The water we drink, shower, and bathe in may be making you sick, even chronically ill. It seems so simple, but in modern society it requires some clearing up. The topic of water alone is so nuanced, it is not exactly crystal clear, and there’s much to be discussed.
With health conditions like autoimmune disease, weight gain, and chronic fatigue on the rise, this topic is critically important. Ensuring your water is clean and actually benefiting you instead of harming you is one of the easiest things to address to improve your health starting now.
We are mostly made of water and we need it to live. We can survive days without food, but water… not so much. Water is an element that is essential to living a vibrant, energetic, and optimally healthy life.
In the above YouTube video and in this post, we discuss how the water you are drinking could be making you sick, differences in types of water, resources to help navigate the waters, best practices to get the most energy and hydration out of water, and all the things you need to know to make the best decision for your health regarding water. In other words, we’re covering a lot today.
For those of you who do not know me, I’m Cristy and after a decade with two autoimmune diseases I am Lupus-free and Hashimoto’s-free for over 7 years. I now have a holistic health coaching practice helping clients live symptom-free naturally by addressing the root causes of inflammation.
With a personal history of debilitating chronic fatigue, I became obsessed with learning everything I could about natural energy. It turns out there is a lot you can do about fatigue, namely, something as simple as quality hydration.
Quality hydration is an extremely important aspect to providing your body what it actually needs to stay energized naturally. Also, to prevent and alleviate health complications, which leads me to our first topic.
Water Quality
Tap water ranges in toxic ingredients, contaminants, and chemicals, based on your municipality.
Unfortunately, at least in the US, you do have to do your research and see what is in your water, but it is rather easy to do.
There is a free resource to help identify the contaminants in your local water at EWG.org. I refer to it all the time in the work I do with health and wellness. I love it. It not only is a tap water database, but it also is a resource for non-toxic cleaning agents, skincare, hair, and makeup. Additionally, EWG also has a handy app for your phone to scan products when you are shopping in store for products.
First step, head to EWG.org and in the water database, type in your zip code. It will pull up the known ingredients in your water.
If you live outside of the US, I recommend searching the internet for a similar resource to EWG or reach out to your local municipality for a water report to learn more.
The Harmful Effects
Ingredients found in water are chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals, lead mercury, herbicides, pesticides, PFAs, plastic, and fluoride to name a few. Some chemicals have been added in to kill unwanted bacteria for waterborne illness, some have leached into water systems from our soil, runoff, and more.
The harmful effects of consuming such ingredients include cancer, birth defects, nervous system damage (this includes the brain), reproductive issues, endocrine disruptors, damage to the body’s organs, weight gain, and more.
Even if you do not drink tap water, you may be showering in it. These ingredients impact your skin, hair, nails, lungs, bloodstream and overall health. As much as it is an attempt to provide the masses clean water, it doesn’t mean it’s healthy.
Anything we put on our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream, even breathing it. You don’t have to drink tap water alone to be impacted. It all matters.
How It Impacts Your Beauty – Vanity Matters!
Millions of dollars are spent on fancy shampoos, skincare, you name it to solve modern beauty concerns, but buying a simple shower filter could be the answer. Hair is softer, skin is smoother, many report skin irritations and rashes disappear, and more. You can find shower filters ranging from inexpensive to pricey. Shower filters do not remove everything, but it will remove a lot. I personally noticed a significant difference in the softness of my skin and hair the moment I added a shower filter to my shower.
PFAs
PFAs, otherwise known as “forever chemicals” may be in the water and saturate so many modern products and conveniences today. What does “forever chemical” mean? These chemicals were designed to break down very slowly and resist heat, water, and grease. It takes time, but by eliminating exposure, PFAs in the body do go down. PFAs are found in some water sources, cleaning products, water resistant fabrics, non-stick cookware, personal products like makeup and shampoo, stain resistant coatings, and more. This again is why EWG.org is a great resource to not just check your local water, but also your cleaning products, makeup and more to reduce everyday exposure.
Plastics
Plastic is all around us today; it’s hard to escape. It packages our food, our drinks, leaching into plastic resin-to-go coffee cups, and it is also found in water sources. Studies have shown we ingest thousands of microplastics (tiny plastic particles) every year. To give you an idea, one study showed we consume about 5 grams of microplastics in a week, which is about the size of a credit card. Is this good for us? Hmm no. And it is definitely not natural. In my experience, anything unnatural and manmade is hard on our body’s perfect design to understand, let alone digest. Plastic fibers are found in 83% of the world’s tap water. Plastic consumption has been linked to many things including infertility, weight gain, thyroid problems, cancer, diabetes, and heart issues and that is the short list.
Fluoride
In 1945, fluoride was introduced to US water. Health risks associated with fluoridated water are arthritis, osteoporosis, fatigue, bone and muscle damage, impacts to the liver and kidneys, and other chronic issues. Fluoride is also known to calcify the pineal gland, which has been shown to reduce the body’s natural melatonin levels. Spiritually speaking, a calcified pineal gland could hinder or even block the third eye from opening. Depending on your spiritual pursuits, you may not want that.
What To Do About It
If you must drink tap water, please at least filter it. As mentioned there are filters for showers, under sink filters for the kitchen and bathroom, and inexpensive water pitchers you can buy as a first step.
You can also drink what is called reverse osmosis water, which essentially is a multiple stage filtering process to remove chemicals and more. If you decide to go this path, I look for a water report to learn more about the source you choose and what is still in the water. Reverse osmosis can be found at some grocery stores and there are local businesses that provide this service as well.
BPA-Free – Is it Actually Worse For You?
By using reverse osmosis, you likely will purchase a BPA-free container. As much as BPA-free has been marketed to us as better than a plastic container, Studies are starting to show that BPA-free is also harmful and some go on to say it is worse than BPA itself. In BPA-free products, bisphenol S is used otherwise known as BPS.
Instead of using any form of plastic, search for glass vessels to store your water.
The Healthiest Choice, With Health Benefits
That said, the healthiest water source I recommend is spring water in glass. I have linked an amazing company here I use and recommend to clients for spring water using only glass vessels. The amazing thing about this company is that it sources a local spring near you in the US. In addition to being a healthy option, it is environmentally-friendly to use glass and source water local to you vs. another country or state using plastic for example. If you are outside of the US consider researching local springs near you using glass containers.
Spring water in glass is hands down one of the best health investments I have ever made. It is entirely different from tap or reverse osmosis. It’s not just healthy and without contaminants, it also tastes amazing. By sourcing water from a spring, your water will contain numerous vitamins and minerals. Yes, you can get an assortment of vitamins and minerals from the water you are drinking and avoid so many chemicals and additives along the way! If you go this route, learn about all the vitamins and minerals you are reaping from your water. It is heartwarming to learn that your water is benefitting you immensely with a vitamin and mineral profile as nature intended.
We talked about how to empower yourself with healthy water options like shower filters, living spring water, and going back to good old fashioned glass vs. plastic. Simply changing the quality of our water will have a significant impact on our health. Health is the most wise investment you will ever make. Health is wealth.
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