How Well Do You Know Your Water?

How well do you know your water?

As a health coach, the first items we put our eyes on are nutrition and exercise.

Quality and quantity of food and water plus movement. These are the basics.

Three of our biggest health issues in First World countries are:

~ Chronic dehydration

~ Inflammation

~ Acidity in the body (cancer cells grow well in acidic environments)

As a *holistic* health coach, we inspect all realms of life because the psychology behind why it’s challenging for many to make initial changes to nutrition and exercise habits, or a financial situation, is almost always connected to deeper unresolved issues.

For those of you who know me, you know that health and well-being is one of the primary fabrics of my life. As a lifelong athlete, competitive gymnast turned outdoor-adventuring athlete, I'm all about the get-outside-and-go. As a wellness obsessed turned holistic health professional and yoga teacher, I support people personally and professionally toward extraordinary health and well-being.

The quality of water we drink is crucial to our health. 

Yes, for those of us who live in a country with tap water available at the turn of a handle, we are LUCKY. We are fortunate. But why not uplevel ourselves individually so that we are thinking and acting with more clarity to come together to make something such as quality water possible for more people globally? 

When we live in heightened states of well-being, it’s far more possible to create positive change for ourselves rippling out creating positive change for many.

Not all water is equal.

Most of the water we drink today is contaminated by medications, fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals and copious amounts of chemicals. These toxic materials flood our environments from different directions, including from an ever-increasing number of petrochemical plants.

Water filters on the market often strip the water of minerals and mold is common, an awful thought for those with mold and mildew allergies and sensitivities.

Not to mention that our skin is our largest organ. Anything that coats the epidermis is absorbed into the body. 

Bottled water? Bottled anything? Plastic. Plastic. Plastic. Plastic bleeds into the water we drink, not to mention being a complete environmental disaster. Consider your lotions, potions, and water. 

With a couple decades of paying close attention, I believe I am doing right by my current quality of water intake and even the water I am bathing in - the most amazing, healing water available.

This water also allows us to cut down on hair products (always bottled in plastics), cleansers (more chemical and plastic pollution), and my pooch has proven to prefer better water, too.

Animals are far more intuitive than we are. Plus, they are driven by their sense of smell. Most will choose drinking water free of medications, fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals, and chemicals.

I did a few taste tests with our 95-pound Swiss Shephard, even switching bowls, to be sure.

At a young 47 years old in the fall of 2017, I completed full medical workups. My M.D. who is also a Functional Medicine Doctor found not a thing wrong with me since curing myself of most allergy issues, exercise-induced asthma, adrenal fatigue, and skin rashes through lifestyle shifts.

Yet I was still constantly thirsty.

I researched water like crazy while living in Los Angeles given that antidepressants are well-known to be present in the tap water. But nothing I tried made a difference in quenching my thirst.

I drank so much water, accompanied by endless visits to the ladies room, thus assuming I was hydrated. I chalked it all up to being a hyperactive athlete living in dryer climates.

But now, I am no longer thirsty because of the quality of water I’ve been consuming over the last few months. Problem solved.

This water: 

Hydrates the body 6 times faster than tap or bottled water

Neutralizes acidity (pH levels) in the body

Anti-aging given daily intake of its high levels of anti-oxidants

Improves digestion AND sleep

Kills 99% of bacteria and germs, chemical-free

Reduces oxidation (aging), reduces inflammation

Plus - 100’s of extra uses from cleaning vegetables to facial toner to cleaning our homes.

I use a certified medical-grade device used in over 400 Japanese hospitals. Many lodges and restaurants are now also employing this health technology making their food and water taste better while making good health happen. Two birds with one stone - working smart.

In a couple of months, my mystery hydration issue has at long last been resolved.

My skin is showing a little more glow even in the coldest and driest of climates - Wyoming Winters.

I can’t wait to see further results come spring. Hoping to shed a few years by then. (Wink Wink)

Questions? Book a call to learn more.

Water is Life II

Water means many different things to many different people. Fisherman, travelers and surfers all have one thing in common. Water, holistically, is life. 

Life travels have taken me from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the deep snow of Wyoming mountains. Moving to the West Coast in 2008 to further personal and professional life, I landed in Venice, CA. As mentioned in the first installment of "Water is Life", I loved it. I still love it and return for work and play as much as possible. 

Tap Water

This is a first world country and we are immensely lucky to be provided with clean-er and easily accessible drinking water. Something we totally take for granted.

But have you investigated the tap water in major cities? Tap water was quite the topic in Los Angeles. My friends in my wellness and yoga communities, most being affluent and able, were borderline obsessed. And for good reasons. Anti-Depressants among other lovely ingredients are apparently on tap.

Yeah, yeah - like with anything these days, we can find both sides to any argument with Google.

