 This is Dr. Gundry and we're going to talk today about the four common mistakes we make while drinking water. Number one, you can drink too much water and you will actually flush out your electrolytes in doing so. I can't tell you the number of times I see people who drink a lot of water before we draw their blood in our clinic. And they do that because their veins are hard to find. But invariably, after drinking a glass of water in the morning, a huge number of my patients will have actually very low sodium and chloride, that's salt, and potassium levels in their blood. And many of you know that the vast majority of people who die or collapse during marathons don't die from heart attacks, they actually die from hyponatremia, low sodium levels. And that's because they're drinking water at all those refill stops rather than water with electrolytes. So number one, there is such a thing as drinking too much water. Number two, there's actually never been a study that shows that you should drink eight glasses of water a day. Apparently no one ever told gorillas and chimpanzees that they have to drink eight glasses of water a day. In fact, they don't drink much water at all. Why? Because they actually get most of their water by eating leaves and fruits that contain the water. And one of the things I try to convince my patients is that if you're eating organic lettuces and organic vegetables, you're actually using the plant's filtration system to get healthy water into you and actually activated water into you. So think about that the next time you say, oh my gosh, I have to have another glass of water for health, you're going to lower your electrolytes, you're going to lower the efficiency of your heart pumping and it's easier to get it out of a baby at a lettuce than drinking a glass of water. I frequently see people who are addicted to drinking water and we actually have to have them supplement multiple times a day with salt tablets or electrolyte powders, otherwise they literally faint throughout the day. They won't give up the water and this is the only way we can fix it. Now stop drinking carbonated water, number two. Carbonated water actually acidifies the water. Now for the good news, in Italy by law carbonated waters have to be pH balance so that they're a normal pH. No other country has that law including the United States. My favorite is San Pellegrino, I have no relationship with them but I drink it all the time. Why do I drink it? Two reasons. Number one, it's pH balance, it has a pH of 7.0 but number two, San Pellegrino has the highest sulfur content of any bottled water. Solfer is incredibly important for making hydrogen sulfide which I've talked about in the energy paradox and in unlocking the keto code is one of the key post biotic gases that improves your blood vessels, improves your brain and you can get sulfur by drinking San Pellegrino. Finally, San Pellegrino has actually been measured to have the lowest level of impurities of any water tested. Now the other good news is that Italian waters by law have to be pH balance. So if you can't find San Pellegrino, you don't want to spend the money. There's a number of Italian waters on the market that you can find at Trader Joe's, you can find them at Costco, they're easy to find so Italian carbonated waters are the way to go but San Pellegrino stands head and shoulders above all the rest of them. Number three, please, please, please avoid water in plastic bottles. Lots of reasons for this but the most compelling one is that plastic bottles leach a chemical called phthalates into the water and phthalates are one of the worst endocrine disruptors that have yet been discovered. End disruptors change how signals from estrogen and other female and male hormones are interpreted. And there's very scary evidence that I've written about in the plant paradox and my other writings that phthalates can actually change the imprint in baby's behavior about whether they are more female gender or male gender even if their genitalia are the same. We know that phthalates actually shrink the size of baby boy's penises and that doesn't sound like a great idea. We know that women who eat chicken that is wrapped in plastic have much higher phthalate levels in their body. So please avoid water in plastic bottles. I realize it's convenient but it's deadly for reasons you can't feel or see. What's the alternatives? Get yourself a glass bottle or a stainless steel bottle. They're easy to find, they're easy to carry, there's bunches of insulated ones now on the market. Change your plastic bottles out, just get rid of them. And good news, San Pellegrino comes in a glass bottle for very good reasons. Number four, stop drinking tap water. There are toxins in our water among which are fluoride and chlorine. You can actually go to a site to check out your water quality and it's called EWG.org. I have it in the plant paradox but go to EWG.org and look, you can put in your zip code, you can put in your community and find out the water quality and it'll actually shock you for the most part. Now do you want filtered waters? So this is a personal preference but certainly a breeder water filter and I have no nothing against them or for them, I'm not a paid spokesman for them, I'm not a consultant for them. But a breeder water filter will work just fine for your purposes. On the other hand, if you can afford it, there are a number of reverse osmosis filters on the market that are either freestanding or can be built in because of their popularity, they're getting more and more affordable. So if you can find one and can afford it, get a reverse osmosis filter. Now you can actually over filter water. Some people take this to the extreme and buy distilled water and or distill their own water. The problem with it is water should have some valuable electrolytes in them. You're going to get rid of all the potential good minerals and micronutrients in your water if you distill your water. My recommendation, if you're going to do that and that will guarantee the purity of your water, please consider adding a multi-mineral supplement to your supplement regimen. Many of you have heard me speak that we are actually devoid of multiple minerals in our diet, very important minerals that used to be in our soil that are no longer in them. So don't be afraid of adding a multi-mineral supplement. And number two, if you're going to drink water, please consider adding electrolyte supplement to your regimen. There's a number of good ones out there. I'm particularly fond of LMNT. My wife uses it every day. But really, if you're going to use a lot of water for hydration, please also add multiple minerals, particularly sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium to your regimen. You're definitely going to want to see this one. So those of you who are using your soda makers at home, please get rid of that. That's not a health benefit.