An osmotic water filter is bad, as is inadequate salt intake; extra salt intake will probably be needed for vegetable consumption!
All water I use for drinking and eating, goes though a Big Berkey water filter, because tap water can taste off and may contain other contaminants than just Chlorine compounds, e.g microplastics.
One of the other factors in regard to proper hydration is actually exercise - yes consume structured water and hydrate with food, but exercise is also what really supports hydration on the cellular level. Many physiotherapists understand this
The sad part is that people will invest thousands in an RO system, just to further strip their water of whatever remaining minerals that were there. (Adding synthetic mineral drops back in doesn’t really fix this)
This is also the unfortunately reality for many homes in parts of the world where the tap water isn’t at all safe - I wish a better option was available to them such as affordable bottled spring water or safe well water.
However juices + coconut water + soups + herbal teas certainly help a lot!
Water scarcity is becoming less about availability and more about how communities can create resilient local water sources. Atmospheric water generation is one technology we’ve been studying closely in this space.
I like this article! I bought some coconut water at the store yesterday teehee. One thing: you say you both try to get a lot of hydration from food, but also do not drink any liquids with food. To me these practices contradict one another... like arent the water-containing foods then diluting your digestive enzymes? On the same idea, should I maybe drink plain water with a meal to help the water absorb better (assuming what im eating has salts and sugars etc)?
It looks like a contradiction on the surface but it’s actually two different mechanisms.
The water inside whole foods… meat, fruit, vegetables… is bound within the cellular structure of the food.
It gets released slowly as you chew and break it down. It arrives in your stomach gradually, already packaged with the minerals and electrolytes from the food itself.
It doesn’t pool and dilute your gastric acid. Drinking a glass of water with a meal is different.
That’s a large volume of free liquid hitting your stomach all at once, raising pH and diluting pepsin right when you need peak enzyme concentration for protein breakdown.
To your second question… the food itself already contains the salts and sugars that drive water absorption.
The water within the food gets absorbed alongside those co-transport nutrients naturally.
Adding extra plain water on top doesn’t help that process, it just weakens the digestive environment.
Short version: water IN food = slow release, mineral-rich, digestive-friendly.
Water WITH food = fast dump, diluting, working against digestion.
yeahhhh i actually did try the practices outlined here for a month and it didn't work for me. Even through I was trying to go crazy with hydration through the day to supplement not drinking around eating times, I was waking up with headaches and a parched feeling. I was also have much worse "movements"/ experienced constipation for the first time in in my life. Also, It's important to drink water when eating salt to support kidney function is it not? Last but not least, I simply didn't enjoy it! The habits that naturally stick are the ones that you enjoy in the moment coupled to long term benefits. Im back to that H2O liiiiife.
While I have no cause to discount your personal experience for you, and you present some of the legitimate science appropriately, you take too many big, unsupported leaps in your rationalization. I'm glad you found something you like, and some others may enjoy or appreciate it, but it's too extreme and the conclusions don't follow from the evidence.
Conflation of "less optimal" with "harmful" - The study showed some beverages retain water slightly better. You treat this as proof that plain water is actively bad. That's a huge logical leap.
Anecdote passed off as universal truth - "I felt better after switching" isn't evidence that plain water causes dehydration in general. Personal experience doesn't establish causation.
Misapplication of short-term findings - The study measured hydration over a few hours. Using that to make lifetime hydration recommendations is a category error.
Scare tactics - Invoking hyponatremia deaths to discourage normal water drinking is fear-mongering, not science. (Any marathoners or extreme athletes might apply here, but they probably already know.)
Opinion presented as fact - Claims about meal-time water causing "bloating" or "fermentation" have no peer-reviewed backing that I could find, especially with the moderate amount of fluid intake your article recommends.
So - the underlying physiology (osmotic gradients, electrolyte balance, hyponatremia risks) is solid. But you take legitimate science and extrapolate way beyond what it actually supports. Your fallacies aren't in the facts - and I suspect you know this - they're in the logical gaps between those facts and the broad, sweeping recommendation to never drink plain water.
I have to tell you I have always drunk/drank this way. No water with meals, and very little water, mostly fruit, milk and pelligrino occasionally. I just could never believe I was suppose to drink that much. I listen to my body more.
Hmmm you know what is really dehydrating? GI illness & diarrhea from drinking raw milk. Pasteurizing milk kills harmful bacteria while preserving nutrients.
I live in Phoenix. New build. I wondered why the water piped to the kitchen sink does not go through the water softener. I guess this explains why.
Great article
Try Vichy Catalan
An osmotic water filter is bad, as is inadequate salt intake; extra salt intake will probably be needed for vegetable consumption!
All water I use for drinking and eating, goes though a Big Berkey water filter, because tap water can taste off and may contain other contaminants than just Chlorine compounds, e.g microplastics.
