I recently read Quench by Dr. Dana Cohen and Gina Bria and I loved it! It’s no secret that I’m a bit obsessed with hydration. I was 25 when I finally started drinking enough water, and the changes I experienced were so profound that I still won’t shut up about it nearly a decade later.

I lost weight and my weight stabilized. I had more energy than I ever knew was possible. My skin looked great. My digestion improved. But perhaps most importantly, my brain felt awake and I was amazed by the rate at which I could come up with and execute my ideas. I never looked back, and water is still one of my favorite topics.

New research has emerged that shows us that water actually has a fourth phase: liquid, ice, vapor….and gel! If you’ve ever soaked chia seeds, had a chia pudding, or perhaps had a kombucha with chia seeds floating in it, you’ve seen gel water firsthand. Gel water is what forms around the chia seed when it comes in contact with liquid, but gel water is present in a lot of our food. This gel state of water is 10% more viscous than the liquid state. Not a major difference, but the way this water benefits our bodies is significant.

Gel water has two major benefits: it is more hydrating than plain water, and it conducts electricity more efficiently. The health benefits of being optimally hydrated are obvious: it prevents disease. Conducting electricity is also vital because it is how our brains send signals to every other part of our body. The more efficient this system is, the faster and clearer we are able to think and function.

This news made me realize that the benefits I felt when I started hydrating weren’t only because I was drinking more water, it was combined with the fact that I had also shifted towards a diet focused on whole foods — which meant I was eating significantly more plants. Gel water!

After finishing the book I started the Quench Method (outlined in the back of the book), and I noticed an immediate difference. I’ve spent most of the past decade hydrated (drinking around 100 oz of water per day), and my biggest takeaway from this book is that if someone like me, who was already living pretty healthy + hydrated, notices a difference, the average person is going to be amazed by what Quench can do for them. After 24-hours I noticed that my eyes looked brighter and the skin under my eyes was more plump, after 5 days on the Quench Method I had lost 3 pounds, my focus and energy increased even more, and I found that my hydration was more long-lasting and sustained. Fair to say, I’m not going back to my old ways of hydrating.

In Quench, Dr. Cohen and Gina Bria lay out all of the emerging research about gel water, how it works in our bodies, and provide you with a simple plan for integrating optimal hydration into your life.  I can say with complete confidence that this is a book that has changed my life (click here for my full list).  I will read this book over and over. I’ll buy it for the people I love. Each page is full of incredible research and information, but the book is written in a way that is easy to understand, keeps you engaged, and empowers you to start hydrating immediately.

I could never do this book justice in a blog post, and I don’t want to. I want you to go get the book and read it yourself so that you get the full experience! But, I do want to share some of the biggest takeaways I had after reading it:

• The majority of us live with chronic mild dehydration.
• Hydration is the root of all wellness and this chronic mild dehydration could be at the root of a lot of diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
• Modern humans are dehydrated not only because we don’t drink enough water, but also because we have diets that are largely processed (not enough plants!), and spend a lot of time indoors with light + heating that further dehydrates us.
• Our modern world contributes to our dehydration not only because of our environment or work/life balance, but also because things like stress trigger hormones that use up our energy stores, or being distracted by a text or email wastes energy every time we have to refocus our brains. These things dehydrate us over and over throughout the day.
• Getting our water from plants is not only more efficient, but it is also beneficial (and potentially necessary) as we strain our freshwater resources.
• Our bodies also have an intricate irrigation system called fascia. Think of fascia as a layer of saran wrap that keeps all of your muscles and blood vessels connected to your skeleton. This is one of the ways water moves throughout our bodies! I think about this all the time now.
• Hydration is about more than just drinking water or eating plants. To achieve optimal hydration we should also think about fascia and how to keep water flowing freely through our body. Things like posture, stretching, micromovements, massage, and dry brushing all help massage the fascia tissue and help distribute water.
• Sun is important for hydration! Sunlight actually penetrates the skin and helps our bodies convert water into gel water. Getting a dose of sun each day is actually vital to our hydration.

I’m going to stop there. I could honestly list 50 more things but like I said I really want you to read the book in its entirety. I don’t think this could come at a more perfect time. As the holidays approach so many of us start thinking about how to navigate all those gatherings while still focusing on our health. Or we start thinking about the changes we want to make in the new year. If there’s only one thing you take away from this blog post I want it to be this: nothing else matters if you aren’t hydrated. That new workout routine? It won’t be as effective. A new diet? Probably won’t have much of an impact if it isn’t combined with hydration. Expensive new skincare? Absolutely doesn’t matter if you are also dehydrated. But even more important than how we look is how we feel. I think so many of us would like to start the new year feeling mentally healthy + empowered.