You drink glass after glass. And pee it right back out again. It's not the quantity that's failing – it's what the water is missing.
Water goes where salt is
The body does not move water by itself. Water follows dissolved substances, and primarily sodium. Where sodium goes, water follows – across the intestinal wall, into the blood, and further into the cells.
That's why two people can drink the same amount and get completely different results. Quantity is only half the equation.
This is not alternative knowledge
In the small intestine, there is a transport mechanism that pulls sodium and sugar through the intestinal wall simultaneously. Water comes along for the ride.
This is precisely the principle on which the World Health Organization's rehydration fluid is based – the same one used to save children from severe fluid loss. Pure water lacks this pulling power. It is absorbed, but more slowly and less effectively than water that comes with salt.
And Norwegian water is lean
Norway lies on granite and gneiss. The bedrock yields little, and our water is therefore among Europe's softest – very low in calcium and magnesium. It's excellent for your coffee maker.
For the body, it means that the water you fill your bottle with comes almost empty.
What you sweat out is not just water
Sweat primarily contains sodium and chloride. After an intense workout, a day in the heat, or a round in the sauna, you have lost both fluid and salts.
If you only replenish with pure water, you regain volume – but not balance.
Not the salt you're thinking of
Table salt is industrially refined. Seawater or rock salt is boiled down at high heat to almost pure sodium chloride, everything else is removed, and then an anti-caking agent is added so it flows nicely out of the shaker.
Celtic sea salt is not made. It is harvested. Seawater is led into shallow salt marshes in Brittany, sun and wind do the rest, and the salt is raked up by hand with a wooden rake – a method that has been the same for over a thousand years.
Nothing is boiled away. Nothing is added. The salt retains its moisture from the sea, its grey color from the clay in the marshes, and the trace elements that come with the seawater. Analyses of Celtic sea salt find 82 minerals and trace elements – magnesium, calcium, and potassium among them.
This is noticeable in two places. The taste is rounder and less sharp than table salt. And because the crystals are coarse and moist, a pinch provides less sodium than a pinch of fine table salt – you get more salt and less sodium in the same amount.
Celtic sea salt from OPTIFY is coarse-ground and unrefined, in a 227g bag. It lasts for well over a hundred liters of water.
The electrolytes that matter
- Sodium and chloride — what you lose most of through sweat, and what pulls water with it across the intestinal wall.
- Potassium — works with sodium on either side of the cell membrane.
- Magnesium — contributes to electrolyte balance, normal muscle function, and reducing tiredness and fatigue.
Hydration is a rhythm, not one glass
The body takes in a little at a time. If you drink two liters in the evening, you'll pee most of it out again during the night – and sleep worse for it. Distribute your fluid intake throughout the day instead.
And focus on the morning. You wake up after eight hours without a drop, and that's when the deficit is greatest. If you're well hydrated by lunchtime, you've won most of the battle.
Let taste guide you. The water shouldn't taste salty, just a little less flat. If you've sweated a lot during exercise, in the sauna, or in the heat, add an extra pinch there too.
Put the salt on the kitchen counter, not in the cupboard. It sounds trivial, but it's the difference between a routine and a good intention. The glass salt cellar with a wooden spoon is made for exactly that.
Give it fourteen days. Then you'll know for yourself.
Questions we get asked
How much salt should I put in the water?
A small pinch per bottle, and you can do this throughout the day. Let taste be your guide—if you clearly taste salt, you've added too much. The need is greatest in the morning and after you've sweated.
Is this the same as sprinkling table salt in water?
No. Table salt is refined down to almost pure sodium chloride with an anti-caking agent. Celtic sea salt is sun-dried and unrefined, retaining the moisture and trace elements from the seawater – and has a completely different taste. Sodium is still the main ingredient in both, but they are not the same product.
What time of day should I do this?
You can add salt to your water throughout the day, but get most of it in during the morning. You wake up with the largest deficit, your body absorbs a little at a time – and if you drink heavily in the evening, you'll be woken up at night instead.
Do I need additional magnesium?
Magnesium contributes to electrolyte balance and to reducing tiredness and fatigue, and it is the electrolyte many get the least of through their diet. Magnesium Complex is often taken in the evening.
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Celtic Sea Salt · Salt Cellar · Salt and Minerals
Dietary supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet and a healthy lifestyle. The recommended daily dose should not be exceeded. Keep out of reach of children.
