- The Actualized Creator
- Posts
- What Water Should You Drink?
Today at a glance:
💧 What Water Should You Drink?
The problem with tap water
Water Filters: RO, Countertop
Is Alkaline Water legit?
Light Water
Alternative Waters: Hydrogen, Kangen, Structured+
🔨 Take My Affiliate Commission
Tools & Products Directory
I’ll Paypal you my affiliate commission
🧑🤝🧑 This & That: Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, 9 Habits of Curious Minds +
5 MINUTE READ
🔧 DISCOUNTED TOOLS & PRODUCTS
I’ll Paypal you my affiliate commission.
I decided to give ya'll any affiliate commission that comes from what you purchase from product links that I drop in the Newsletter.
I've wrestled with the integrity of the affiliate model for some time, and realized I'd rather you guys take the commission as a further discount on the product instead.
Everyone wins:
you get a discount
brand sells their product
I just genuinely want you guys to use this stuff
To get the commission/discount, forward your receipt and Paypal email to [email protected].
About once a month I'll have my VA go through these and send through reimbursements via Paypal. Bear with me as we get the admin flow dialed.
😔 The Problem w/ Tap Water
The EWG explains this best: Legal does not necessarily equal safe. Getting a passing grade from the federal government does not mean the water meets the latest health guidelines. Legal limits for contaminants in tap water have not been updated in almost 20 years.
Common things found in tap water that are problematic:
Pesticides
Fluoride
Disinfection byproducts (DBPs)
PFAs
Heavy metals. (Heavy metals can leech from old pipes in the house too - which wouldn’t be caught in the report)
DBPs, Fluoride, and PFAs disrupt your hormones.
In general, all the junk in tap water will cause brain fog at the very least - in addition to more serious health issues.
Check the tests of your zip code’s tap water on EWG. They’ll give a breakdown of what’s in the water, what’s the recommended amount, and what excesses of things those things have been linked with.
💢 Purified Water: Filters, Bottled
Reverse Osmosis
Reverse Osmosis is the gold standard for filtering 99%+ contaminants, resulting in just pure water. It uses osmotic pressure to pull through only water through a membrane, so no contaminants can get through — but also, no minerals get through.
You can get an under-the-sink RO unit for under $200. Replacement filters end up costing you about $25/mo. It’s an easy install if you find a taskrabbit or handyman to come install it.
Otherwise, you can get a countertop RO from Aquatru for $349-449.
I get a 17% affiliate commission on this which I’ll Paypal to you
Some will argue RO is ‘dead’ water, not as found in nature (the argument here is that spring water has minerals, and is exposed to a high degree of motion).
This is counteracted by adding minerals to the water.
Fulvic Humic minerals are the most bioavailable minerals — warning, it’s a black liquid
Some say you should use a vortexing unit to add motion back to the water, but there’s nothing that really supports this.
Clearly Filtered Pitcher
Clearly Filtered Pitcher claims to remove fluoride, lead, BPAs, glyphosates, and hormones
I don’t think it’s as effective as RO, but at $80 for a pitcher — the price is great and I usually recommend this to any friends on a budget or renting.
Bottled
Spring Water is generally best here, as are glass jugs. Mountain Valley was bought by Sparkletts and should deliver in glass jugs to most cities.
You can get Reverse Osmosis water delivered in jugs or from Whole Foods for pretty low cost. Just remember to add minerals to them.
If you’re into the energetics of water and live in LA or Austin, a lot of people love Alive Water spring water delivery.
💭 Light Water
Light Water is low in Heavy Hydrogen, an isotope of Hydrogen that’s 2x as big and 2x as heavy. Heavy hydrogen disrupts biochemical processes in the body and damages mitochondria.
This is the only real functional water with studies and solid biochemical methods of action behind it.
For chronic illness, it addresses the root cause — mitochondrial functioning, biochemical reactions, and DNA damage. For an (accessible) deep dive on the science, read the Whitepaper.
For healthy individuals, studies have shown it to optimize athletic performance, mental health, mental clarity, and healthspan / longevity.
As of now, there’s a few brands selling light water on the market, but the production method is so expensive that it’s only really economically feasible if you’re dealing with Cancer — about $12/Liter cost.
We’re launching 100 Water, the first low-cost light water this Summer. Retail cost will be about $3.50/Liter, similar to a premium spring water.
I truly believe this is the highest ROI lever we can pull for health, wellness, and performance.
Side note: if you or anyone you know is going through Cancer treatments, please reply to this email and I’ll send you a full doc with light water protocols that are taken from the clinical studies done using light water.
I have a family member that’s too weak for Chemo, and she’s kept her cancer at bay for 2 years using these protocols.
