[Kevin]
Hi, welcome back to the podcast. Water, you know, it's the stuff of life. You.

Yes, you listening to this podcast right now. You, Michelle. By the way, say hi, Michelle.

[Michelle]
Hey.

[Kevin]
We're all made up of about 55 to 60% water. It's all just sloshing around in your insides. But of course, that's just an average.

Your bones, they're solid, so they're only about one quarter water. While your brain is all mushy and other soft organs like that are more about 75% water. And even your muscles, those hardworking parts of us, are a whopping three quarters water.

So it's really no wonder that it's so important for us. But of course, between sweat and pee and nosebleeds and so many other ways to lose this precious liquid, it seems we're always playing catch up to stay hydrated. But then there are a lot of different theories about getting water back into our insides.

Some people say, drink when you're thirsty. While others say, you should drink X number of cups per day regardless. And that X varies hugely.

I've heard 6 cups, 8 cups, 13 cups, even 16 cups. And all of these often have so-called official proponents supporting them. And this doesn't even mention the whack jobs all over the internet who are even crazier outliers.

And then there's also all the variables. What to drink, what beverages count, and which ones don't. It also depends how much exercise you get.

What your diet's like, and so on and so on and so on. So today, we're going to try and wade through some of these ideas to get to a consensus on how do we all stay wet? So Michelle, we're going to talk about water now.

And I think let's start by figuring out, is there a benchmark? Like, is there one answer for everyone? And if there is, tell it to us, and then that'll be the shortest podcast ever.

[Michelle]
You know, it's like everything else when it comes to diet. It seems like things should be simple. But then when you dive into it, it isn't so simple.

And there is, you know, truly no one size fits all because we're all different shapes and sizes and activity levels. Now, the medical, I think you mentioned it in your intro, the medical guidelines have standardly been, you know, 13 cups of water for men and 8 cups for women. And that's based on an 8-ounce cup.

And then personalizing beyond that based on height and weight and if you live in a warmer climate or you are an athlete and things like that. But, you know, that isn't sufficient. That guideline, I mean, I don't even know exactly where that guideline came from.

But as I think I've mentioned before, what I use, what I practice with, what I recommend, what I do for myself and for my family is I look to the professionals that are actually helping people heal, where people are actually, they're actually meaningfully reversing conditions, where their patients are getting better and where they're publishing and where there's significant evidence in the literature that what they're doing works and it's not just, you know, somebody's testimonial.

[Kevin]
Well, I say 300 cups of water an hour.

[Michelle]
Exactly. I smoke a pack a day and I drink a whiskey and that's my secret to a long life.

[Kevin]
Exactly. Oh, that's an important question. Does whiskey count as water?

[Michelle]
No, I'm afraid not. I'm afraid alcohol is another episode, but there's no safe consumption level of water and it's definitely dehydrating.

[Kevin]
So I should stop drinking 13 cups of whiskey a day?

[Michelle]
Only when I walk Camino de Santiago. But that's another story.

[Kevin]
That's another story.

[Michelle]
So there's a couple of people that I want to reference that I really admire and I dig what they're doing. Dr. Brooke Goldner is somebody that I have learned from at scientific symposiums and as well, she's one of the instructors at through the Cornell program that I did some of my certification. She recommends that and I'm going to preface this by this is not, you know, an average healthy person necessarily who has no issues.

This is in order to heal the body or to support weight loss. But I think we also acknowledge there's a very, unfortunately, a very small portion of the population that isn't dealing with some sort of a condition or an issue or not or unhappy with their weight or are not at their ideal weight. So this really applies to most of us, I guess, is what I'm saying.

[Kevin]
We're all unhealthy.

[Michelle]
Sadly, in North America, we are one of the most unhealthy populations on the planet. The calculation that Dr. Goldner uses is one half to one ounce of water per pound of body weight. Now, I'm going to translate this to unimetric as well.

But I start with that because, you know, most of us know our weight in pounds and don't know our weight in kilograms. And we all know that a cup of water is an eight-ounce cup.

