Approximately 75 million Americans are dehydrated, and most don’t even realize it. Aside from thirst, the symptoms of dehydration include headache, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, and lethargy, with symptoms scaling up to more serious warning signs such as dry and/or swollen mouth that impacts teeth and gum health, dry skin or eyes, little or no urine output, sluggishness, rapid heartbeat, fever, and loss of skin elasticity. The body is approximately 70 percent water (even the bones are 30 percent made up of water), so it makes perfect sense to keep the body optimally hydrated for not just health but mitigating signs of aging.
Why Winter Skin Feels Dry Even After You Moisturize
In the colder months this internal shortfall meets the external aggression of Winter weather. Cold outdoor air holds less moisture, wind strips the surface of skin, and indoor heating further desiccates the air we live in. The result is skin that feels tight and looks drawn by afternoon even after a faithful application of moisturizer.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) identifies this period as the season of the Water element, roughly November 8 through January 17, when the body’s task is storage, rest, and resilient, more profound fluid balance.
When Water energy is out of balance in the body, skin dehydrates, loses tone, and appears thirsty. For these reasons, your most perfect topical solution is PHYTO5’s Water line. All of PHYTO5’s 5-element lines are formulated according to TCM principles to protect against seasonal weather aggressions. In this case, the Water line protects against the aggression of cold air while supporting hydration, firmness, and water circulation.
If you can only choose one product, then the single most important one is Water Day Cream.
Formulated with extracts of ginkgo and buckwheat, avocado and sunflower oils, and a synergistic blend of essential oils including juniper berry, rosemary, and sage, Water Day Cream is designed for the double drought of cold outdoor air and dry indoor heat.
Use a very small amount each morning (or evening) on cleansed, toned face, neck, and décolleté. Less is more with PHYTO5. For a richer night step, the companion Water Night Cream offers additional support. Together with the rest of the Water line, these products firm and tone while improving water circulation, addressing the loss of elasticity and thirsty appearance that characterize Winter imbalance.
How Dehydration Affects the Whole Body (Especially as We Age)
Dehydration also contributes to emotional imbalance, in part because it places additional strain on the kidneys.
In TCM, the kidneys govern the Water element and are closely associated with the emotion of fear; when fluid balance is compromised, that association can surface as heightened anxiety, unease, or a diminished sense of inner stability.
Modern observations align with this view: dehydration raises the stress hormone cortisol and can intensify feelings of tension or low mood, while the kidneys work harder to conserve fluid and maintain balance.
At the same time, kidney function and elimination become compromised when we’re dehydrated. Research reveals compelling information about our requirements for drinking water especially as we age and the influence of hydration on a wide range of body systems, including bones. Lack of water is a contributor to brittle bones, making many more senior adults more susceptible to dangerous bone fractures.
The Water Element and the Fifth Phase of Life
TCM tells us that in the fifth and last of the five phases of life, somewhere after 60 years of age, we start stiffening and dehydrating, causing loss of skin tone. We also notice a serious loss of collagen with yang energy at its lowest point. For these reasons proper absorbable hydration is critical.
Why Older Adults Often Don’t Feel Thirsty
But for older adults hydration isn’t always simple.
Many experience a decrease in receptor sensitivity (osmo- and baroreceptors) which detect the fluid within and around cells. This causes us not to feel thirsty when, in fact, our bodies are definitely requiring more water. For this vitally important reason it’s more important than ever for older adults to drink several glasses of water daily even if not thirsty. Boost hydration further by adding lots of fresh high-water-content fruits and vegetables into your diet. They help provide additional very absorbable hydration.
The Brain’s Requirements for Hydration
Our skin and body tissues require enormous amounts of water. The brain requires the greatest amount to function because water facilitates the electrical functions that basically command the entire body.
The largest portion of water supplied throughout the body comes from what we drink, and the rest from food and leftover cellular metabolism. We lose 80 percent of our fluids through our urine and 20 percent through perspiration through the skin or respiratory system.
Exercise Helps Pump Water Throughout the Body
Water runs through our veins, arteries, glands, and organs in order to feed, pump, and transport fluid. Getting exercise through gentle workouts or walking actually helps disperse water through the body. When you move your connective tissue through exercise, it facilitates the movement of water throughout the body.