🥛 Alternative Waters: Hydrogen, Alkaline, Kangen, Structured, Oxygenated
Alkaline Water
The science behind alkaline water is not all that sound in what it actually claims to do (change the pH of your body). But there’s one study that suggests it can improve hydration.
Alkaline Water was born as a way to capitalize on the health benefits of the Alkaline Diet — unfortunately, drinking Alkaline Water doesn’t actually change the pH levels in your blood.
The human body has robust mechanisms, primarily involving the kidneys and lungs, to maintain the blood pH within a very strict range of 7.35-7.45.
The stomach also neutralizes ingested substances, including alkaline water, with its highly acidic gastric juices.
Huberman cited a study that suggests that water with a pH of 7.4 or higher (but not too high) can be absorbed more efficiently due to being able to move more readily across the aquaporin channels in the cells.
Hydrogen Water
Hydrogen water is regular water with extra H2 Hydrogen dissolved in it. Studies have suggested benefits for antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory effects, athletic performance, and neuroprotection.
Quicksilver makes good H2 Hydrogen tablets. I’ve tried them, they give a pretty nice energy boost. Important to drink it quickly after dropping the tablet in.
My take is that it’s better to reduce Heavy Hydrogen in the body via light water rather than add Hydrogen via tablets. You have to choose one or the other — you’re inevitably increasing Heavy Hydrogen in the body when you add H2, which will be less beneficial in the longterm.
Structured Water
Structured water refers to the fourth phase of water, where the local environment allows for a unique configuration in which positive charges between different water molecules attract one another.
Although the existence of structured water itself is not debated and has been demonstrated, its biological relevance and whether it's better for our cells are topics of discussion.
From a scientific literature view, Huberman seems intrigued, and open to seeing studies around structured water as they develop.
Analemma is pretty non-scientific in explaining mechanisms of action and messaging, but they have a study that shows increased ATP output from using their structured water.
I’ve been testing out their wand — I can’t notice a difference A/B testing for me personally, but my plants are thriving. They were really not doing well before I watered them with structured water.
Oxygenated Water
Regular water contains around 6ppm (parts per million) of O2 oxygen. Oxygenated waters contain anywhere from 15ppm-30ppm O2. The promise of oxygenated water is that it delivers a burst of oxygen to the blood stream — raising your SPO2 levels instantly.
Gary Brecka, the founder of 10X Health Clinics, believes disease is caused fundamentally by a lack of oxygen in tissues.
The challenge with Oxygenated Water has been to stabilize it. Most oxygenated waters lose their oxygen extremely quickly after opening the bottle.
We tested a couple on the market:
Ophora started at 14.6ppm, 20 minutes after opening it dropped to 9.8ppm — you need to drink it within the first 5-10 minutes
Kaqun started at 6ppm (they claim they have a different type of technology here)
With 100 Water, we’ve innovated a process to stabilize the O2 in the water for much longer. In initial testing, it stayed stable at 20ppm for 20+ minutes after opening.
Ian Mitchell’s Wizard Sciences has also innovated a method to stabilize O2 and are working on releasing their version of Oxygenated water. I’ve got an eye on that and will share a review when they release it.
Kangen Water
Kangen water is an at-home alkaline water machine produced by ionizing regular tap water. The process changes the water's pH level, making it more alkaline.
Kangen proponents claim various health benefits: improved hydration, detoxification, and antioxidant properties.
There’s really no scientific basis for the device, or any evidence supporting its claims. That being said, I know a few people who swear by it — claiming anecdotally to have helped with their health issues. If you’re experiencing a health issue, I’d see if you can try it somewhere to see if it helps.
These units can cost upwards of $3k, and it’s a multilevel marketing product — which always raises an eyebrow.
this & that
👨👩👧👦 Emotionally Intelligent Parenting
Dr Becky Kennedy was just on Huberman’s podcast — she’s a goldmine of accessible tools and practices for emotionally intelligent parenting. She’s a clinical psychologist who founded Good Inside, an education platform for parents
READ FULL NOTES on the podcast on Human3 Wiki. Consider sharing with friends + family members who are looking to improve their parenting skills — these things make such a huge difference in human development, and reduces the need for deep inner work later in life
My brother & sister-in-law have been implementing her practices for the past couple years and it’s been really beautiful to see how my nephews have responded
Ness Labs’ most recent post about the habits and benefits of keeping a curious mind really captured my attention
🕯️ The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
I loved Wes Anderson’s most recent short film on Netflix
Subject matter touches on the power of concentrative meditation and our ability to manipulate reality using it — jedi stuff
🧠 Neuroplasticity Toolkit
Share the newsletter with a friend below and I’ll send you the free neuroplasticity toolkit with supplements, protocols, and tools to optimize neuroplasticity + neurogenesis.
Reply