One of the other factors in regard to proper hydration is actually exercise - yes consume structured water and hydrate with food, but exercise is also what really supports hydration on the cellular level. Many physiotherapists understand this
The sad part is that people will invest thousands in an RO system, just to further strip their water of whatever remaining minerals that were there. (Adding synthetic mineral drops back in doesn’t really fix this)
This is also the unfortunately reality for many homes in parts of the world where the tap water isn’t at all safe - I wish a better option was available to them such as affordable bottled spring water or safe well water.
However juices + coconut water + soups + herbal teas certainly help a lot!
Team Gerolsteiner
Water scarcity is becoming less about availability and more about how communities can create resilient local water sources. Atmospheric water generation is one technology we’ve been studying closely in this space.
Oh ❗ What should I do there? Teach you basic knowledge? Not my job.
It's yours to try doing better.
Some facts you could research for a start:
Baobab trees as survival water source for African tribes in the southern regions.
Look for the famous well diggers in Alaska 🥶. Can't find them? Oh well, yes they had to melt ice.....
Or try the Mexicans in Chihuahuan desert and their barrel cactus or Agave.
Or just get lost you Super Genius.
Awesome article. Doesn't salt have to contain iodine in it to be hydrating?
No.
What about mountain-sourced tap water like we have in Seattle and San Francisco?
I like this article! I bought some coconut water at the store yesterday teehee. One thing: you say you both try to get a lot of hydration from food, but also do not drink any liquids with food. To me these practices contradict one another... like arent the water-containing foods then diluting your digestive enzymes? On the same idea, should I maybe drink plain water with a meal to help the water absorb better (assuming what im eating has salts and sugars etc)?
Great question, Lisa.
It looks like a contradiction on the surface but it’s actually two different mechanisms.
The water inside whole foods… meat, fruit, vegetables… is bound within the cellular structure of the food.
It gets released slowly as you chew and break it down. It arrives in your stomach gradually, already packaged with the minerals and electrolytes from the food itself.
It doesn’t pool and dilute your gastric acid. Drinking a glass of water with a meal is different.
That’s a large volume of free liquid hitting your stomach all at once, raising pH and diluting pepsin right when you need peak enzyme concentration for protein breakdown.
To your second question… the food itself already contains the salts and sugars that drive water absorption.
The water within the food gets absorbed alongside those co-transport nutrients naturally.
Adding extra plain water on top doesn’t help that process, it just weakens the digestive environment.
Short version: water IN food = slow release, mineral-rich, digestive-friendly.
Water WITH food = fast dump, diluting, working against digestion.
yeahhhh i actually did try the practices outlined here for a month and it didn't work for me. Even through I was trying to go crazy with hydration through the day to supplement not drinking around eating times, I was waking up with headaches and a parched feeling. I was also have much worse "movements"/ experienced constipation for the first time in in my life. Also, It's important to drink water when eating salt to support kidney function is it not? Last but not least, I simply didn't enjoy it! The habits that naturally stick are the ones that you enjoy in the moment coupled to long term benefits. Im back to that H2O liiiiife.
Well said.
I’m going through the same. Are there any water brands you recommend?
Fresh juice, fresh fruit, or raw milk.
While I have no cause to discount your personal experience for you, and you present some of the legitimate science appropriately, you take too many big, unsupported leaps in your rationalization. I'm glad you found something you like, and some others may enjoy or appreciate it, but it's too extreme and the conclusions don't follow from the evidence.
Conflation of "less optimal" with "harmful" - The study showed some beverages retain water slightly better. You treat this as proof that plain water is actively bad. That's a huge logical leap.
Anecdote passed off as universal truth - "I felt better after switching" isn't evidence that plain water causes dehydration in general. Personal experience doesn't establish causation.
Misapplication of short-term findings - The study measured hydration over a few hours. Using that to make lifetime hydration recommendations is a category error.
Scare tactics - Invoking hyponatremia deaths to discourage normal water drinking is fear-mongering, not science. (Any marathoners or extreme athletes might apply here, but they probably already know.)
Opinion presented as fact - Claims about meal-time water causing "bloating" or "fermentation" have no peer-reviewed backing that I could find, especially with the moderate amount of fluid intake your article recommends.
So - the underlying physiology (osmotic gradients, electrolyte balance, hyponatremia risks) is solid. But you take legitimate science and extrapolate way beyond what it actually supports. Your fallacies aren't in the facts - and I suspect you know this - they're in the logical gaps between those facts and the broad, sweeping recommendation to never drink plain water.
I have to tell you I have always drunk/drank this way. No water with meals, and very little water, mostly fruit, milk and pelligrino occasionally. I just could never believe I was suppose to drink that much. I listen to my body more.
Hmmm you know what is really dehydrating? GI illness & diarrhea from drinking raw milk. Pasteurizing milk kills harmful bacteria while preserving nutrients.