Water Regulates Body Temperature
Water also regulates body temperature, which explains why dehydrated elderly people are challenged to tolerate hot temperatures and often perish during heatwaves.
“We may not get enough water into our cells, where it’s crucial for metabolism and countless other functions,” says Dana Cohen, MD, author of Quench: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration.
Gel Water: A More Absorbable Form of Hydration
Consuming processed foods and living in heated homes can interfere with our body’s water absorption, but research associated with Gerald Pollack, PhD, head of the University of Washington’s Pollack Water Lab, has explored the idea that water near hydrophilic surfaces (as found inside cells) can form an ordered, gel-like phase sometimes described as H₃O₂ or “exclusion zone” (EZ) water.
Colloquially called “gel water,” this concept suggests a denser, more structured form charged by electrolytes that may support cellular function.
In this view, we create more of this gel-like water throughout the body by consuming fruits, vegetables, cacti, chia seeds, or collagen alongside drinking water. We need to take a much closer look at our diets and not just our water intake. Certain observations have indicated that liquid water alone may not always be sufficient for optimal cellular hydration.
Dr. Pollack’s work proposes that when we add a spritz of pure fruit juice right from the fruit, for example, to water, it may help prime cells. European observations in this area have suggested that consuming plants rich in this gel water (by adding most any fruit or vegetable juice to drinking water) can be more readily absorbed and less likely to leak from aging cells than plain water alone.
Tips for Consuming Gel Water
The way to consume gel water is simple.
Just keep drinking plain water you further improve with a slice of citrus, for example.
Another way is to sip water while consuming foods rich in potassium like bananas and broccoli or rich in magnesium like avocado and dark chocolate.
You can add a pinch of Himalayan salt to your water to add electrolytes.
Consume six servings of gel-water-rich foods daily and for every dehydrating grain-based food you eat, add an extra portion.
Always avoid processed foods because they siphon off fluid during digestion.
Eat plant-based healthy fats.
“Water enters cells through an oil-guarded membrane,” author Cohen says. “Good fats, especially Omega-3s, keep membranes supple, increasing absorption.”
Add a teaspoon of crushed chia seeds to your smoothies. When the blender crushes the seeds, more gel is created.
Cook with bone broth. It’s full of collagen and gel water.
Cook with coconut oil or ghee, both of which are full of gel water and electrolytes.
When enjoying an infrared sauna, the light waves in the red-wave spectrum range will reach the water molecules in your body and may influence their structure. The sun also does exactly the same as the infrared sauna. Modest exposure to the sun is nature’s way of purifying and charging water. In theory, the subtle electrical charge of the planet could help split the water molecules around and inside us as well.
Minerals: Why Skin Can’t Hold Hydration Without Them
Even with adequate internal water and a well-formulated cream, skin cannot properly retain hydration without sufficient minerals. We all lose minerals as we age or live in stressful environmental conditions.
Certain minerals and trace minerals play an enormous role in maintaining the day-to-day health and hydration of our skin as well as providing therapeutic benefits for various skin conditions. Without these minerals present, creams won’t help.
Scientific reviews confirm that trace elements such as zinc, copper, selenium, manganese, and silicon, along with macrominerals including magnesium and calcium, are vital for skin homeostasis. They support antioxidant defense, modulate inflammation, facilitate tissue repair, and maintain the epidermal barrier that prevents water loss.
Calcium and magnesium gradients help regulate keratinocyte differentiation and barrier formation; zinc and copper act as cofactors for enzymes involved in collagen synthesis and barrier integrity. When these are insufficient, the skin’s ability to trap and hold moisture declines, leaving it more vulnerable to the drying effects of cold air and indoor heat.
Topical and dietary sources of these minerals improve barrier function, increase hydration, and support elasticity.
A good mineral intake is important at any age, and the optimum way to achieve this is through a whole-foods diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and other plant-based produce. Rather than worry about what to eat or what not to eat to make sure we are getting all we need to look and feel younger longer, make consuming a rainbow diet with foods from each of the seven colors of the rainbow the foundation of your meals and snacks and build around that, always making the most sensible choices we know intuitively are best for us.
