The Day It Became Official

On April 8th, I posted a photo on Instagram. You can see it here. It’s me and Stephan Peeler at a Mexican cocina in Irvine — both of us in his Peelers Stoic Series cutoffs, me in white, him in black, both smiling because something had just become real. Stephan is now the co-founder of Zero Hunger Water. I’ve been looking forward to sharing this with you, because his story is one of the most important reasons I believe in what we’re building — and I think once you hear it, you’ll understand why.

Where He Comes From

Stephan didn’t discover the beverage industry. He was born into it.

His family’s roots trace directly to the founding of Cheerwine — a legendary cherry soft drink created in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1917 that has been continuously, proudly family-owned for 109 uninterrupted years. If you’ve spent time in the American South, you already know what Cheerwine means to people there. For everyone else: imagine a brand so genuine, so rooted in community and consistency, that multiple generations of families have grown up drinking it, sought it out in every city they’ve moved to, and passed it down to their children the way you pass down a family recipe. That’s Cheerwine. It wasn’t built by a marketing department. It was built by a family that simply believed in what they made and served their community with total commitment for over a century.

Stephan grew up watching that happen. Not reading about it. Not studying it as a case study. Watching it — up close, as a kid — seeing firsthand what it looks like when a beverage earns a century of loyalty. That kind of education cannot be replicated in a classroom or a boardroom. It lives in you. And it lives in Stephan.

What He’s Built on His Own

Beyond where he comes from, Stephan is a builder in his own right — and I want you to know that, because it matters.

He founded Carolina Malt House, a craft beverage company built on that same generational instinct for what makes people fall in love with what they drink. He brought his family’s deep knowledge of the beverage world into something new and earned a devoted following for it. He created Peelers Apparel — a luxury activewear brand featured in Maxim and LA Weekly — which is what we’re both wearing in that photo, the Stoic Series cutoff that I basically live in. And now Zero Hunger Water is his next chapter in beverage.

That’s three ventures. All of them rooted in the same thing: genuine quality, real community, and a deep belief that the best products don’t just solve a problem — they bring people together around something that matters.

I’m honored this is where he’s pointed that energy next.

How We Found Each Other

Stephan is my Sigma Chi fraternity brother. That’s where this starts — not in a boardroom, not through a pitch deck, but through shared values and years of genuine friendship. He has believed in Zero Hunger Water for years, long before April 8th, long before any of this was official. He understood what I was trying to build and he supported it as a friend. The fact that we’ve now formalized that into a real co-founding partnership is something I don’t take lightly, and neither does he.

I’ve spent 25 years in wellness. Thirty-nine books — including 13 New York Times bestsellers — across HarperCollins, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Hay House. My first book, 8 Minutes in the Morning, launched in 2001 with a foreword from Tony Robbins, and Oprah followed. Twenty-five years of asking the same question: why do people — men and women in midlife, people doing everything right — keep struggling with wellness? Why do the solutions keep falling short?

I know wellness. What I’ve never known is beverage. Stephan was born into beverage. That’s what makes this partnership something neither of us could have built alone.

The Mission Behind the Product

Here is what Zero Hunger Water actually is: a clean, simple water additive — no sugar, nothing artificial — built on one insight that took me 25 years and a lot of research to fully understand. Most hunger isn’t a willpower problem. It’s a mineral deficiency. Seventy years of industrial agriculture have stripped our food supply of the sodium, potassium, and magnesium our bodies need — and when those minerals are depleted, our brains fire hunger signals that no diet, no discipline, and no prescription medication can permanently silence. Zero Hunger Water replenishes those minerals and quiets that signal at the source. No GLP-1 required. No side effects. Just science, in a stick pack you stir into water.

It’s for women. It’s for men. It’s for anyone who has spent years fighting their body and is ready to understand what their body has actually been trying to tell them.

The Community We’re Building

What Stephan and I are building together is bigger than a product. We want to do for Zero Hunger Water what the Peeler family did for Cheerwine — build something that people don’t just buy, but genuinely belong to. A community of people who found this early, who share it with the people they love, and who pass it down the way you pass down the things that actually changed your life.

That means real connection. It means access to 25 years of my research and resources. It means a place where the science of hunger gets translated into something you can actually use, every single day, without a medical degree.

Stephan brings the beverage DNA that turns a great product into a great brand. I bring the wellness knowledge and the audience we’ve spent 25 years building together. And together, we hope to build something you’ll still be sharing with your family years from now.

More coming later this year. Stay close.

— Jorge Cruise Founder, Zero Hunger Water

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The real culprit behind physical hunger is mineral deficiency. Modern soil depletion and decades of salt-shaming leave your body craving magnesium, potassium, and sodium — the actual regulators of physical hunger. Zero Hunger Water® puts those minerals back. One stick in water, zero calories, no stimulants — just pure mineral science that helps you eat less naturally.

Since first being featured on Radio Andy, in three national magazine articles, and on The Art of Being Well with Dr. Will Cole, this DIY mineral recipe has built a cult underground following.

Millions now use it — but most hate making it from scratch. Now that the demand is proven, we’re building the product.

Explore the full science: click here.

Want in?
Email zerohungerwater@gmail.com for our investor kit.

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Zero Hunger Water® test users reported losing significant weight (e.g., Barbara Rastello lost 21 pounds in 19 days, Julie Gushlaw lost 84 pounds in 11 months), reduced cravings, increased energy, better sleep, and improved kidney function. It’s also lowers stress hormones, which are linked to belly fat.
Read the full article.


