Best drinks for hydration

Say Goodbye to Eight Glasses of Water a Day

If you were planning a trek across the Sahara Desert and could pick only one drink to take with you, what would you pick?

It’s highly likely that your answer would be, “WATER, of course.”

You may be shocked to find out that you made the wrong choice. Since the 90’s there’s been a wildly over marketed push to drink more water. Most health enthusiast, doctors, dieticians, trainers, the FDA, and even surgeon general recommend to drink (8) 16-oz glasses of water per day to stay healthy. You have probably been doing this and thinking you’ve been the perfect little health nut. If you look at the belly of the beast, we might find Coca-Cola making billions off the bottled water and pseudo sports drink racket, but that conversation is for another time.

Water is a solvent.

Water does not moisturize, lubricate your body, or keep you hydrated. Think about how quickly water evaporates on your garden when you water it in the summer. Think of how water carves out sandstone and granite in the riverbeds of the world. Think about an automobile engine. Would you put water into your engine get the pistons to glide up and down smoothy in the cylinders?

Water has no electrolytes, sugars, or fats essential to signal your body to retain moisture or to nourish your cells. When we drink excess plain water our body quickly excretes this as urine to maintain homeostasis of our blood sugar and other chemical balances that are fine tuned to run our nervous system, musculoskeletal system, digestive system, endocrine system etc.

A 2019 research study from Scotland’s Saint Andrews University revealed that water is actually #10 on the list even below sports drinks and sodas.

What is #1 on the list?

Milk

Yes, milk has essential fats, proteins, sugars, salts, and other electrolytes necessary for vital hydration and bodily function. Think about it. What do you put on your lips and skin when it needs moisturizing? Water or cream? Eating fat is the most effective and sustainable way to moisturize, nourish and hydrate from the inside out.

Camel humps are hydration tanks made of fat. When camels make their treks across the desert, they can go six to seven months without water because they are slowly metabolizing their fat reserves. You can visually see their hump and the fat in the rest of their body slowly disappear week after week as it is consumed to keep them hydrated and nourished. If we were to pick one item to go across the Sahara it would be fat.

Our Top 5 Picks for Hydrating Drinks at Blossom & Be:

#1 Milk (local, grass-fed, organic).

#2 Moisturizing Formula*

#3 Milkshake*

#4 Celery Juice with cream (click link for recipe)

#5 Sports Drink *

*see the recipes below thanks to Aajonus Vonderplanitz

Some likely questions…

What about Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks?

Like sodas, they have had minerals like salt, potassium or magnesium added to them, but they all are added to water and mostly have sugar added to them as well. This makes them better than water for hydration but not good on many other levels.

What about coffee or alcohol?

Both coffee and alcohol are diuretics. So, while it may seem like you are wetting your whistle, cellularly you are sucking moisture out and excreting all your water through urination. Both are harmful to your system in many ways, wreaking havoc on your pancreas and your liver all while shriveling you up like a raisin.

What about coconut water?

Coconut water is a fair option. While it does add water to your system, it also has quite a bit of sugar so I wouldn’t drink it regularly especially not pasteurized coconut water because now the raw sugar has been refined and is like a hit of white sugar crack. If you are going to drink the raw coconut water be sure to eat the white coconut meat as well so you get some protein and fat with your sugar water.

Isn’t all that fat bad for you?

Fats are essential for metabolizing Vitamin A, D, E and K, protecting the nervous system, maintaining body temperature, and regulating homeostasis. The trendy low-fat or no-fat diets are killing us. The research only addresses cooked fats which can be irritating, destructive and even carcinogenic. We are talking about raw fats which support life. We will address this more in another article.

What if I’m really thirsty?

If I am really thirsty, after working out, a hard day’s work, or after a hot bath, I drink a glass of milk (high fat whole raw organic), a cup of raw milk and cream smoothie or cup of celery juice. These options are packed with fats, minerals, and nutrients so we are getting food with our hydration and all the essential enzymes to metabolize it.

If I have to drink water, what is the healthiest for me?

Drink fresh spring water or bottled mineral water in glass containers. Ionized water or reverse osmosis water is not hydrating, and it is void of any nutrients or minerals. Avoid chlorinated and fluoridated water at all cost. You can add vinegar or lemon to neutralize city water as a last resort.

Can I drink water with my meal?

This is a complicated answer. Typically it is recommended that you do not drink water with your meal because it dilutes the hydrochloric acid and thus your stomach has a difficult time breaking down the bolus requiring more energy and thus less efficient. I would agree with this if you were on a strict, raw food diet. Most people however eat cooked food in which case drinking with your meal will add needed liquid to your digestive system to help process food. Cooked food is much harder to break down as it takes several hours compared to raw which takes thirty minutes. Added liquid will support the process. And, if you have the option, I would still choose milk over water with a meal.

In what kind of container should I carry my drink?

The thin clear plastic that you buy most bottled water in are the worst. Nalgene, recycled plastic, stainless steel, and BPA-free all leach plastics or aluminum into your body especially as the containers get old, are exposed to the sun, or heated up. EPA approved water jugs leech PCBs into your water even the fancy high priced bottles.

