Water and Hydration Recommendations

HMPT Level One

Lesson 2, Part 5

Water and Hydration Recommendations

Juices, sodas, teas, coffees, and so on do not substitute for plain old water. These drinks contain substances that ensure your body treats them as food, not water.

For example, fruit or vegetable juice contains carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and sodas contain lots of sugar or artificial chemicals.

I’m not saying fresh juices are harmful because used correctly they can be extremely beneficial.

But juices, coffee, milk and so on didn’t reduce the stiffness and soreness my dad was experiencing: only water achieved that beneficial outcome.

We’ll discuss the incorporation of juices into Hompes Method guidelines later in the programme. For now, let’s focus on general water and hydration guidelines.

How Much Water?

Water intake should not be overdone – dehydrated people cannot rehydrate overnight and it takes time for homeostatic mechanisms to rebalance.

A great starting point for clients who prefer to keep things simple is to drink 8-10 glasses of clean water per day.

If clients want to establish a quantity relative to bodyweight, they can use this formula:

· Take bodyweight in pounds (e.g. 200lbs)

· Halve it (=100lbs)

· Drink approximately 100 ounces of water per day (spread out in 8-16oz helpings, sipped)

• In other words, aim to drink half an ounce of water for every pound of bodyweight.

• Or, in metric terms, aim to drink approximately 15ml water for every 0.5kg bodyweight.

Timing

I recommend my clients don’t drink lots of water or other fluids during meals, as this will dilute digestive juices:

· One glass 20-30min before a meal

· Sip a small glass during the meal to aid digestion and act as a palate cleanser

· Wait at least 75-90min before drinking water again

Hardness and TDS

Based on his research, Dr. Martin Fox concludes and recommends:

· Water hardness ideal around 170 mg/L.

· Total dissolved solids ideal around 300 mg/L.

· pH alkaline - 7.0 or higher for well-water or municipal water

Other Issues in Water Quality

Tap water is generally not recommended as it contains many impurities and possibly even dangerous substances.

However, for clients on a very tight budget, it may be the only or best option to begin with.

A good water filter can be very helpful in removing impurities. The EWG has some excellent information in this regard:

http://www.ewg.org/report/ewgs-water-filter-buying-guide

Reverse osmosis has become popular, and is excellent for whole house filtration. The one problem is that RO removes “healthy” minerals as well as problematic substances.

Your clients can add a pinch of sea salt to RO drinking water to help re-harden it.

Distilled water may be harmful and I recommend avoiding it.

Bottled Water

Water in glass bottles is ideal, but is hard on the wallet.

Plastic bottles may leach chemicals into the water – sunlight, heat and length of time in the bottle are all important factors.

Controversy exists as to whether water “manufacturers” are just putting normal tap water into bottles and sticking fancy labels on the bottles.

Reputable brands include Evian and Fiji – they are good in terms of hardness and TDS. Some of the other brands are soft and low in TDS. I recommend avoiding these.

The additional problem with plastic water bottles is the manufacturing process. Oil is needed for plastic manufacture and, of course, despite the recycling revolution, the Internet is full of photographs suggesting that plastic bottles are still being dumped here, there and everywhere.

For now, I feel a really good water filter is the best way to get clean water into clients, with bottled water for traveling (glass where possible!)

Soda, Pop & Sports Drinks

Avoid completely – irrespective of marketing hype, all these products are garbage.