[Kevin]
But that's a whole lot of math because then I'm figuring, okay, so that's a whole bunch of ounces divided by eight. I need my calculator.

[Michelle]
You will need your calculator the one time. But then you'll know what your recommendation is. So if one pound is point, your eyes are going to get crossed now, 0.454 kilograms. Basically, the long and the short of it is if you're 120-pound female, and that translates to 54.4 kilograms. And then that translates to 60 to 120 ounces of water or 1.8 to 3.6 liters of water. And that's between that range of half to one full ounce of water per pound of body weight.

So, you know, it's an easier translation in the imperial than it is in metric. But that boils down to me that I need about, you know, around three liters of water a day.

[Kevin]
Just my gut reaction like that seems like a lot.

[Michelle]
Well, it is not really when you think about how important water is in the body. So let's just run down some of the things that you mentioned. I mean, you can search the Internet and find different ratios of how much percentage our body of water is.

I can't remember what you said in the intro, but I kind of characterize it between 60 to 70 percent of the human body is water. But here's how we use it in our body. Every single organ system requires water in order to function properly.

So for our brain, our brain requires 80 to 85 percent water. We tend to only focus on the fat content of our brain and forgetting that we need to be hydrated first and foremost. Our kidneys, 80 to 85 percent water.

Our heart, 75 to 80 percent. Our muscles, 70 to 75 percent. Our blood, 50 percent.

Our bones, 20 to 25 percent. And our teeth, even our teeth need our 8 to 10 percent water.

[Kevin]
Sorry, did you say that blood is 50 percent water?

[Michelle]
50 percent water.

[Kevin]
But muscles are 75 percent water? Sorry, that just blows my mind that it seems the opposite because blood is liquid.

[Michelle]
Well, when you think about what makes up your muscle, so there's like an ocean around a cell and there's also an ocean inside the cell.

[Kevin]
So I guess every fiber is surrounded inside and out by water.

[Michelle]
But when you understand this, even just if you even just focus on the blood for a second, 50 percent water, you can understand how a majority of people being under hydrated, all of a sudden, how much nutrient transport, how much detoxification is limited by not being properly hydrated. And every single organ system requires this to work adequately. So I can't tell you how often I hear it time and time again.

Oh, I don't like water. I don't drink water because I don't like it. And I drink these other things.

And they'll drink their sports drinks because they think that it's full of electrolytes. But they realize most of those sports drinks are just sugar delivery mechanisms.

[Kevin]
And salt, yeah.

[Michelle]
So a majority of us are under hydrated. And so Goldner's guidelines have been proven with tens of thousands of cases with, you know, everything from mild conditions to severe, severe late stage autoimmune diseases. And so we know that hydration is the key.

You know what? Here's an interesting anecdote. I have a nutrition colleague that the only program she ever runs is a hydration challenge.

She doesn't do, you know, nutrition education really so much. She doesn't do detox programs. That's a very popular thing for people to do.

The only program she runs is a hydration challenge. And she gets incredible, incredible results with her clients just by teaching people to hydrate properly. So that's pretty, pretty telling that they could change absolutely nothing else about their diet and lifestyle except to start drinking adequate water.

But let me tell you about another great person in this space. Kevin, are you ready?

[Kevin]
Sure, I'm ready.

[Michelle]
You're going to like this one.

[Kevin]
Okay.

[Michelle]
Okay. I don't even know if I can say his name correctly. Dr. Batmangeldige. They call him Dr. Batman. I'm Batman. So he's a Middle Eastern doctor and, you know, decades and decades of clinical practice, helping patients and honing in on this fundamental problem of inappropriate hydration with his patients.

He actually wrote this book that has gotten incredible acclaim internationally, Your Body's Many Cries for Water. And he outlines in this book an astonishing list of common ailments that can be cured. You know, everything from small things like headaches and brain fog to improved sleep, you know, getting rid of pain and joints or even severe, severe, severe pain management and allergies, like so, so many things.