Electrolyte Science (ranked 1–9; sodium first, then potassium/magnesium)

1. NHANES (n=38,722): lower sodium intake is linked to higher added sugar intake, implying low‑salt diets can drive compensatory sweet cravings. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32762131/#:~:text=was%2043,the%20associated%20high%20sugar%20intake
   

2. Systematic review of 23 human trials: sodium restriction worsens insulin resistance and raises counter‑regulatory hormones, a metabolic state that increases appetite. https://journalofmetabolichealth.org/index.php/jmh/article/view/78/242
   

3. Comprehensive review: sodium deficiency powerfully activates salt appetite and rewires reward circuits; repletion normalizes hedonic tone—mechanism for “false hunger.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4433288/#:~:text=PMC%20pmc,82%2C%20118
   

4. Controlled rat study: adding NaCl cut food intake by ~10–25% and reduced body‑fat gain—evidence that sodium status can directly suppress feeding. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1252395/#:~:text=containing%2013%20g%20NaCl/kg,%20or,water%20had%20a
   

5. Independent institutional repository of the NHANES analysis confirming low sodium ↔ higher sugar intake (secondary source for #1’s finding). https://touroscholar.touro.edu/nymc_fac_pubs/2785/#:~:text=51.2,the%20associated%20high%20sugar%20intake
   

6. One‑year program in metabolic syndrome: increasing dietary potassium was the strongest predictor of BMI reduction (~45% of variance), supporting potassium’s satiety/weight‑control role. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6627830/#:~:text=regression%20analysis%20revealed%20that%2045,239)%20and
   

7. Meta‑analysis of 18 RCTs: oral magnesium improves fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity in at‑risk groups—blunting crash‑and‑crave cycles that fuel appetite. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27530471/#:~:text=,sensitivity%20parameters
   

8. Review: magnesium stimulates cholecystokinin (CCK) release; across studies, it suppresses hunger, lowers intake, and reduces body weight (magnesium glycinate preferred for bioavailability). https://www.mattioli1885journals.com/index.php/progressinnutrition/article/view/9081#:~:text=Aim:%20Magnesium%20has%20many%20important,influence%20of%20cholecystokinin%20on%20hunger/satiety
   

9. Alternate anchor to #1 (same NHANES cohort) again showing low sodium associates with higher sugar consumption—reaffirming the sodium–sweet craving connection. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32762131/#:~:text=showed%20that%20among%2038%20722,health%20may%20be%20explained%20at
   
   

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If you’ve ever wondered whether Zero Hunger Water can truly change your life, meet Sandy Rosser — one of the most inspiring women I’ve ever coached.

Sandy’s story began years ago in North Carolina. After a severe back injury in 1988, she relied on sugar and carbs to cope with chronic pain and fatigue. She told Woman’s World magazine, “Eating would make me feel better for a few minutes, and I’d crave more and more. I couldn’t stop.” Her health declined steadily, and her weight climbed. At 58, Sandy was struggling with high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Then she discovered Zero Hunger Water — and everything changed.

Within weeks, Sandy noticed her hunger disappearing. She began sipping the electrolyte-rich mix every two hours during the day, replacing old habits with hydration and mineral balance. Over time, she lost 93 pounds and dropped from a size 24 to an 8. She told Woman’s World, “Water alone never curbed my appetite, but with electrolytes added, the difference was amazing. You drink some and literally forget to eat!”

Sandy was later featured again in First for Women, sharing how she still drinks her Zero Hunger Water daily — and how she likes to make a bulk mix in advance. She keeps it ready on her kitchen counter, using it to stay satisfied all day long. Her favorite part? The simplicity. Just a few ingredients — salt, potassium, magnesium, and a touch of stevia — and she’s set for the day.

Today, Sandy says, “This plan changed my life. My birth certificate says I’m 58, but I feel like I’m 28.

You can read both of Sandy’s full features in:

• Woman’s World Magazine (PDF link here)

• First for Women Magazine (PDF link here)

If you’d like to make the same Zero Hunger Water Sandy uses, visit the Resources section on my Substack for the full recipe. You can make it in bulk just like she does — it’s simple, affordable, and incredibly effective.

Drink it every two hours, as Sandy and I both do, and watch what happens. Hunger fades. Energy rises. Life starts feeling lighter — inside and out.

Learn more

Start now — FREE for 30 days!

Learn more

Start now — FREE for 30 days!

Learn more

Start now — FREE for 30 days!

During COVID, when the world slowed down and wellness felt confusing, I went back to basics—and that’s when Zero Hunger Water® was born. I was searching for a way to quiet hunger naturally, without stimulants or constant snacking, and what I found was that the key wasn’t calories—it was minerals.

By restoring the right balance of sodium, potassium, and magnesium, I discovered you could literally turn off physical hunger. That’s what Zero Hunger Water® does. It nourishes your body at the cellular level so you stop craving sugar and carbs. Your energy rises, your brain clears, and you finally feel satisfied.

One of my favorite success stories is my client Sandy Rosser, who was featured on the cover of Woman’s World magazine for her incredible transformation. Sandy lost 93 pounds using Zero Hunger Water and simple meals—and she’s living proof that when your minerals are balanced, everything else follows.

Here’s the original recipe from that Woman’s World feature so you can make it at home for free:

Zero Hunger Water® Recipe

To make the electrolyte mix:

• ¼ cup pink Himalayan salt

• 1 ½ tsp potassium chloride powder

• ¾ tsp magnesium glycinate
  

• Optional extracts and garnishes:

• Citrus fruit slices, cucumber, or mint

• Stevia or monk fruit
  

To use: Add ½ teaspoon of this electrolyte mix to 12–32 ounces of filtered water. Adjust to taste. I like 12 ounces when I need stronger flavor or more focus. Sip it every two hours during your morning or fasting window.

I personally start my day with a glass the moment I wake up, then drink another every two hours until I’m ready to break my fast. If you ever feel hungry between meals, make a glass—within minutes, the hunger fades.

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