One of the most common health tips is to drink eight cups of water a day. What we almost never hear, is what kind of water to drink.

Over the decades I have come across many references advocating one type of water over another—usually in combination with a certain product that needed to be purchased in order to create said water. This included various types of filters, distillation, adding minerals, magnetization, ozonation, structuring, reverse osmosis and infusions of “energy.” 

It was never clear to me what the best water was. When patients would ask, I would advise whatever fit their budget, from letting tap water sit overnight to allow the chlorine to evaporate, to a simple countertop filter, to reverse osmosis on the higher end.

Then I decided to buy a water purification system from a reputable company that included everything I’d ever heard of to make healthy water. It had high quality filters, magnets, “energy” and added minerals, with lots of research and testimonials, including a positive review from a person I trusted. I figured I would have the best water possible and planned to confirm this by testing everyone around me for their tolerance to this super water.

Surprise. Not only did I myself not test well for this expensive water, my pets refused to drink it! Other people tested fine. It was very puzzling, but I finally figured out the obvious thing I had been missing: every person has a unique metabolism that does well with a certain type of water. And even this can change if the person’s health changes. A little embarrassing when my whole education was based on biochemical individuality.

So, the next question was, how do I determine what kind of water is good for what type of person and condition. That issue settled on the back burner of my brain while I focussed on other aspects of my practice.

Until recently. I had signed up for a course on assessing and optimizing metabolism and was sent hours of preparatory homework. Lo and behold, there were the answers I’ve been looking for over the last three decades.

The key is pH, our level of acidity, discovered by testing one’s urine and saliva. When one tends to be alkaline, drink water that is on the acid side and vice versa.

I know that I run alkaline and I have been drinking my mineral-rich, alkaline well water, possibly aggravating myself. I bought some distilled water to be sure there were no minerals. It tasted slightly acidic and felt wonderful. The next morning, I woke up an hour earlier than usual without my current hip pain (I’m working on healing it) and with more energy. Looks like I’m on the right path.

Not that this is all, there are more factors to consider, but I will write Part Two after coming back from my course. In the meantime, if you want to experiment, get some pH paper from a drugstore, measure your urine and saliva 90 minutes after breakfast or lunch, drinking only your usual amount of plain water and then find water that balances your pH.

Let me know what happens!