Improving Hydration for Better Cognitive & Physical Function, Mood and Energy

I am beginning with this piece on hydration and our health from the path that is the most accessible…and that is my own experience. I’ve been on a healing journey as a defining element in my life since I recognized that I had anxiety in 4^th grade at the age of 10. So, I have been my single greatest case study on improving my health from every direction. Being holistic and organic in my life style and as a therapist, has given me a wealth of information that I want to share with others. To be clear, I am not an expert in nutrition, nor in health counseling, yet it is definitely within my wheelhouse to know many basic aspects of increasing our health and well-being of which many others are unaware.

I share this information with you, encouraging you to do your own research. Research is less accessible that is free of corruption and money induced agendas. Unfortunately, it has become such that it is necessary to explore those who are doing the research, who have the credentials, looking for someone whose perspective aligns with yours and who as far as you can tell is a truth teller, not an influencer or a cog in the sociopathic legion of those who choose to profit over the well=being of the people who make them rich. I have my own trusted sources at this point…membership in this select group is always open to question if I learn something that makes me doubt their integrity.

This list of products, actions and supplements that seem to boost my body’s ability to assimilate water into the cells. In addition to the dehydration issue I experience, I have a few other issues now that are interwoven. Being in a profession where I sit so much to do my work has been problematic. It’s contributed to a shortening of my hamstring on the left and some IT band issues. I also have bunions and the impact of this distortion on my whole body has become more evident in recent years. The combination causes stiffness, cramping and nerve issues.

There’s a lot to unpack here and plenty I could share that many might find helpful. But I’m going to begin with just this one element of hydration, proper electrolyte balance. As I am recognizing this is an electric issue and our bodies are electric, though we, as in researchers, are only recently becoming aware of this salient fact. See here, or Robert Becker’s book: The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life. or Electric Body, Electric Health, by Eileen McKussick, and finally, Electrical Nutrition, by Denie and Shelly Heistand, just to mention a few sources.

My whole life, I’ve been what is sometimes called an “electric person,” meaning that my energy disrupts electric devises. I first knew this from wearing a watch, and then operating a camera, attempting to wear a pager back in the day, wild experiences I’d have with cars starting on their own and locking when I would walk by. I’ve disrupted the functioning of other electronics, as well…most notably computers. I had blown out 3 PC’s during the time of writing my dissertation from getting frustrated. I then switched to a Mac and except for one iMac, they have all withstood this effect from me (meanwhile calming the experience of frustration as well); yet I’m still dealing with on-going challenges with functioning of my laptops and my iPhones. The number of times some IT guru has said to me, “I’ve never seen this happen before!” is legion! I have tapped on this (and generaltional patterns/trauma) and asked that my sensitivity be expressed in a way that allows for more flow with electronics…and still the issues remain.

But now I’m wondering…have I had some electrical imbalance all along? Is this possibly some of the underlying dynamic that I and others like me experience?

It does seem that my body is challenged to maintain the electrical balance needed for optimal functioning…and that this is a central dynamic particularly that of the cramping of my leg muscles. Before I realized that my body needed more electrolyte balance, I was aware of the need for greater hydration. For me, the first tell-tale sign is my fingers tips wrinkling. The most challenging result of dehydration for me is my legs cramping at night, usually towards the early hours of the morning. I have been dealing with this for a long while now related to Celiac’s and anemia. It’s less severe now, and I can stop it just by standing up and with a little movement my spasming calf muscles relax. Magnesium bis glycinate is important, castor oil helps, as does magnesium oil. Baths using magnesium salts, baking soda, borax and essential oils help as well. When the cramps were worse, I found that a hot wash cloth to the muscles would gradually ease the cramping. I also get regular massages and do my own fascia release work.

And this where hydration and high-quality hydration comes in.

As you likely know by now, water quality is seriously important for our body’s ability to hydrate. Tap water and poor-quality bottled water are the worst for our health. The best water for anyone is spring fed water. Alive Waters is a community developed database for springs where people can go to get spring water in the US. Near me is one in Munroe Falls Park. Even though it’s near and accessible, it’s not easily accessible and I’ve read that part rangers have made it a bit less accessible in recent years.  

I use and have used the following products to increase my body’s capacity to get water into my cells: filtered water (I now use a Clearly Filtered water pitcher, as my sink sits too low to install the under the counter RO systems), adding mineral drops to add sufficient electrolytes, Patrick Flanagan’s Mega Hydrate, and Dr. Mercola’s Hydrogen tablets and Ultima Replenished (an electrolyte mix). The Clearly Filtered pitcher may itself be a part of the issue. While it is highly regarded, might it not replace as many of the vital nutrients as I need to have it replace? I am going to return to adding some mineral drops from .... into the water that comes straight from the pitcher.

I am definitely a work in progress!

Additionally, water needs to be declustered and electrically viable for us to receive it’s benefits. Some refer to water that has a healthy balance of minerals/electrolytes as living water. Water that is devoid of the proper mineralization, such as RO water, while pure is also “dead” water. This is why mineral drops need to be added to RO water for assimilation. Water from the tap is dirty water, as is much bottled water, both often untrustworthy in their sources and filled with forever plastics.

Hydrogen water? A study on the effects of 6 months of drinking hydrogen-rich water in 70+ year olds indicated an increase in telomere length, improved DNA methylation, some cognitive and physical functioning and sleep. Medical News Today reports on a number of studies showing increased anti-oxidative stress, decreased cell apoptosis, decreased muscle fatigue post exercise, decreased inflammation, and decreased liver fat, among other benefits. There are a number of hydrogen bottles on the market that are problematic, as I understand it, some leak aluminum, so be careful if you are choosing this option.

I also use a Nikken Optimizer, which spins the water and adds a bit of minerals to it, declustering it, so that as smaller molecules they can penetrate cell walls. John Stewart Reid, an expert on water and the body, shares that we can use a blender, too, to decluster the water (from ACEP conference, 2025 presentation).

Dr. Mercola here discusses more recent findings that the 8 glasses of water a day is outdated information and that what matters more is the electrolyte presence in the liquids taken in. I’ve learned that too much water can upset the electrolyte balance in the cells and cause the body to work harder to eliminate the excess.

I’ve learned that walking at least 8,000 steps a day will often keep the cramping away, and recently, while in France and walking 18,000+ steps/day, I experienced no issues at all. This shocked me, really!

Magnesium taurate and bis glycinate (which are the same form of the vitally important mineral), help to relax muscles and have been helpful to me, as well.

I finally resumed a yoga practice, after a long time away from it and am discovering much improvement and notice that I don’t have cramps the nights after I do yoga.

Using my Passport to Radiant Health tracking journal, has been helping me to remember to add electrolytes and to take the hydrogen tablet, and use my hydrogen bottle. I have found that without tracking this. I have begun expanding the range of what I drink: coconut water, more loose leaf tea, smoothies, fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice. Other options include mineral water, grass fed milk, cooked vegetables and fruit.

The leg cramps are now almost completely gone. And I have a regimen that also supports my health and longevity goals!

I’d love to hear from you with any similar experiences you have had and anything you can add that will help other readers to make the best choices possible to give themselves the highest quality hydration for optimizing their own health..