. There is also evidence that exposure to PFAS through our water pipes leads to contaminant accumulation in the body, and this exposure can lead to a weakened immune system, thyroid hormone disruption, and even cancer.
But isn’t American drinking water safe?
Here’s the frightening truth: American tap water contains over 270 different dangerous contaminants. In fact, the Environmental Working Group says that 3 out of 4 homes in the U.S. have unsafe drinking tap water. I’m including an important excerpt from the EWG’s “State of American Drinking Water” 2021 Update that is worth reading:
“Here’s the well-kept secret about existing drinking water standards: Legal doesn’t necessarily mean safe. The vast majority of the nation’s drinking water supplies get a passing grade from federal and state regulatory agencies. But many of the 324 contaminants detected by local utilities’ tests are found at levels that may be legal under EPA’s SDWA standards or state regulations – though they far exceed levels authoritative scientific studies have found to pose health risks.
Even for chemicals that are regulated, the legal limit is often hundreds of times higher than the health standards recommended by scientists and public health agencies. Too often, legal limits are based more on what can be achieved in terms of treatment costs, and less on public health.
And water treatment facilities in many communities, especially in rural areas, are outdated, overloaded or underfunded, as urgently needed investments in water infrastructure get postponed year after year.”
If you find this information shocking, I highly recommend you read the entire report. According to the Water Quality Association, common toxins found in our tap water include microbes, pesticides, plastics, prescription medications, metals, chlorine, lead, nitrates, and excessive fluoride. These toxins actually poison our water supply.
How safe is your home’s tap water?
While researching this topic, I found a site where I could enter my zip code and get a report of what is found in my home’s tap water. The results were shocking. In my comfortable, fairly well-to-do neighborhood, there are 9 contaminants over acceptable health limits in my drinking water.
Contaminants found in my neighborhood’s tap water:
Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs): A group of disinfection byproducts that form when chlorine compounds that are used to disinfect water react with other naturally occurring chemicals in the water. There are four significant TTHM potentially found in disinfected drinking water and their combined concentration is referred to as total TTHM, with many adverse and toxic side effects.
Arsenic (Arsenic?!?): A known human carcinogen according to both the EPA and WHO, arsenic is found in drinking water across all 50 states.
Chloroform: Can harm the eyes, skin, liver, kidneys, and nervous system and can be toxic if inhaled or swallowed. Exposure to chloroform may also cause cancer.
Bromodichloromethane: A byproduct of chlorinated water, bromodichloromethane may cause liver damage, kidney damage, and decreases in immune response, as well as an increase in early pregnancy miscarriages and decreases in birth weight.
Chromium: Chromium is an essential mineral, but too much can lead to stomach problems, low blood sugar, irregular heart rhythm, and damage to the liver, kidneys, and nerves.
Radium: A highly radioactive element that can be extremely dangerous, causing cancer and other health problems.
Dibromochloromethane: One of the TTHMs, this byproduct increases the risk of cancer and causes problems during pregnancy.
Nitrate: Chemicals that contaminate water through fertilizer and human/animal waste. Especially dangerous for infants. Also increases cancer risk.
Bromoform: Similar to Dibromochloromethane, a harmful TTHM.
Carla and I were so disturbed by these results that we are considering investing in a whole-home filtration system. Although we don’t drink the tap water, we don’t want these toxins getting into our bloodstream through our skin as we bathe or shower, either.
I highly encourage you to see what invisible toxins are lurking in your community’s tap water. Click here to enter your zip code and see how toxic your tap water is. You might be really surprised by the results.
How toxic are these toxins?
These toxins are linked to all sorts of frightening health problems. A recent National Geographic article stated that, “Depending on the source of contamination and the exposure, health effects include neurological problems and developmental disabilities in children (lead), interference with hormones (perchlorates), and increased risk of cancers of the skin, bladder, and kidney (arsenic).” For this reason, many experts say that drinking water straight from the tap is no longer an option.
Is bottled water the answer?
You might be thinking, well then, I’ll just drink bottled water. But bottled water is not the answer. Purchasing enough bottled water to meet your daily water requirements puts a major dent in your wallet. It is thousands of times more expensive than tap water. Most tap water costs about $0.002 per gallon versus $0.89 to $8.26 per gallon for bottled.
Bottled water is also a huge burden on our environment. Here are just a few of many frightening statistics: One thousand people open a bottled water every second in the U.S. Unbelievably, there are 66 times as many bottles as there are humans on our planet! Over 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away each day in America, and 75% of them end up in the garbage or our waterways instead of the recycle bin.