And it relates back to, and he's done the research, it relates back to this fundamental mechanics of the human body, like having this intense water requirement in order to function. And, you know, even things like, this is well documented in the literature, things like high blood pressure. If you imagine that, you know, the blood is 50% water and you're not properly hydrated, and then your body has to compensate for that.

And then, you know, think of it as you're going to be moving liquid one bucket at a time if it's properly hydrated. But if it's not properly hydrated, you're only going to be able to do a bucket half of the size. But in order to meet the body's requirements, you're going to have to pump it twice as fast.

So that's what our heart ends up having to do. So even things, fundamental things like blood pressure, and people will think, oh, I've got all these complicated problems. What if all you had to do is drink a proper amount of water?

So it's worth exploring for absolutely anybody because I'm willing to bet that a majority of people are not adequately hydrated on a daily basis. And there is a threshold where you can drink too much water. I hear that objection a lot.

Oh, but what if I drink too much water? Yes, there is a threshold. And Dr. Goldner's threshold, I know very, very well, because I know her research the best, is not ever to exceed one gallon. But she will even recommend to her patients, you know, a gallon of water if you have a condition to heal, or you have a significant amount of weight that you need to lose in order for your body to meet those demands of what you're going to ask of it in order to heal those conditions and help accelerate the fat burn and the healthy weight loss and detoxification. You will need a gallon of water. We lose about two to three liters of water a day just existing.

[Kevin]
Right. So what counts as water?

[Michelle]
We get water from eating healthy, fresh, whole foods like fruits and vegetables. They have a high water content. And then, of course, drinking water.

And what the listeners may be very happy to hear is good quality tea and coffee, if they have not had other things added to them, can count towards your hydration requirements. As long as you do not like I used to drink excessive amounts of coffee, Kevin, like a ridiculous amount of coffee. That level of caffeine intake that I used to have.

Old Michelle was certainly would not count as healthy hydration because that would be far too much caffeine. But one or two cups of coffee a day is not considered to be unhealthy unless it's loaded with sugar. Right.

And then tea, of course, good quality tea, which is now my beverage of choice, is is considered to be, in my opinion, good quality tea is even a choice better for you than than water in some cases, because it's also loaded with so many other polyphenolic compounds that can be so beneficial. But but you'd still want to take that that caution of overly caffeinating yourself, even though we don't have the same concern with tea as we do with coffee. So I just I just say that to level set that, you know, there has to be a reasonable lens attached to this.

Your best source of water is going to be, you know, to be sure that it's meeting your requirements, that it's good. It's clean source of filtered water. But if you enjoy some coffee and tea during the day, we can throw out that old paradigm that you have to now drink two cups of water for every cup of tea or coffee that you had.

We've now shown very clear in the evidence it does not dehydrate you. As we once said, it may increase the frequency of your urination, but not to the extent that that is medically considered dehydrating you.

[Kevin]
OK, what about alcohol? Because I've heard similar I've actually heard arguments saying that alcohol is dehydrating. So if you drink alcohol, you actually have to make up even more water, because not only does the alcohol not count towards water, but it eats away or counteracts some of the water that you've had previously.

Is that correct or is that a?

[Michelle]
No, that's that's true. Alcohol is very, very dehydrating. But the more so the concern with alcohol is, is there isn't a more detrimental antinutrient in the entire world than alcohol.

So alcohol, the minute that you consume it, it depletes the body of every single other nutrient.

[Kevin]
So, OK, that sounds like another episode.

[Michelle]
Yeah. So there is they used to talk about these to characterize, you know, the moderate drinker, the you know, the light drinker, moderate drinker, heavy drinker. You may have noticed the dietary recommendations just last year, as a matter of fact.

[Kevin]
Yes. Yes. So now it's when it used to be, I think, two glasses or no, it was, I think, six glasses a week.

Now it's down to, I think, less than one glass.

[Michelle]
Yeah, there's no there's there's considered there's no safe, no safe alcohol consumption amount. And so if you are going to still enjoy, you know, some, you know, wine with dinner, beer in the backyard on a hot summer day, nobody is saying that you can't do that. But it's just to really make the public aware that you should be aware.