But who is paying attention to how long term usage of what we perceive to be clean tap water, the tap water of 2018, will affect us? Around the world, coming from now chemical-laden lands, old pipes, and “treatment” to make it “consumable”, how much are we considering the true outcome of today's tap water? 

How many people in this great first world country of the United States are aware of the pH levels in our tap water? The pH levels in our own bodies?  The pH levels in the seemingly healthiest of humans? And the relationship between the two? 

I worked in the upper echelons of food and wine, serving those in the wealthiest and most well-educated counties of the nation. Guests would proudly state, night after night, that they preferred tap water from the local reservoir. To some degree this is great as most bottled water is proven to be no better, especially when bottled in plastic. But given their responses and reasoning, if this wealthy educated population is not informed, then how can the general public be informed? 

Consider that pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs are regulated, too. Yet how have they affected the well-being of the United States of America?

I’m no water pro, but as a holistic health coach, the first thing we put an eye on is food and water consumption. The quality of both matter. I’ve spent my fair share of time educating myself and others on these topics toward healthier lifestyles. This work is about shifting our minds and bodies for the better. This progression allows us to provide positive support of family, friends and teams on all levels.

I will never forget the color of my grandmother’s tap water in New Orleans. Yellow. Seriously. When we drew a bath, it was yellow. 

I don't know for sure what the correlation is between the diseases in my immediate family and grandparents and the water. But Cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and A.L.S. seems like too many major diseases for only eight people. A few variables to consider would be the food/water consumed, breast fed vs bottle fed, vaccinations, antibiotics, and swimming in ditches as kids with chemical plants located just around the corner. But I can certainly take a well-educated guess based on what scientists now offer today.

Yellow tap water. How is this any different from a Third World? Because it’s been treated - with what?! Yes, of course there are differences, between New Orleans and Haiti, but with population alone moving at an ever-increasing rate, where are we headed? I find it to be a bit of a concern given decades gone by. Populations exploding, over-consumption of everything, doctors doling out anti-depressants like candy... we are still asking…  where are we heading?

Too Close To Home

In May 2018, I found myself back in Louisiana due to loss of my sibling to A.L.S. In speaking with my childhood babysitters, they anxiously shared information about not only the well-known increase of cancer cases in Cancer Alley, but even another case of A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, within blocks of where we grew up. Hearing this at the services for my sister was too much. It led me into a tailspin again eventually leading to this writing. 

Again, I dove into research, trying to pin down how to create awareness around such outrageous happenings. Overwhelmed, I again set it aside. Yet today, I've reopened this vault and remain open to ideas, opinions, and teamwork as strength in numbers is everything.

This article, Cancer Alley: Big Industry, Big Problems highlights: “Clusters of poverty and sickness shadow America’s Industrial South”.

Shouldn’t we have heard a lot more about this by now?

Admittedly, I haven't lived in Louisiana since 1993. Perhaps it is a hot topic, but from what I can tell, it is swept under the rug much like the patriarchal tendencies. If you know differently, by all means reach out.

Had you heard of the depth of the poverty akin to a Third World country in the greater New Orleans area prior to Hurricane Katrina?

Yeah - maybe that's why we have heard so little...

The bottom image above is a vivid reminder of what I grew up breathing. Striking compared to the top image where I picked up and moved to in 1993, and where I reside part-time today. Clean air so sharp it shocked my lungs when I arrived. On the contrary… Chemicals. In the air. In the ground. In the water. Water that waters everything we ate. Water we swam in during hot humid summers. No escape. 

But hey - best sunsets in the world.

No matter whether your family comes from Uptown New Orleans or out in the 9th Ward, gritty Venice Beach of yesteryear or Beverly Hills, we are all consuming chemicals in immense quantities. The map below represents the realities of chemical plant emissions along the river from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Whoa.

Given what we are all facing, growing exponentially in the last two years with our oh-so-great, so-called leader of the free world straight up attacking our environment, what can we do?

Small, local steps are awesome. But is it enough? 

Will change happen quick enough? For your kids? For your nieces and nephews? For any of us? 

The time is now. It is up to us. 

Everything is up to us. 

It is actually so far past time that we take matters into our own hands. 

Yes. Creating change is a lot of commitment.

Not only for oneself, but for the impact that ripples out from ONE person deciding to commit to change.

What do you want to CHANGE? 

For yourself? Your family? Your team?

If you don’t change, what will it COST you?

What will it cost them?

NO-BRAINER pro-environment baby steps dating back a few decades…

Bring your own coffee mug to the coffee shop.

Bring your own grocery bags to the grocery.

Say no to plastics of all kinds.

Say no to styrofoam. (The South loves styrofoam - WHY?!)

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. 

Pick up trash you see on the freaking ground!

VOTE. Vote with your purchasing power. Every penny counts.

Water is life.

Soil is life.

Holistic health is our birthright.

I hope to meet more people interested in telling these stories that matter.