Are you chronically dehydrated? I just learned I am and, according to many websites, about 75 percent of our population is in the same boat. There's a simple explanation: water is boring. So when my chiropractor said I needed to divide my body weight in half and drink that many ounces of plain water each day, I felt dejected. Seriously? How was I going to chug 64 ounces of water a day? Then a few days later my dermatologist, Dr. Marcy Alvarez at Lincoln Road Dermatology came down on me, too. "You should be drinking about two liters a day," she said. "We're 60 percent water and all our organs need it."
Desperate to cure my hydration phobia, I went home and Googled "water recipes." Not surprisingly, there wasn't much info to be had. But one particular website caught my eye so I clicked. Turns out the blogger, Pam Wenzel, a 45-year-old Texan, mother of two, and 18-year breast cancer survivor, is also the author of a new "cookbook," Spa Water. It's an oversized hardcover with pictures that literally make you thirst for a sip of the 22 recipes inside.
Some are really basic infusions and others require a handful of ingredients, but all include a sidebar suggesting what one can do with the fruits and herbs once the dispenser is down to the last drops. (Kudos to her for adding this bonus.) For example, if you made orange-basil water, add some oil, vinegar and seasonings and you've got yourself a sweet and savory vinaigrette.
Anyhow, Wenzel claims water does more for us than we think. She claims it may prevent or lower your risk of getting body pains, migraines, adult-onset diabetes, and even breast cancer and more:
New Times: So how did you get the idea for a water cookbook?
Pam Wenzel: It happened at the Hyatt Tamaya in New Mexico. My husband and I were there on a golf trip, and he kept stopping drinking the water. My husband had never been a big water drinker. I went home and said, I'm gonna start looking for ideas. I couldn't find even a recipe! I must've found 100 books on how important water is but not one book with suggestions for making it taste better.
Why did they say water consumption is so important?
I had breast cancer. I'd go weeks, months without water. I never thought about it. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27. Drinking water is the best way to prevent breast cancer and every other chronic disease. The purpose of water is to wash your body inside.
I drink a lot of tea, but my doctors say I'm still dehydrated. Why?
It takes three glasses of water to equal one tea.
What if someone doesn't have time to chop up fresh fruit every day?
Dilute one cup of Knudsen cranberry or use pomegranate or blueberry juice--they're antioxidants--in the rest of the water.
Any tips regarding what dispensers are best? The ones in your book are pretty hoity-toity.
Plastic spigots are horrible. There's no long-term use. But you can find great dispensers with metal spigots online.
And where can people find your book?
Two spas in Miami will be carrying it soon, but in the meantime find it online. I sell it on my website and on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. And know that part of the proceeds go to Love/Avon's Army of Women. They're trying to recruit one million healthy women to help them with researching the causes of breast cancer. [Editor's note: Wenzel is offering a two-for-one deal on her book until August 31. She also has the Spa Water app for $1.99. Scan the QR code here to download.]
Check back Monday for the Raspberry Mist recipe.
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