07 September 2015

Drinking Pure Water: A Overlooked Key to Optimal Health!

Talking about pure drinking water may seem a bit boring but making sure that you are adequately hydrated and that the water you drink is free of chemicals and toxins is paramount to your health.  Perhaps nothing is more basic but more important!

Did you know that blood is 92% water,  brain is 75% water, and muscles are 75% water?

Getting enough pure clean water is key in achieving optimal health.  Water makes up two thirds of the body and helps maintain blood volume, which maintains your energy. Proper hydration improves your concentration and reaction time.  It allows the body to remove toxic waste and keeps your skin looking supple and healthy.  In fact, dehydration may be a hidden factor in many types of illness.

Do you have any of these symptoms?  If so, you may be dehydrated...

  • Feeling sleepy or tired for no reason
  • Dry sticky roof of your mouth
  • Craving sweets or hunger after just having eaten
  • Low blood pressure
  • Throbbing headaches
  • Dry, scaly skin, rashes or eczema
  • Constipation or pellet-like stools
  • Dizziness upon standing
  • Confusion or irritability
  • Infrequent urination
  • Muscle cramping
  • Rapid heartrate

Fun Facts about water:

  • It is responsible for carrying food and oxygen to our cells and carrying away waste.
  • It is the biggest playing in our blood and lymphatic drainage systems
  • It helps flush out our kidneys to get rid of toxic substances.
  • It moistens our eyes, mouth, and nasal passages.
  • It controls the balance of electrolytes in our cells and body and regulates blood pressure
  • It allows the body to cool when it is hot and insulates the body from cold.
  • It cushion the body’s organs, acting like a shock absorber
  • It provide many of the trace minerals we need if drinking spring or non-RO filtered water
  • It assists joints with lubrication and is part of your sweat, tears, and saliva.
Most important, though, is that you  have a clean source of drinking water.  Whole house filters are wonderful for those who can afford them but reverse osmosis also pulls the essential minerals from your water leaving it quite acidic.  It is essential to use a quality filter that gets all impurities, chemicals and toxins out!  You can read articles all over the internet on the contamination of our water supply, like arsenic in well water here.  In fact, a recent EPA study  shows there is alarming contamination of our water supply with pharmaceutical drugs... and no one is doing anything about it. Here is the Consumer Report  and the WHO report regarding prescription drugs in your drinking water.   One of my favorite handouts to give patients on the topic of clean water is the EWG's Guide to Safe Drinking Water.
So, in order to practice what I preach to patients, I recently revisited the importance of clean drinking water myself and did my homework.  I did researched and decided against an RO system and instead purchased my first Big Berkley (see photo below)  Best. Purchase. Ever!
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Dr. Jill's New Big Berkey Water Filter
Berkey water filters produce purified drinking water, surpassing standards set by the military in order to be able to differentiate between water filters of different abilities. They set the bar high so that very few are able to achieve this classification. Berkey water filters not only meet this standard but surpasses it.  The technology that Berkey uses to purify water is able to handle the very smallest of water contaminants, even viruses, making it on of the most powerful water filtering systems available.  Better yet, you can even get a travel version!   This ability is all possible using the most simple, foolproof methods, starting with micro-filtration with a pore structure so small that minute organisms are not physically able to pass through the filtration medium.  For more answers to frequently asked questions, read this.  If you know me well, I only tell you about things that I use myself and have found profoundly beneficial in my own healing journey.  Berkey water filters are one of them ;-) So here's to all of use having healthy clean drinking water!

Berkey Water Filter

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04 September 2015

If you know me well, you know one of the highlights of my week is the Farmer's Market in Boulder, Colorado.  Getting my weekly supply of seasonal dark leafy greens and fresh vegetables from local farmer's like Red Wagon Organics for my smoothies and juices and occasionally some of Plowshares organic bacon for my husband is an adventure and something we enjoy doing together on Saturday mornings!
A couple of weeks ago, I ran into Jake Burgart with Olea Estates olive oilone of my favorite new finds at the local Boulder Farmer's Market.  I bought a bottle right away and was back for more the very next week!  (Yes, I eat that much olive oil!)  Not only was it absolutely pure and delicious but organic extra virgin olive oil is loaded with health benefits!
You can read all about the Chronis family tradition in Greece here.  Even now, they are one of the only few producers that certify our olive oil every year with both the European Regulations for Biological Products and with the USDA for Organic Products. You can taste and see the quality of pure first press olive oil, when you open a bottle of Olea. The deep green color, the thick consistency, the pure aroma, the exquisite taste, all contribute to separate Olea from other olive oils that I've tried.
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Jake Burgart and friend at the Olea Estates Olive oil booth in Boulder on Saturday
"At Olea we do not produce anything but only our extra-virgin olive oil obtained by first press of our ripe and selected olives at temperatures under 27C. We do not blend refined oils and we use no other method of altering our olive quality, taste or color. We do not filter our olive oil, but we do guarantee uniform clarity and no cloudiness. See how we do it. Olea Olive Oil has the true, rich flavor of olive oil and all associated nutrients and is obtained by a strictly controlled and long lasting process, especially for the food connoisseur."
But perhaps the best thing is you can enjoy it freely with a guilt-free conscious as there are so many health effects of a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil!

Here's just a few of the latest studies on health benefits of olive oil:

So be sure to stop by and tell Jake "hello" from Dr. Jill and get some of this new delicious crop of olives.  Who knows?  You just might run into me there next weekend ;-)

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