You should be aware that there's no longer considered a safe level. So that might change some of our choices of how many of those beers that we have on a hot summer day and how many glasses of wine we have a dinner.

[Kevin]
I don't know. It depends how hot the summer day is.

[Michelle]
Drink your water. Drink your water.

[Kevin]
Yes. Yes. I'll drink water if only to allow me to enjoy that beer on a hot summer day.

[Michelle]
Well, you know, one way that I like to get around it to Kevin is I don't really drink glasses of wine anymore. I drink wine spritzers. So I'll put some some carbonated water in with my glass of wine so that I'm only ever having half of a glass of wine now.

Ever since that recommendation.

[Kevin]
OK, so just water down your whiskey and you're fine.

[Michelle]
Instead of a drop.

[Kevin]
Exactly.

[Michelle]
Exactly. It'll help open up the whiskey.

[Kevin]
Yeah, exactly. So how so so I've got a question for you because I guess I'm I'm a little confused now because you've you've stated which is my normal state of being. But you've stated that you can get water from foods and liquid sources like drinks and there is a range.

So how can someone like how can an average person like me tell without actually because I don't want to be counting cups necessarily throughout the day because I won't remember how many cups I've had and how many times I've refilled my water bottle here.

[Michelle]
Yeah, I realize people are not me.

[Kevin]
Yeah. And I hope you've noticed on this call that I've been like sipping much more regularly because you're making me self-conscious. So how can someone know when they're kind of in that sweet spot of not being over hydrated, which does it sounds like that's a very low risk, but it is a risk and not being under hydrated like how are the rules of thumb that someone can understand.

[Michelle]
So I can only tell you that there are there are some hacks and some and some tips on how to and how to do that effectively. And here's what I tell any any of my clients, the best way to know whether you've had adequate water is to spend a few dollars on Amazon and buy yourself. It depends on where you are comfortable starting out on this journey.

Let's say it was me and I'm going to buy a three liter water bottle or they actually do have gallon gallon size water bottles. So if you were let's say you had a weight loss goal and you really wanted to add this to your toolbox to help you be successful. There's a whole lot of reasons why that's a good idea, because just being more hydrated actually helps decrease your cravings and your hunger.

And you'll know when you've finished that bottle at the end of the day that you met your hydration requirement. That's really the easiest way to do it is to start with the amount in the morning and just work at it through the day. And then you no longer have to guess how many how many glasses of water was that.

And then, you know, anything that you get over and above that from your food or your coffee is a is a is a bonus.

[Kevin]
OK, so there is no hack. Darn it.

[Michelle]
Well, that is a hack. Get that start out with the with the appropriate size. You know, really, this comes down to everything we're going to talk about.

You have to be a conscious eater. You have to be a conscious. If you really, really want your world to change, you have to change.

And you have to stop allowing yourself to be sucked in by all of the other messages swirling around us in society that are distracting and confusing and detracting us away from taking care of ourselves and make yourself a priority. If you now know that hydration is that important, then you have to make it a focus in your day and give your set yourself up to succeed. So that's why I suggest by the by the jug, fill it in the morning.

And by the end of the day, if half of your jug is left, then, you know, you're not done.

[Kevin]
Right, right, and visit the bathroom every 20 minutes.

[Michelle]
You know what? I'm so glad that you mentioned that. That is one of the first objections that everyone says, oh, now I'm going to be peeing all the time.

So let me- Let me tell you something about this that I think is so cool and it's another reason why the human body is so amazing is that we are what we call, you'll hear me say this probably multiple times, we are a complex adaptive system. So our body becomes very good at adapting to whatever conditions we place it under. So if you teach the body that, you know, that your intake of hydration is going to be very, very low, it's going to adapt to that level of hydration and it's going to adjust every other's body process to concentrate to the limited hydration level that you have.

