Water

Key Insight

● A very often neglected aspect of health and effectiveness: fluid intake! How much is needed? 15 ml per kg per day is the absolute minimum (100 kg = 1.5 L) but more is preferable, especially in warmer months/regions. For every 60 minutes of training you should add 0.5–2.5 L on top of that depending on intensity and weather.

● Ideally within the first 12 hours after waking, about 150–300 ml per hour, since the kidneys are most active then. After 12 hours since waking drink water as needed, but in the evening and before sleep too much water will wake you to go to the bathroom. There’s much debate about whether water should be room temperature, warm, or cold. The answer is it doesn’t matter much for a regular person; differences are small. Drinking the right amount at the right time is much more important.

○ It can happen you drink too much water in the evening, and that’s easy to detect.

● The best way to reach this volume is to place a jug on your desk every morning with exactly that amount of water and sip throughout the workday. Another option is to get up for mini breaks and pour another glass about every 90 minutes. It may take a bit of time but once you develop the habit the sipping becomes automatic.

● What water can we drink? ○ Spring water - ideal and perfect, but hard to access in cities. Water that comes from high up and from areas with few people is generally safe to drink and probably full of minerals and very healthy. ○ Bottled water in glass bottles - If it’s spring water this is the second best option, but consider the environmental impact of the packaging (unless you buy in returnable glass) and it can be expensive. ○ Bottled water in plastic bottles - Quite a poor option, especially if the water is actually filtered municipal water. If it is spring water this is slightly better but still poor due to microplastics. Many studies show bottled water in plastic contains various forms of microplastics which should not be consumed. ○ Municipal tap water - Technically sterile and safe to drink, but in the long run it can be toxic. Besides possibly containing more microplastics than bottled water, it may contain heavy metals, sludge, rust, limescale, chemical pollutants, bacteria, viruses, and many other harmful substances. Should be avoided where possible (unless you live on a mountain and your tap is connected to a spring). ○ RO filtered water - If you account for all variables, this becomes the best option. Economically requires a slightly larger initial investment, but the investment pays off quickly both financially and health‑wise. The only real filtration is one you can measure, namely a reverse osmosis filter. This process filters water at the molecular level, with a membrane through which nothing larger than a water molecule can pass (a water molecule is smaller than any of the contaminants above, including micro/nano plastics, chemical pollutants and viruses). Whether it works and how well it works is easy to measure with a device that measures the liquid’s electrical conductivity; properly filtered water has very low conductivity. All other filtration methods are hard to measure (require expensive analyses on a regular basis) and may work or may not, so they’re not worth spending time and money on. A good reverse osmosis system with a mineralizer should cost around €400. Be sure to get a system with a mineralizer that returns essential minerals to the water in the correct amounts, and it’s also advisable to supplement with minerals and multivitamins, zinc, calcium and magnesium (this is something you should do anyway). (Another benefit is that your Kettler water system will look brand new after several years of use; that’s another sign that the water is well filtered.)