What’s in Your Water

April Showers

Spring is here! For many of us, spring evokes images of gentle rain showers nourishing the dormant plants, encouraging them to bloom and add great bursts of color to the drab browns of winter. Pretty soon, the mood-lifting scents of lilacs, crab apple, and cherry blossoms will fill the air as new buds pop and produce fragrant blossoms.

Like all life forms, these flower babies need water. If they don’t get enough, it’s easy to see the consequences. Flowers fade, shrivel, dry up, and eventually die. Our bodies are no different. Dehydration shows on our faces and skin, but the internal signs, while less visible, are even more harmful. Most of us have experienced the headaches and fatigue caused by dehydration, but it also causes our blood to run thicker and our hearts to work harder. No bueno.

There’s all kinds of information out there defining how much water that we human beings need to consume each day, though eight glasses (64 ounces) is a good start to help our bodies fight infection, keep blood flowing freely, and make sure our hair, skin, and nails reflect our inner health. Of course, other factors like heat, altitude, and exertion contribute to our individual needs, so keep that in mind when determining your needs.  As with most aspects of life, quantity and quality each play a role; what water we drink can be as important as how much water we drink.

Bottled or Filtered?

People tend to have trust issues when it comes to tap water, shunning it for various reasons of which many are valid. Our supermarkets offer up a wide variety of commercial water brands, ranging from small on-the-go bottles to liters and multi-gallon quantities.

The 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) ensures that all drinking water is treated and filtered, but is this enough? It’s worth a little research through your local water department or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to find out how your local tap water is processed, and you can even get your water tested.

Filtering might be the most economical way to ensure healthy water consumption, and of course the market affords many filter options. 

Once you have the quantity and quality pieces sorted, it’s time to have some fun!

Try This

You’ve all had lemon or cucumber water at restaurants or spas, right? Well, why not make your own organic fruit and herb waters? Herbs grow easily, whether in small containers or large gardens. Plant some now for a gift that will keep on giving.

Here are a couple of combinations to get you started. As the weather gets warmer, make ice cubes out of your delicious flavored waters.

• Lemon Rosemary
• Orange Basil
• Strawberry Mint
• Cucumber, Cilantro & Lime

You don’t have to be limited to one fruit or herb either! Create combinations that are as unique and wonderful as you are! Let your imagination run wild—like the beauty of nature. Let spring awaken your taste buds, and drink up!

Do you use bottled water, a filter, or something else for your drinking water?  What flavor combinations have you tried? Let us know!