Hydrating from Within and Without
True hydration of the skin is never achieved from one direction alone.
We must tackle it both from within and without—supporting the interior through consistent water intake, mineral-rich whole foods, gel-water practices, and overall fluid balance, while also caring for the exterior with a topical that is precisely matched to the season’s demands.
Internal nourishment supplies the raw materials and cellular capacity to hold moisture. The right cream on the surface protects against the drying forces of cold air and indoor heat, seals that moisture in, and supports tone and circulation. When the two work together, the skin is far better equipped to remain supple, firm, and resilient through the Water season.
Putting It All Together for Resilient Winter Skin
Pair your topical ritual of Water Day Cream with the internal practices above—consistent water intake (even without thirst), gel-water-rich produce, mineral-dense rainbow foods, gentle movement, and rest—and skin is better equipped to hold moisture through the cold months.
The energetic signature of the Water element invites conservation and deep restoration; Water Day Cream simply gives the face the seasonal support it needs to stay hydrated, firm, and resilient.
Oligo5 Trace Mineral Spray: The Missing Mineral Support for Holding Hydration
Even the most carefully chosen Winter cream can only do so much if the skin lacks the minerals needed to retain the moisture it receives.
Oligo5 is a lightweight trace-mineral spray formulated with manganese, cobalt, zinc, magnesium, and copper, suspended in pure Swiss water with mineral-rich Laminaria digitata algae extract. These minerals work together to support the skin’s natural capacity to hold water, strengthen barrier function, and improve the performance of whatever moisturizer follows.
Applied after cleansing and toning and before cream, Oligo5 delivers a daily dose of the very elements that help skin stay hydrated longer, look smoother, and resist the drying effects of cold air and indoor heat. It can be sprayed lightly onto the face and neck or mixed directly into a small amount of cream in the palm of the hand so that the minerals are carried evenly across the skin.
Water Day Cream + Oligo5: A Synergistic Duo for Winter Hydration
Water Day Cream and Oligo5 form a particularly effective pair during the Water season. When the spray is applied first (or blended into the cream), the minerals help the skin hold the moisture supporting agents delivered by the cream, while the cream itself seals and protects the surface of skin against the double drought of outdoor cold and indoor heat.
The result is more lasting comfort, improved elasticity, and a complexion that stays supple rather than tight. Used together—Oligo5 followed by a small amount of Water Day Cream each morning—they address both the mineral deficit that undermines hydration and the seasonal aggression of Winter, giving skin the internal support and external protection it needs to remain resilient through the colder months.
Sources
Gerald Pollack (Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington) is a scientist recognized worldwide as a dynamic speaker and author whose passion lies in plumbing the depths of natural truths. The Pollack Lab is best known for its work with water, but its interests are diverse—including energy, health, and fundamental physics. Pollack published research on exclusion-zone (“gel”) water beginning around 2009. He received the 1st Emoto Peace Prize and is a recipient of the University of Washington’s highest honor, the Annual Faculty Lecturer Award. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of the research journal WATER and Director of the Institute for Venture Science. Dr. Pollack’s books include The Fourth Phase of Water (2013) and Cells, Gels, and the Engines of Life (2001).
“You’ve Been Doing It Wrong: Why You’re Still Dehydrated.” Goop, 17 Jan. 2019.
Alnuweiri, Tamim. “What Is Gel Water?” Well+Good, 1 July 2017.
Staff, Editorial. “Simple ‘Gel-Water Diet’ Is the Weight-Loss Solution That Improves Sleep and Fights Brain Fog.” Woman’s World, 2 Aug. 2019.
“Consequences of Dehydration.” European Hydration Institute.
Popkin, Barry M., et al. “Water, Hydration, and Health.” Nutrition Reviews, Aug. 2010.
Additional supporting literature on minerals and skin: reviews in Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology (2025) and International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2022) document the roles of zinc, copper, magnesium, selenium, and related ions in barrier function, antioxidant defense, collagen synthesis, and moisture retention.