So it's going to prioritize body system and it's going to send that hydration to where it is most needed and then the other areas are going to suffer, which is why we end up with these symptoms. But when you actually hydrate the body appropriately, initially, it's going to be going, what am I going to do with all this water? And it's going to send it out in your urine.

But then after a week or two of sustaining a proper hydration level, your body is going to adapt and at some point your body is going to say, oh, I guess that level of hydration is normal now that I don't need to get rid of it. I can now, yay, I can start sending more of it to the lungs. I can send more of it to the heart.

I can put more of it in the blood and your body will adapt and then you'll find that your frequency of urination normalizes again. You know, here's a good rule of thumb. Maybe this is more along the lines of what you were looking for.

When you pee, if your pee is a dark yellow, notwithstanding if you had a B vitamin or something, but if your pee is darker, then you know that you're not well hydrated. It should be a very pale yellow. So that's one way you can tell.

[Kevin]
So we're now getting into some TMI now, but just to challenge that a little bit, because here's where I get confused because I guarantee you, I do not drink anywhere near my, you know, half to one ounce per pound because I did a quick calculation and that would be like almost four liters a day, which I believe is about a gallon, which is there's no way I ingest that. And yet, again, you know, not getting too personal, but my urine is generally, except for first thing in the morning, like it's generally on the colorless end of the spectrum, shall we say. So isn't that then?

So I'm clearly like by the rules you've been talking about or by the guidelines you've been talking about, I am nowhere near properly hydrated, but my body, I don't know, maybe it's adjusted or something, but it's not dark because I've always lived like I don't count water. And my hack has often been that color theory. And so I do often, you know, adjust my water intake based on the color of my pee.

What a weird conversation this is. But anyways, this is all about nutrition.

[Michelle]
We shouldn't be afraid to talk about pee and poop. It's fundamental to nutrition.

[Kevin]
I thought you were going to say it's fun. We put the fun in the fundamental. I don't want to talk about asparagus.

[Michelle]
That's the only thing I'm going to say.

[Kevin]
Oh, yeah. No, not asparagus. Oh, my God.

It's asparagus season. And I had some the other day and it's like for two days after it's like, whoo-hoo, I forgot about that.

[Michelle]
So, Kevin, what are you eating? What are you eating when you characterize that? Like maybe you're getting intense.

I know your diet generally. You do eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.

[Kevin]
Right, right. So but I don't think I eat because I mean, I drink maybe I don't even know how much I drink. I think I'm going to try to.

Measure and we might have to have a part two of this.

[Michelle]
I want to follow up with you. I want you to increase your hydration and I want to do a follow up in a couple of weeks and I want to see what's happening with you.

[Kevin]
Yeah, because I'm curious now to see because also I have a notoriously small bladder and so I'm concerned that I'm going to be.

[Michelle]
Your bladder is the appropriate size for your body.

[Kevin]
Well, exactly. But if you'll excuse me now, like I need to stop this podcast to like. Excuse me, pause, pause the podcast for a moment because I need to visit the facilities.

[Michelle]
Yeah, well, you know, we use that color sort of barometer because it's the best indication that we can blanketly have. I think I think certain people like you, if you start turning around and looking, which I encourage everyone to do. Well, I guess, guys, you don't have to turn around.

[Kevin]
Well, just look down, it's easier for us. But that's another podcast.

[Michelle]
Another thing that's unfair that men have easier than women.

[Kevin]
Yeah, we can check our hydration level easily.

[Michelle]
But I think most of us will know if our if if if our color is unusually dark. But I mean, who's to say what what appropriately pale is for you? What's appropriately pale for me?

The best thing to do is to know is to follow the science. We know the science is very clear on what we what we require. We know that there is enough of a sick population that this is a key.

Anyone has ever had a loved one hospitalized, for example. What is the first thing they do when they hospitalize you?

[Kevin]
They put in the IV with the saline solution.

[Michelle]
Yeah, because that's the that's the going in assumption is that this person is not well hydrated. And often that is a majority part of the problem. So don't fight the science, Kev.

[Kevin]
I won't fight the science. I'm just looking for like a nice, easy hack to to avoid counting. That's that's that's what it comes down to.

