The benefits of a mineral bath and spring water

The benefits of a mineral bath and spring water 

There’s a modern notion of self care and wellness permeating social media. It’s a buy this, eat that, go here mentality often associated with some trendy energy-boosting supplement, some “all natural” coffee alternative, some app or tool one can plug into in order to “unplug.” 

Mountain Valley knows there’s a simpler way: water. 

Proper hydration is essential to not only wellness but basic human functioning. When it comes to drinking enough water, however, it’s about more than H2O. 

A September 2021 story in The New York Times noted that, from a medical standpoint, “the most important measure of hydration is the balance between electrolytes … and water in the body.”

This is precisely the kind of balance Mountain Valley Spring Water has naturally achieved since 1871. Bottled directly at the same free-flowing source since the company’s inception, Mountain Valley Spring Water comes from deep within the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Nestled in a remote valley surrounded by 2,000 acres of protected forest, the water Mountain Valley bottles fell from the skies some 4,000 years ago. It filtered through layers of quartz and granite that, over the millennia, infused this water with natural minerals. 

Those minerals are something that can’t be engineered. They’re added to Mountain Valley Spring Water the old fashioned way, by Mother Nature herself, slowly — painstakingly slowly — and they have a wide range of healthy effects. 

The health benefits of water infused with natural minerals have been known to man for thousands of years. 

*Above image of Hot Springs Thermal Pool courtesy of Visit Hot Springs

The ancient history of Hot Springs and its water 

The mineral-laden hot springs of Mountain Valley’s home in Hot Springs, Arkansas have long had a natural allure. 

Indigenous peoples such as the Caddo, Choctaw, Cherokee, Quapaw and Tunica have occupied this central region of the Ouachita Mountains for more than 10,000 years, drawn to it by the area’s abundant resources, including its many naturally flowing hot springs. On the western slope alone of what’s now known as Hot Springs Mountain, 47 thermal springs can be found with water pushing out from the earth at a toasty 147 degrees. 

These springs were such a source of health, that they were considered neutral ground by these native nations and tribes, places where feuds would be set aside in the name of wellbeing. 

Thousands of years later, the thermal springs of Hot Springs are still luring wellness seekers. When Mountain Valley Spring Water was born in 1871, bottling this delicious, mineral-rich spring water was the company’s secondary goal. Its primary one back then: bring people from all over the U.S. and the world to bathe and soak in these nourishing geothermal springs. 

Mountain Valley brings mineral baths, mineral-rich spring water to the masses

Shortly after establishing Mountain Valley, the company’s founders built a two-story hotel and sanitarium, aptly named the Mountain Valley Hotel and Sanitarium, along one of the company’s springs. The facility was a place where guests could soak in these naturally mineral-rich waters, relax and practice a 19th century version of self care. And, when they were done, they could take bottles of Mountain Valley Spring Water home with them to drink. 

Mineral spring baths were so popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries that Hot Springs had its own “Bathhouse Row,” a strip of town that, at one time, housed as many as eight bathhouses, each built along the same geothermal spring. 

“Each bathhouse (was) different and attracted different people,” Jess Drier wrote in April 2021 for unearththevoyage.com, “so it's fun to look at the differences and decide which one would have been your favorite back in the day!”

The health benefits of mineral spring baths aren’t merely an 1800s thing. Modern science has shown the baths to have several positive effects. 

According to experts at Rochester Regional Health in Rochester, New York, the benefits of  mineral spring water baths can help with:

Skin issues such as psoriasis and eczema — When bathing in spring water, the skin absorbs minerals and nutrients that can help soothe and heal irritation, redness and inflammation. 

Vascular health — Warm mineral baths can improve circulation. Research published in the Journal of Physiology showed regular soaks in baths of warm and hot water improved vascular health in ways similar to exercising on a regular basis. 

Pain relief — Soaking in warm spring water can block pain receptors helping to reduce soreness and achiness, offering relief to those dealing with arthritis, fibromyalgia and other chronic-pain issues. 

Mental health — A hot, relaxing, mineral bath soak can reduce stress while also relaxing the body and mind. 

While the Mountain Valley Hotel and Sanitarium has long since closed, Hot Springs is still home to two bathhouses, the Quapaw and Buckstaff, where guests can take a relaxing soak in these thermal, mineral-loaded waters. Many of the original bath houses along the old “Bathhouse Row” have become hotels that still pull water from the nearby thermal springs, meaning guests can create their own mineral spring bath in the comfort of their hotel tub. 

Bathing in the naturally mineral-rich waters of Hot Springs was just Mountain Valley’s beginning. The company quickly realized it could bottle and deliver these healthful, healing waters to people’s homes. In fact, Mountain Valley was the first spring water to deliver coast to coast across the U.S.

The benefits of drinking mineral-rich spring water

As with every aspect of Mountain Valley Spring Water, the trace minerals and nutrients found in this water occur naturally and through no human intervention. 

As the company’s September 2020 water quality report showed, Mountain Valley Spring Water contains 67 milligrams per liter of calcium, 7.1 mg/L of magnesium and 1.3 mg/L of potassium. 

However, it’s not merely the minerals in Mountain Valley that make it so deliciously healthful, it’s the pH, too. Mountain Valley Spring Water has a natural pH of 7.3, making it ever so slightly alkaline. While the effects of ingesting alkaline water are still being studied, there’s evidence that drinking a naturally basic water may help neutralize acid in the body, including the enzymes that cause acid reflux. Naturally alkaline water can also have benefits for people with diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. 

Mountain Valley delivered from Hot Springs to your home

Not everyone has the time to fly off to Hot Springs and soak in a century-old bath house — as wonderfully relaxing as that sounds. That’s why, 150 years ago, Mountain Valley’s founders realized how vital it would be to get this naturally mineral rich and naturally pH balanced water into people’s hands and homes across the country. 

Mountain Valley continues to deliver its pure, refreshing, bottled-at-the-source spring water — with all of its health-boosting minerals — direct to homes and offices. That’s in addition to the many chefs, restaurants, markets and grocers who keep Mountain Valley Spring Water stocked in their pantries and shelves.