Also, experts say that bottled water isn’t actually safer than tap water. The federal government requires more rigorous and frequent safety testing of municipal drinking water than bottled water. Not to mention that those plastic bottles contain toxic chemicals that can also leach into your water.
Get the health benefits of quality water with a home filtration system
There are better options than bottled water that won’t leave you at the mercy of your city water supply. One of the best things we’ve done is our in-home water filtration system. There are many systems out there to choose from. After doing our research, Carla and I chose the Aqua Tru system. We’re not affiliates and don’t receive compensation in any form from them; we just really like sharing everything we find that helps us to live our best, healthy lives. And our Aqua Tru system is an important part of that.
Water filtration technology
With this purifier, our water isn’t just filtered, it’s purified. The Aqua Tru uses a 4-stage reverse osmosis system that transforms tap water into pure, delicious clean water that we can trust.
Stages 1 and 2 remove large particles like sediment and rust, and the activated carbon removes chlorine and chloramines.
Stage 3 uses an ultra-fine filter to take out dangerous inorganic chemicals, including lead, chromium 6, arsenic, uranium, nitrates, and other hard metals.
Stage 4 uses an activated carbon filter that removes organic compounds like rocket fuel, prescription drug residue, and “forever chemicals” (like PFAS).
We also use their pH + Mineral Boost Alkaline VOC Filter which adds minerals like calcium and magnesium back into the water and increases the pH for healthy, delicious alkaline mineral water.
Water filtration system maintenance
There are several models to choose from. Ours sits on our counter in our pantry for easy access. And remember it’s important that they need to be properly maintained. Most systems require frequent sanitizing, a process that usually involves tubing and syringes. Thankfully, we just have to add a sanitizing solution every few weeks to ours, and we change our filter once per year. The whole process is quick and efficient and provides us with unlimited amounts of pure, healthy, high-quality water.
Supercharge your water with molecular hydrogen
In addition to making sure we are drinking purified water, we add molecular hydrogen tablets to our water every day. Molecular hydrogen consists of two atoms of hydrogen combined into one molecule that becomes a powerful antioxidant. This antioxidant selectively targets the most toxic of free radicals, the hydroxyl group.
We’ve discovered that this helps prevent leg cramps for both of us. In a previous post about the health benefits of the right kind of salt, we talk about the challenges of leg cramps, especially on pickleball tournament days. Molecular hydrogen tablets are another way we work to prevent this painful problem.
The many health benefits of quality water
Having easy access to delicious, clean water makes it much easier to choose water as my drink of choice throughout the day. I know I’m receiving numerous health benefits from drinking high-quality water. As a reminder, some of the health benefits of quality water include:
- Helps regulate body temperature
- Cushions our joints
- Stabilizes our heartbeat
- Normalizes our blood pressure
- Aids our digestion
- Protects our organs and tissues
- Helps prevent constipation
- Flushes bacteria from our bladder
- Provides energy
- Boosts skin health
- Aids in weight loss
- Maintains electrolyte balance
…and more!!
It’s truly impossible to exaggerate the importance of having quality water – and the importance of drinking enough of it.
The connection between quality water and hair analysis
If you haven’t heard, we have incredibly exciting news here at More Than Healthy. We have started doing hair analysis, which is an easy, non-invasive, and cutting-edge technology. With just a few of your hair follicles and in just a few minutes, we can now provide you with a comprehensive amount of health information – far more than is possible through the poking and prodding of bloodwork. To learn all about this – and you’ll want to! – please visit our website.
As Carla is doing these hair analyses on clients, we’re seeing that so many of us have heavy metals, unhealthy levels of chemicals, molds, and parasites in our systems. Now that we’ve researched what’s really going on in the tap water in our communities, we’re completely convinced there is a connection. (We’re shocked by what is legally allowed to be in our water. Are you?) And what’s in our water gets in us – as we drink it, cook with it, bathe in it, and shower in it. It’s inevitable.
Hair analysis can tell you for sure. And then we can help you figure out how to get those things out of your system, and to reclaim your health! To learn more and schedule your own hair analysis, click here.
More Than Healthy Coaching
Please let us know if you have any questions about the health benefits of quality water. We love talking about our tips with you!
Also, for those of you interested in our free More Than Healthy coaching calls, we do them once a month on a Tuesday night at 6 PM MST. In fact, our next one is tomorrow night. Anyone can join us. Please plan to join If you have health questions on anything we’ve discussed or any health issue. Or, just join and listen as we coach others, as it’s always informative! To join us, just text COACHING to 1-647-558-9895 to join our email list or watch our social media pages and we will have the link there.
Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you next week!