I can't count higher than about 10. And so if I have to count, I have to have like, you know, 29 cups or something like that.

[Michelle]
It's like so by one jug and then you only have to count to one.

[Kevin]
And then I'll have huge biceps by lugging this jug of water around all day on the subway, down the street. It's going to be so much fun.

[Michelle]
I was going to say, look at how cool that guy is. He's got a really, really cool jug.

[Kevin]
And look at how hydrated he is.

[Michelle]
Look at the size of his jug. Look at that.

[Kevin]
He is so well hydrated. He's glowing. It's wonderful.

So another question for you, and this this now is as so often happens, this sort of edges beyond nutrition into the environment and everything else. But can we talk bottled water versus tap water for a moment? There are people who ask, you know, I said, well, you can count on me.

You feed me these questions. But there are people who, you know, just the other day I went to the grocery store and there was a guy leaving who had literally a shopping cart full of these little single serve water bottles. And part of my soul died because of all that plastic for single serve.

It wasn't even the big bottles like four liter or 20 liter or however big they are that goes on the water cooler. So for people who are privileged enough to live in wealthy nations who can process their water and filter their water properly and make it potable, what's the deal with tap water? Is it safe?

Is it fine? Can we drink it? Because I'm a big proponent of tap water.

I've always drunk it. And I don't have three heads and, you know, strange appendages growing out of my body. So is it safe and does it count?

[Michelle]
So there's two sides to that. And as I think you've alluded to, there is the quality of the water and then there is the environmental impact of various water delivery systems. Right.

So let's deal with health first, because, you know, we're not going to be around to take care of the environment if we're all sick and dying. That might be that might be dramatic, but, you know, but it's true to a certain degree. So, you know, let's just start with Canada.

I think this has been a hot topic for a lot of areas in our own nation where we have underserved populations that currently don't have access to good quality tap water even. And that is a big focus that we see in the media and our government is certainly talking about it. It's certainly a topic du jour here in Canada.

But I don't want that definitely huge problem that warrants acknowledgement and fixing in our nation. I don't want that to distract us from the fact that we have other issues with our quality of our drinking water elsewhere in Canada. It's not necessarily as safe as Canadians think it is.

And that might be a controversial thing to say. But let me tell you where I'm coming from.

[Kevin]
You're not afraid of a little cold.

[Michelle]
I am not afraid. I am a peon in the universe and nobody really cares what I have to say. So there are concerns about tap water everywhere.

And we see this pop up in the news from time to time. And then there's a news cycle that goes by and we forget about it. And but on and on.

But the bottom line is that really we should never drink tap water. And so here's just a few of the things that I talk about in my Flourish nutrition class. The very first thing, actually, Kevin, that I talk about when people do the Flourish program is about water, because it's so important and I want them to increase hydration.

And there is really no point in me going to all the trouble to teach them about food and the foods that they should eat and have more of and less of if they're dumping water that is actually detracting all of those efforts because they're now getting hydrated at appropriate levels. But they're putting in that much that many more, you know, unbeneficial things into their body by the type of water that they're drinking. So in 2015, for example, I know this is a while ago, but this but it was quite shocking.

National Post reported that every year over 300,000 Canadians contract a stomach bug from drinking tap water. And then there was another study that was published a few years later in the Canadian press that found that there are shockingly high concentrations of pharmaceutical drugs coming through our tap water, including cocaine. And in 2019, there was an investigative journalist that they broke a story that went national and exposed that thousands of communities across Canada had high levels of dangerous levels of lead coming out of their tap because of aging pipe infrastructure in certain communities.

And the problem that we can't even really know in the community that we're in, if this is a problem for us, these things are not actively monitored. They are not actively, you know, taken care of or maintained. They're buried so deep underground that people forget about it.

[Kevin]
Do you know what I mean? Out of sight, out of mind.

[Michelle]
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So and then here's another one. The CBC asked 18 cities in every province and territory to provide a list of the health related contaminants that they test in their water supplies based on Canada's guidelines for safe drinking water.

