Beverages

Coffee and Tea

Coffee is low in oxalate. In moderation it is fine to drink coffee. If you want better sleep, however, you should start by lowering your caffeine intake.

Black, green and white teas are high in oxalate and should not be a daily beverage. Teas can be replaced by herbal teas, which, on the whole, tend to be low in oxalate.

Water

Pure, mineral-rich water is your one best beverage at all times.

Concerns

This sounds simple, but it is not. Tap water has issues. It is laced with fluoride, chlorine, residues of drugs (anti-depressants, birth-control, etc.), pesticides, volatile organic compounds, and traces of lead from the plumbing that carries water to your tap. It is good to have a filter installed at your tap for your cooking water, as this usually removes the chlorine. Tap filters typically will not remove fluoride or drugs from your water, however. Bottled water can have the same problems as tap or filtered tap water because the source is often just some other city’s tap water. Bottled water has additional contaminates coming from the packaging. Plastic and lined aluminum containers leach plastic into the water. I call it “plastic-tea”. It brews while riding around on trucks and while sitting in warehouses. Bottled water may be filtered and may have dangerously low levels of essential minerals.

Recommended water: Three suggestions

Natural spring and artesian water is a good choice if it is tested to be free of contaminants. This is sold in glass bottles, but it is expensive and hard to find.

The runner up choice: I suggest you drink reverse-osmosis purified water that is re-mineralized with mineral stones that include calcium. Mineral stones continuously release ionized minerals into the purified water. Quality stones can add many valuable minerals to empty, purified water, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and other trace minerals. This also improves the taste of the water. Many food stores have purified reverse-osmosis water “on-tap” for purchase by the gallon. Remember, this water is devoid of needed minerals, so buy mineral stones for your refillable water bottles. Drink plenty of re-mineralized water every day. Consider also adding 2 teaspoons per gallon of a “full-spectrum” liquid mineral supplement that has fulvic acid.

Third choice: If you can’t afford the mineral rocks, here is a very cheap solution (provided you don’t have an egg allergy). Use two natural sources of minerals. The first is organic egg shells that came from a farm with clean soils. Bake the egg shells at 250°F for 20 minutes. Then seal them into tea bags. Add your egg shell tea bags into your filtered water jug. Also add a pinch of clay to your water jug.  As above, consider also adding a “full-spectrum” liquid mineral supplement.

Other Beverages

Store-bought drinks are a danger zone for unhealthy ingredients, and prepackaged healthy drinks are often very expensive. Save some money and improve your health by making your own drinks at home. Don’t forget that sipping a small cup of hot home-made bone broth can be a wonderfully restorative drink as well. Think about the quality of the water you use to make your broth. Always use purified, re-mineralized water.