Feel Bloated? The ONE and EASY Solution!

Ever feel like you're holding fluid? Bloated and puffy? Ever wonder why you have that muffin top below the kidneys? Can you believe water consumption is the easiest way to start combatting this? 

Yes, that is right. You have to drink more water in order to be less bloated. At my clinic we have found that the people who drink the most water are the least inflamed, have the best tissue health, the healthiest skin and consistently less of a muffin top. 

It is generally accepted that drinking a lot of water is beneficial to health and that we all should do it. There is still a lot of confusion as to what constitutes enough water, and also what the best type of water is. Is alkaline better? What is reverse osmosis? I thought tap water was clean..etc., a lot of confusing avenues surrounding this topic (we will write about these in an upcoming blog, stay tuned).

Through years of tracking people and their body composition, including fluid distribution and content, 2.5 L of water is the minimum amount of water for any adult per day. The goal is to get to about 4 L, or a gallon of water, a day...slightly less for women and slightly more for extreme athletic populations.

Water is imperative to detox. The 21st Century is toxic, the CDC 2009 report on synthetic chemical compounds found in humans record the highest levels of toxicity ever seen . We, as humans, require enough water to detox and make sure our tissue is hydrated with healthy clean water. This water helps us flush away toxins. When people drink a lot of water, they will initially pee a lot. This is your body adjusting to the new water intake and detoxing. Again, water is the best way to start detoxing.

The water you drink must be clean, ideally filtered and alkaline. The alkaline part is secondary to clean filtered water.  

The steps to maximum hydration:

1. Daily Intake: 2.5 to 4 L of water a day
2. Drink 1 L in the first hour of being awake and or before breakfast. 
3. Take minerals each day in some form or another. I recommend taking a multivitamin daily. PhytoMulti is currently my favorite. Minimally a pinch of sea salt added to a liter or two of the daily water intake is necessary to ensure the body can use the water. Electrolytes and minerals have polarity giving either a positive or negative charge. This polarity creates a gradient allowing water to be pulled to tissues and used by the body. 

Bottom Line

Hydration is key to optimal health. Women ideally are 55% water and men 60%. Hydration is not something that is ever achieved, it is a state of being. Set a water goal of 2.5-4 L of water a day. Take a multivitamin to ensure maximum hydration and nutritional balance and start getting lean.