WATER SUPERCHARGED
Local companies feature healthily enhanced drinks.
Written by Annie Flanzraich
Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, and we require this vital liquid to live. Medical experts recommend drinking up to 64 ounces of the clear stuff each day. While water alone is enough to support a healthy body’s functions and processes, some local business owners are looking to boost its benefits.
Just add water
While kefirs may be associated with yogurt, Susan Frailey, founder of More Alive Now Kefir d’Acqua made in Gardnerville, has found a non-dairy way to deliver its benefits.
Water kefir is a fermented beverage made from water and organic sugar. The production process introduces a living mother culture, called kefir grains, into sugar water, which metabolizes the sugar. The finished water kefir is alive with beneficial bacteria and yeasts, organic acids, and enzymes.
Blue Dot founders Chris Gillis and Christina Henson. Photo courtesy of Blue Dot Water
“Kefirs are known for their powerful probiotic nature,” Frailey says. “They help your body make vitamin K and B vitamins and also aid in your immunity and gut health.”
Frailey, a nurse with a scientific background and author of MORE ALIVE NOW — Simple Nutrition to Change Your Life, began making water kefir in 2002.
“My son was born with autism, and nutrition was one thing that I could control,” says the South Lake Tahoe resident. “There are a lot of things that I do for health and wellness, and probiotic foods is one of those things. I made water kefir, and it became a favorite that everyone really loved. Then I brought it forward commercially.”
More Alive Now Kefir d’Acqua is now available at a variety of locations in the Reno-Tahoe area. It comes in four flavors: Berry Fusion, Lemon Crush, Grapelicious, and Mango Sunrise. The taste is light, pleasant, and slightly carbonated, Frailey says.
“Kefirs do have a sour flavor to them, but it’s more like a sourdough,” she says in comparison to the flavor of kombucha. “It’s a little milder and doesn’t have that vinegar punch to it.”
Blue Dot Water in Reno features a large selection of BPA-free bottles, Hydro Flasks, and Elevated Glass bottles. Photo courtesy of Blue Dot Water
Water treatment
At Blue Dot Water, co-owners and Reno residents Chris Gillis and Christina Henson take the region’s water, purify it, and then transform it to achieve an alkaline pH. Through Blue Dot, Gillis and Henson pass the liquid through natural mineral filters in a process similar to what happens when water flows down rocky mountain streams. This infuses the water with trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium, changing its pH.
Because alkaline water has a higher pH level, some proponents believe it can neutralize the acid in the bloodstream and help prevent diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
Gillis, who has been using alkaline water for about a decade, found relief with it from problems associated with acid reflux and esophageal erosion.
“That’s one of the reasons our customers continue to buy the alkaline waters — because they’re getting some form of relief from heartburn,” he says.
But after buying single-use water bottles of alkaline water, Gillis realized that the region needed a more sustainable way to access its benefits. So he and Henson opened Blue Dot Water in Reno, where they sell alkaline and purified water by the gallon and drum, and also offer delivery. Business especially booms during Burning Man, when lines of RVs can be seen outside the store.
“For 26 years, I worked in the restaurant industry for wine and liquor wholesalers, so I did a lot of dehydrating of people,” Gillis says. “Now I’m rehydrating people with the work that we’re doing.”
Resources
Blue Dot Water
1296 E. Plumb Lane, Ste. G, Reno • 775-870-9727 • Bluedot-water.com
More Alive Now Kefir d’Acqua
1425 Industrial Way, Gardnerville • 530-318-2233 • Morealivenow.com
