Foundational Foundations

Health is on my mind a whole lot. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a big overarching framework that covers everything…as well as how to really boil it down to the simplest basics.

Or as I’m calling it here the foundational foundations.

As I’ve said before, when it comes to health, 95% of the attention goes to the food you eat. Of course this is important…but it’s not 95% of importance! Because of our culture, the rampant misinformation and disinformation, and personal experiences, food comes with some baggage.

Food should be addressed…but not until you’ve covered the health aspects more fundamental and much easier to address.

So what are the foundational foundations?

Right now, I’ve got just two for you.

Water and Breath.

Your body is made up of 70%+ of water. Water is at play in every single cell. Water is at play in every single organ and system in your body.

The common health idea: Drink your eight glasses of water per day.

It’s not horrible advice. But it’s also missing a lot. While the QUANTITY of water is important, I would argue that the QUALITY of your water is equally, maybe even more so.

This has several parts to it. What is in the water and what is not.

Let’s start with not. Chlorine, fluoride, pharmaceuticals, heavy and light metals, etc. This is going to come down to filtration. In general, the bigger your filter and the more materials the better off you are.

This is why I use a mountain as my filter by collecting and drinking fresh spring water.

Then there are the minerals that we may or may not want depending. Certain minerals in water can be hugely beneficial. Just recently I was hearing about how silica rich waters help the body to detoxify aluminum, implicated in Alzheimer’s. Good to know!

While a little bit of calcium in water can be a good thing, too much can be problematic.

And something I’ve diving into lately, the addition of hydrogen to water. (Because truth be told you want acidic water not alkaline…)

Then there’s the sometimes considered “out-there” structure of water despite all the science backing this up. (See Gerald Pollack’s The 4th Phase of Water for example.) This may be crucially important for hydration because of how this affects digestion and assimilation of water.

All of these aspects of quality matter because it allows you body to better become hydrated. By the wisdom of the body your cells do not want to absorb poor quality water for a variety of reasons.

So in general, since many people are chronically dehydrated, if you can UP the intake and get BETTER quality water than you will be far better off. As a foundational foundation this will affect your sleep, your recovery, your performance, your mental clarity, your mood, your digestion, your hormones, and on and on.

Some of these effects may be subtle but some of them may be profound.

And as a foundational foundation doing this now will especially pay dividends ten, twenty, thirty years from now when it comes to your health.

Want more about water? Check out Upgrade Your Water here. 

Also, I found a filter and more that I finally think I can stand behind completely. If you’re interested in that then let me know by clicking reply as I’d like to gauge interest on the topic.