Your body is designed to be healthy. Your body is made up of cells, lots and lots of cells. If you give them what they need, you will have a healthy body!
What are the requirements for healthy cells? Water is at the top of that list; water is an essential element for the health of your cells.
Water is critical in almost all of our bodies’ functions, including but not limited to digestion, circulation, respiration, and healing.
As with all essential requirements, water should not be thought of as a “treatment” for dehydration or a way to avoid constipation; rather, hydration is essential for health and wellbeing. Air is no more a “treatment for suffocation” than water is a treatment for thirst. Ideally, we should rarely, if ever, experience thirst. We should simply drink water – and drink often.
How Much Water Do You Need?
You might be able to tell me that the body is made up of 70% water, but does that knowledge remind you to drink water. I know I am not a good example of staying hydrated. I have had to develop some good habits to remember to drink water.
I am sure you have been told to drink 8 glasses of water a day. But is that accurate? It would be more accurate to base the amount of water you need according to your body weight and what your environment and exercise patterns are.
Everybody needs 1 litre of water for every 30kg of body weight. Then you will need to add more water for those times you lose more water, whether that be through sweating with exercise or due to hot weather or through diuretics.
Preventing Dehydration
Our cells perform chemical reactions consistently. Nutrients need to move in and out of cells, wastes need to be eliminated from cells and then from the body. There are trillions of cells undergoing trillions of reactions every single second. Do you think this would be easier to perform in a sludgy thick, stew-like soup? Or, would it be easier in a clear broth-like soup? If you said broth, you are correct. Different parts of our body have different levels of water. But in general, our body is approximately 50-70% water. If you are dehydrated the consistency of your cells and structure becomes thicker and stew-like, rather than broth and water-like. This leads to dehydration its effects.
What are the signs of dehydration?
- Thirst
- Less frequent urination
- Dark-coloured urine
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Numbness and tingling
- Hair and nail issues
You may have already lost up to 2% of your total water volume before you get thirsty, so it is important to drink before you even get thirsty for optimal health. So, how can you implement the habit of water drinking and increased water consumption?
Here are some of my favourite ways to increase water in my day.
- Eat more fresh water-laden foods. E.g. Apples are 85% water!
- Keep a refillable water bottle by my side at work
- Keep a refillable water bottle in the car
- I have two small glasses of water before any coffee or tea.
- Put a lemon or orange wedge or some fresh mint in my water bottle
Do you have a technique to stay hydrated?
Do you need help to set your health goals or form your path to a healthier version of yourself? Are you a woman over 35 looking to thrive? As a chiropractor and nutritionist, I see patients daily that breakthrough past failures and turn their life around to a happier, healthier version of themselves. If you are looking for assistance to get your health back on track and think I might be able to help you please reach out. I have free discovery calls for women over 35 who are stuck in a rut with their health. Just click the link here to book a time and we can discuss if we are a good match to work together.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Anthea Holder
(Chiropractor and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner)
Roast Pumpkin Soup with Garlic Greek Yoghurt