And only one, Ottawa, tested for all 75 substances regularly that were in health. Canada's published guidelines for Canadian drinking water. So we have a national guideline, but it's municipally enforced.

[Kevin]
OK, so it's up to the local water board.

[Michelle]
And not every municipality is actually doing that appropriate testing for all 75 substances. There's very limited information sometimes when you want to dive in to this information, you know, in Canada. So I often use what's happening in the United States, like south of our border, as a mirror because we are, for all intents and purposes, very linked usually when it comes to how we regulate our food, etc.

So the EPA in the United States has not added any new contaminants to toxic chemicals to their Safe Drinking Water Act in over 20 years. So this is something that was studied and figured out by the Environmental Working Group, which is a not-for-profit sort of watchdog that, you know, they take funds from donations from the public and they try to hold government accountable to certain things where the guidelines are falling short on protecting people's best health. So that means if they haven't updated the Safe Drinking Water Act in over 20 years, that leaves no legal limit for over 160 unregulated contaminants today that are present in our drinking water or in the United States drinking water.

And I would consider if it's that way south of the border, there's a very high probability that we also have not updated our guidelines for a very long time and hence why our media outlets are breaking stories about lead and pharmaceutical drugs and PFAS and other things that are in our water. So, you know, it's very concerning to me. But the message is that we can't turn on our tap and assume that even though it's potable, we can't assume that it's going to support our optimal health.

Really, and to some extent, you know, in defense of government, it's not government's job, really, when they are supplying water and water guidelines for Canadians to make our water optimally healthy. It is really incumbent upon government to protect us from harm and the spread of diseases and viruses and things, which is why, you know, where safe drinking water came from, so that we don't get cholera and all these things from our water. So they are probably doing to the best of the guidelines as they are now, even though the guidelines are probably, you know, egregiously out of date.

They're doing the best to protect us from spreading viral diseases and bacterial infections through our water. But it doesn't mean the water is healthy. Right.

So we are best served to, like we do with our food and the other things that we talk about, to filter our water. And what I simply recommend, so as not to overwhelm my clients, the best quality water within your means.

[Kevin]
That makes sense.

[Michelle]
So start out with a filter. Or maybe you have maybe you have one of those refrigerators that has a carbon filter in it. That's a great place to start.

The thing to be sure of, though, if you are relying on what comes out of your fridge to be your filtered water, then you have to make sure you keep up to date with changing your filter. Because if you don't change your filter regularly, then it will start to breed bacteria and then you will be getting unsafe water from there as well. It's the best quality water within your means and as long as it's going to serve your needs.

And then if you become more, you know, financially secure, then you can certainly go better than that. I think that the gold standard would be put the system on your home if you really want it to be gold standard so that you're also showering and bathing in water that is free of additional contaminants. But that's right.

That's going to an extreme that even I'm not there yet, Kev.

[Kevin]
That's we're going to have to make a little bit more money to be able to afford that. But one day we can dream.

[Michelle]
Maybe, you know, not as much as you might think. It's all it's just a matter, again, of prioritizing our spending. Maybe I don't need to go on another vacation.

Maybe I need to put that system on my home. Maybe that's more important.

[Kevin]
Oh, don't don't talk to me about that. No, nothing is more important than a vacation for the mental health, if nothing else. It sounds like the bottom line is drink as much as you can and drink as high quality as you can and it won't be so bad.

[Michelle]
Right. And now let's go to the other issue that you mentioned. Obviously, we want to decrease the amount of plastic that we're consuming and the amount that we're that is ending up in landfills and in our oceans and et cetera and things like that.

And then there are you know, there are the dangers of things leaching out of those plastic bottles that's going into into the water, even though it may have been, you know, filtered or infrared or whatever they were. There's not all bottled waters are created equally either. But based on what we just talked about and the importance of the environment, I don't feel it to be a useful conversation to belabor which which bottled water brand is better than the other.

And I think there's a lot of research people can do on their own in that regard. But if you're going to buy water, then take the big jugs.

