It always makes me smile when I read all the conflicting articles on water: How much? What is too much? What is enough? 8 cups a day? Some claim even that is too much. Nonsense. A recent week with a group of French women who don’t get fat confirmed again and again that water matters and more so after 30.

Adding a few more glasses of water during the summer is super important, and with the recent heat wave hitting us…even the health department recommended 3 liters (yes) to stay hydrated, especially if we do any kind of movement like a yoga or Pilates class, a bike ride, walk or a swim, otherwise we lose a good 20% of our abilities, risk getting cramps (many think it’s a lack of iron but try…water; happens to me), so even during these short activities it’s important to drink regularly as we get dehydrated without even realizing it.  It’s actually once one is used to drinking (like a glass every hour) that thirst comes back. Water is best.

Active French women like to combine 1 liter of water with a few drops of honey, the juice of a lemon and, yes, a pinch of salt.

Another refreshing drink consists of infusing a cup of verveine with 1 ground cardamom and the zest of ½ lemon in 2 liters of room temperature water for two hours.

Photo by John Althouse Cohen.