When it comes to drinking water, quality matters as much as quantity.

More than 50% of our body is made up of water and we couldn’t survive long without it. Here are four things you can do to ensure that the water you drink is clean and safe, that it keeps your body strong and that you reduce your exposure to toxins at the same time.

Filter it at home (and at work)

Tap water, even the so called “safe-to-drink”, isn’t what it claims to be. Pretty much everywhere you go, tap water is laced with chlorine, fluorine compounds, hormones, pesticides and even trace amounts of prescription drugs (*1). It will make a huge difference to your health if you filter it. There are plenty of options available out there to suit different budgets. Buying a good quality filter jug is a great start. In Australia, I love the range at WatersCo. We’ve installed a reverse osmosis filter under our kitchen benchtop using the services of The Water Shop in Sydney. If you want to go further or if you suffer from skin conditions (as water gets absorbed through the skin), you can install a shower or a bath filter. If you’re renovating, consider a whole house filtering system. Your hair, your skin and your gut bugs will thank you for it.   

Filter it when you travel

If you’ve ever caught traveller’s diarrhea, chances are you drank water that was contaminated (although food could have been the culprit too). A variety of bad bacteria, viruses and nasty parasites can lurk in water so whenever you travel and no matter what the destination, filter your water the same way you’d do at home. I personally use WatersCo portable water filter whenever I’m out and about.

Store it wisely

Besides from being wasteful, bottled water is not good news for your health if it’s been stored in plastic. In a study conducted across 11 brands of plastic bottled water, 93% showed signs of micro-plastic contamination (*2). Most plastic items release a tiny amount of chemicals into the beverages they contain. As temperature and time increase, the chemicals in the plastic are more likely to leach (*3). We have no way of knowing in what conditions plastic water bottles have travelled, how they’ve been stored or for how long. Bottom line: glass is better than plastic if you must purchase bottled water. Of course, don’t go around dehydrated if that’s the only option available, but for the sake of your health (and the planet’s health), stay away from plastic water bottles. Try to get into the habit of carrying around a reusable stainless steel or glass container wherever you go. Biome has a huge range of reusable water bottles HERE.

Drink enough of it

Now that you’ve cleaned it up, make sure you drink enough of it! It’s technically the ONLY beverage your body needs to function properly (“what about the antioxidants in red wine” I hear you protest!). When you drink enough water throughout the day, it supports your natural detox pathways such as the kidneys (in ways that wine cannot) and helps flush out toxins – simply magic, isn’t it? Add some lemon or apple cider vinegar to reinforce these effects. 

This article is part of the series “Reduce your exposure to toxins”. I’ve also written about AIR and FOOD. 

Don’t panic if you realise that you may have been exposed to more toxins than you thought possible. The body is a wonderful self-healing machine, given the right conditions. Now that you have some tools to choose better, go forth and make some changes. You’ll feel much better for it! 

If you need help along the way, check out my awesome service Clean and Lean: together we’ll work on a plan to significantly reduce your exposure to toxins,  assessing and adjusting your living and working spaces to ensure they’re supportive of your health and wellbeing, not working against them. I can’t wait to meet you!

*All references for this article can be accessed HERE.