Look on the bottom of the container. If it has the numbers 5 Polypropylene (PP) is the best. These are typically opaque yet made from petroleum and not recyclable. And, factory workers that make these plastics are at risk of getting asthma. We recommend clay pots or glass, uncolored, non-heat-treated Mason jars.

How can I tell if I’m dehydrated?

Your stools will get hard because your body is retaining the moisture. This is why most wild animal poop is hard and dry. They are retaining the moisture. Also, your skin and lips will be dried out. These are all signals to increase the fat intake in your body.

Who should switch from water to raw fat?

Most bodies are so starved for healthier fat that when they get fat, the organs, blood, glands, nervous system consume it. The lymph, bones, joints, connective tissue, and skin continue to starve and shrivel with dryness until we get enough fat. Most people rarely get all the fat supply that their bodies need as fats are utilized for so many functions.

Will people think I’m odd?

I have not always valued fat over water. As a matter of fact, I was a personal trainer in the 90s and I apologize to all my clients for instructing them to drink those 8 glasses of water per day. I also apologize for my mullet haircut and my knee-high tube socks. But, Over the last 20-years, my goal has been to get as much raw fat into my body and my client’s bodies as possible to keep our pistons well lubricated and all our systems running optimally.

We know it’s going to be awkward and you might receive ridicule from friends, family and even some experts. Just know there’s a whole community of people out there that eat this way and we’ve got your back. Hey, I got a lot of flak for sporting that George Michael stubble with earrings and that fringe haircut. Just own it. One day everyone will drink fat instead of water and you can say you did it before it was cool.

How do I break the lifelong habit?

Just like kicking any other habit liking smoking or sleeping on your side, it takes time. Be gentle on yourself. Trust that you are getting the hydration that your body needs. Pay attention to how your body responds and take it one day at a time. Find an accountability buddy. Soon, you will begin to feel better in your body, have increased energy, softer skin, and feel more refreshed as you embrace your new normal. And, be gentle on yourself. Sometimes in the summer when I’m really heated up, I might have a big glass of water to refresh me. However, it is NEVER (8) 16-ounce glasses a day.

What if I’m lactose intolerant?

Some people cannot digest cow milk and need an alternative in which case I would recommend goat, sheep, or yes, camel milk. Before you write off cow milk, first try a source that is organic, grass-fed, RAW, and A2A2 cows’ milk which is more similar to goat, camel, bison and Human milk which is also A2A2.  It’s not the lactose that people cannot tolerate, but the casein protein.  Many people who cannot digest even most raw cows’ milk CAN tolerate and thrive on A2A2 milk. And, of course, raw milk still has lactase, which helps our bodies digest lactose! Try it for a month and see. If you still have difficulty, try allowing the milk to warm up to room temperature before drinking or turning your milk into kefir or yoghurt and see if you still have a reaction. Most people’s intolerance will go away with these strategies.

What if I will NOT do raw dairy or raw eggs?

Pack lots of raw avocados, raw coconut cream or raw cod liver oil into your saddle bags and we’ll see you on the other side of the Sahara!

Phoenix

Here are the Recipes:

Milkshake

Ingredients:

  • 3 raw eggs
  • 3-6 oz raw milk
  • 2 oz raw cream
  • 1 oz of unheated raw honey

Blenderize in a pint size Mason jar on medium speed for 5-10 seconds.

(You might add berries, vanilla, cinnamon, bananas or raw cacao powder for flavor. No fruit or cacao if you are feeling emotional, sensitive, irritable, and/or sleepy.)

Moisturizing Formula

Ingredients:

  • 1 raw egg
  • 2 oz unsalted raw butter or coconut cream
  • 2 oz lemon juice
  • 2 oz unheated raw honey

 All ingredients should be at room temperature. If not, warm all ingredients in an 8-ounce (1/2-pint) jar, capped with the blender washer/base/blades immersed in a bowl of mildly hot water for 5-minutes. Blenderize on medium speed for 10-seconds. This is most effective when consumed with, or shortly after, a meat meal.

Sports Formula

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of any combo of these:
    • cucumber*
    • tomato
    • melon
  • 3 Tbsp raw coconut cream or 2 Tbsp raw dairy cream*
  • 4 raw eggs*
  • 1 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar*
  • 1 Tbsp raw lemon or lime juice
  • 2-3 Tbsp unheated raw honey (reduce for high performance)
  • 1 cup raw liquid whey* or ½ cup Mineral Water/Spring Water* -Perrier has lower sodium than most other brands😊 or ½ cup raw milk
  • 1 Tbsp Clay
  • 20 Blueberries

 *Increase amount for High Performance Athletes

 Blenderize in pitcher on medium speed for 5-10 seconds. Store in Mason jars. Sip throughout the day

Resources:

We Want to Live, by Aajonus Vonderplanitz

Recipe for Living Without Disease, by Aajonus Vonderplanitz

The Primal Diet website

Contact us to acquire local, grass-fed, organic dairy products

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