In Part 3 of our series, we continue our conversation with Dr. Kelly Starrett on hydration and mobility.
O2: We take hydration pretty seriously at O2, but some might say we’re biased. How important is hydration, really?
Kelly: There are fundamental aspects of human physiology that allow for good human function; the foundational pieces that make you a sturdy, robust human being. Those include eating whole foods and - wait for it - drinking water with salts in it.
O2: Ah, the salts! As you know, O2 packs 550MG of electrolytes into every 12-ounce can - more than 1.5X more than sports drinks. Why do those minerals matter?
Kelly: If you drink completely pure water, you’re not gonna absorb the water. You’re gonna pee it out, which does not improve your hydration. But as soon as you add some essential minerals and electrolytes in there, guess what? Your body absorbs it more effectively.
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Dr. Kelly Starrett, aka The Supple Leopard, improves his hydration with ferocity. |
O2: We make high-performance hydration in recycled aluminum cans, and are on track to be carbon neutral by Earth Day 2021. What else can O2 do to help people stay hydrated in a responsible way?
Kelly: In this quest to hydrate people, we’ve created a plastic-bottle nightmare, and we’ve confused people about how much water they need to drink. We want people to recognize that if you make water more effective then people will drink it more.
O2: You’re co-founder of The Ready State, which offers customized mobility coaching to resolve pain, improve performance, and recover faster. How can hydration help with mobility?
Kelly: One of the easiest ways to make tissues more resilient, to improve your power, is to appropriately hydrate. You’re basically a bag of water rolling around. You want to improve the rate of protein synthesis? Your mental acuity? Or, you want more robust tissues? Focusing on hitting some minimum water values goes a long way.
Follow our series to Part 4 where we speak with both Juliet and Kelly about building their business together and their vision for the future of TRS.