I started buying Perrier and San Pellegrino as a treat. I mean really, it’s as treat-y as it gets on an all beef diet, because how else can you splurge? It’s really something how excited I started to get about having some carbonated water in an ice cold glass. It was the equivalent of having my evening beer or ice cream. Here I am relaxing with my seltzer! I would even bring it over my friend’s house or a party so I would have something “celebratory” to drink while they drank wine. Livin’ it up.
I also, to make myself feel better about my budget, was buying some Kroger brand seltzer that I could chug more frequently. But I found that it went flat pretty fast and inexplicably I found myself drawn to the Perrier or Pellegrino. It just seemed better. A few weeks into this new delighting of the mineral waters I went to attend a music retreat at a camp on the coast of North Carolina. I bought about three six packs of Perrier to stock up for the trip. There is typically lots of wine drinking at this retreat so I was ready to fill my glass up and clink glasses with my seltzer.
When I got to the camp I was reminded of how terrible the tap water is. Drinking the water is a last resort. Now normally I just chug our filtered tap water all day. Especially in the summer, are you kidding me, I drink at least 8 glasses a day. I figured at that rate I would probably drink through my Perrier in no time if I abstained from the tap water, but so be it. I was not going to drink it until I had nothing else. It was, ick, yuck, gross, bah!
So I drank my Perrier as much as I wanted and I noticed that I was only drinking 3 bottles per day, about 1.5 liters. Now I was mostly rehearsing, playing baroque violin all day with little time out doors in the hear or doing any exercise so I wasn’t needing to rehydrate from fluid loss; however, seriously, only 1.5 liters? That was interesting.
I got home from camp and found myself just craving the mineral water. Whaat? Why? Did I really just find it to be such a treat, or so delicious? But how much more delicious can it really be? It’s still water. I began to think that it was something else. That my body just really wanted it. It made me feel good. But why? Was there anything really special about this water? I really only bought it because it was from a good water source and had carbonation. But I wondered. So I looked it up.
Wow! Cool! Perrier and San Pellegrino are laden with bounteous minerals! Since I have struggled with my electrolytes, no wonder I was craving these waters! According to the Gerolsteiner mineral calculator online Perrier contains 688 mg of minerals and San Pellegrino 939mg, including calcium, sodium, magnesium and chloride. So when I drink this amazingly rich water I am not only hydrating my body much more efficiently but recharging with so many of the minerals in which I have consistently over time been deficient. Also when one drinks a lot of tap water and then pees it out, precious minerals go down the toilet as well. I like how I need to drink less with mineral water, pee less, retain more electrolytes as well as supplement naturally.
SOLD! Spending the extra money on these nature’s elixirs are worth it. If I get a good deal I can get a liter for $.79. Probably if I buy in bulk somewhere I could get a better deal, but $.79 is not bad. Full price in the grocery store they are about $1.79. Since I’ve been drinking about a liter per day I feel like it is helping my mineral/electrolyte situation immensely. I am still supplementing a little every day, but I am feeling very stable now for about 3 weeks. This is such a huge deal. Thank you Perrier and San Pellegrino. Now all I have to do is decide which one I like better.
*Oh and a little note, upon poking around while writing this blog, apparently the true definition of seltzer is just plain water with added carbonation. So neither Perrier or San Pellegrino would be included in this far inferior category of peon waters.
Cheers! prost! and hydrate well friends!
Gonna Get Well 