[Kevin]
Yes. Basically, the long, the short of us try to reduce the amount of packaging, as with everything else in life, try to reduce the amount of packaging. And certainly in your water, if you're going to be drinking gallons and gallons and gallons a day, don't drink that in little like 50, you know, half a liter bottles, because that is what's going to we're not you can be healthy, but we'll have no world around us to to live in anymore.

[Michelle]
Look at how that paradigm has already shifted. Remember, remember how upscale we used to feel it was if we got into an Uber or something and they they had a bottle of water sitting there waiting for us. And now now when we see it, we're like, oh, oh, exactly.

How many bottles of water is that guy going through every day?

[Kevin]
Exactly. That's the thing with with with bottled water. It's it's almost a single serve packaging, which is hugely wasteful.

And most a lot of them are not they're recyclable, yes, but they're not reusable.

[Michelle]
And I take my water bottle with me everywhere at the airport. Now they have those places where you can stop and you can refill your water bottle. There's no reason for us to buy disposable water bottles anymore.

[Kevin]
I do that simply because I'm cheap.

[Michelle]
There's another great reason, right?

[Kevin]
Yeah, exactly. Buy one water bottle and then refill it for free.

[Michelle]
You know, this is the thing, like with everything about the healthiest diet and the healthiest way of living, it's actually cheap, right? It actually is. If you if you consume less meat, you consume less dairy, you consume less of those things.

Your grocery bill goes down quite a bit and you can afford better quality fruits and vegetables and better quality water.

[Kevin]
Exactly, exactly. OK, well, thank you. As always, Michelle, it's been amazing food or should I say water for thought?

And and it's helped clarify that I need to drink a whole lot more and we will have a follow up episode, maybe a mini episode to see how my journey in this water is and most importantly, how often I'm going to the loo.

[Michelle]
The pleasure is all mine, Kevin, as always, and I look forward to your urinary update.

[Kevin]
And oh, I can't wait when you put it that way. And on that note, I will end with a little joke. And I thought since the brain uses so much water, it would be a brain joke.

And I think you'll appreciate this, too. So a brain walks into a bar and takes a seat. I'd like some wings and a pint of beer, please, it says.

Sorry, but I can't serve you, the bartender replies. You're out of your head.

[Michelle]
Oh, my God, that's so bad.

[Kevin]
Of course. Oh, of course it is. Come on.

[Michelle]
And I love me a good walks into a bar joke. You know that.

[Kevin]
Exactly. You can add that into your catalogue.

[Michelle]
OK, next episode, I have to try to rival your walks into a bar joke.

[Kevin]
Excellent. OK, OK. It's a deal.

We've got it. We've got a competition, folks.

[Michelle]
Challenge accepted.

[Kevin]
Exactly. That in and of itself is enough reason to tune in for the next episode. Without a doubt, the dueling bar jokes.

[Michelle]
Oh, I can.

[Kevin]
Although alcohol doesn't count towards your water intakes.

[Michelle]
No, it doesn't.

[Kevin]
We shouldn't be encouraging this.

[Michelle]
But I didn't take your coffee.

[Kevin]
And no, exactly. Thank you so much. I will be forever grateful that you didn't take my coffee because you wouldn't want to see me without my coffee.

[Michelle]
Or you could switch that up to a lovely morning Earl Grey.

[Kevin]
Bite your tongue. I am flexible to certain degrees, but I need my coffee. I really, really need it.

Anyways, Michelle, it's been a pleasure as always. Talk to you in the next episode.

[Michelle]
Ciao. Be real, folks.

[Kevin]
This has been Nutrition for Noobs. We hope you're a bit more enlightened about how your fantastic and complicated body works with the food you put into it. If you have a question or a topic you'd like Michelle to discuss, drop us a line at n4noobs@gmail.com.

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It is not intended to be a substitute for medical, nutritional or health advice. Listeners should seek a personal consultation with a qualified practitioner if they have any concerns or before commencing any actions mentioned in the podcast.