"Drink HOW MUCH water?" We hear this several times a day from clients who are learning about how their muscles and joints work without enough water.
When asked how much water per day someone 'should' drink, we go by the rule of thumb of most health practitioners: Half Your Weight(in Pounds) in Ounces.
Why so much water?
Let's go into the reason behind why we probably aren't getting enough water for our biological requirements in our every day. In our country, many people drink very little water. Most of the drinks consumed in this country are carbonated, flavored, caffeinated, chemicalized and LOADED with stuff our body has to filter out. So, much of those beverages need to be filtered out of the body with...water. If we consume any caffeine, that has a diuretic effect, which flushes fluid from our cells, then we need to also make up for the additional water flushed out of our system. Our food used to offer a lot of water-rich foods, but most of us are not eating 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, so our bodies are missing vital hydration factors. It's no surprise that the body works well when it's hydrated, it keeps a balance of hormones in the blood, keeps the joints lubricated, keeps the gastric juices in the stomach at an adequate level, as long as there is no disease present...things flow along pretty well.
What happens when it's NOT hydrated? We see many of those people in our clinic. The body will prioritize where to keep the body hydrated, when it doesn't have enough fluid. The top requirements are the places in the body that need to function to keep us alive...which means brain and other organs. Muscles and joints are the lowest priority on a level of importance to our body's regulatory systems. Skin gets dry, joints don't have as much fluid to keep them smooth and muscles get less circulation. It's been really interesting over the years to see clients come in after years of discomfort and annoyances who are feeling better for a longer period of time, JUST from drinking more water.
So, when your friend, partner or office mate asks you why you keep refilling your bottle and you tell them your goal for how much water you are drinking daily to keep your body healthier...the may question, "Drink HOW MUCH water?"...and you can tell them why.
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