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The Importance of Adequate Water

Marci Sadorf R.N. Bayshore Health Services

Our body is about 60% water, our brain and muscles are about 75% water, and our blood 82%. An average-sized man needs about three quarts of water a day. Eating fruit and vegetables can account for at least one quart (with tomatoes and watermelons consisting of 95% water), but unfortunately, most Americans' diets consist mainly of starchy processed foods, cooked meats, along with a lot of fat-and these foods contain very little water. Determine your body's water needs by dividing your body weight in half-this number of ounces of water you need in a day. Many patients pat themselves on the back for consuming two to three a quarts of fluid in a day, but many times this consists of soda, coffee, and tea. These beverages contain caffeine, which acts as a diuretic and can actually cause you to become mildly dehydrated.

If your body becomes dehydrated, it will begin to "ration" water. Every single function of our body is related to the flow of blood as it carries nutrients, hormones, and other elements to tissues. These nutrients first go to the vital organs which include the brain, kidneys, liver, and lungs. A shortage of water intake cause a loss of water volume in the cells, which then affects the efficiency of delivering nutrients to cells and excreting waste products from cells, causing our cells to become constipated. Our bodies then may begin developing rectal diseases such as spastic colon, diverticulosis, chronic constipation, and hemorrhoids. Lack of water will also contribute to varicose veins, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, allergies, hiatal hernias, ulcers, arthritis, back and neck pains, headaches, memory loss, high cholesterol, and even kidney stones.

As physicians, when a patient comes to us, we have been trained to take a history, perform a physical exam looking for symptoms and signs of disease, and perform lab work if needed. Then arrive at a diagnosis. We have been instructed at this point to treat the patient with medicines. Although medicine is necessary in many situations, I have since learned that medicine can actually turn off our signal for help, and many times what the body needs is simply adequate water intake. Therefore, as more and more symptoms develop, and the medicines taken cause other symptoms to occur, the patient is trapped in a worsening cycle. Many times I have seen patients come into my office on twenty to thirty different medications, and most of these medications were simply suppressing symptoms.

A simple example of a disease that can be dramatically helped and many times even alleviated with adequate water intake is arthritis. At some point in life, nearly everyone is affected by arthritis, neck and back pain. Cartilage is about five times slicker than ice, and cartilage is made up of about 80% water. As long as cartilage is well hydrated, there is minimal frictional forces and the joint will remain healthy. Most everyone at some time will develop degenerative disc disease. Discs are fibrous connective tissues that contain a jelly-like substance within. They are located between the vertebral bones in the back. When our discs become dehydrated, they are more prone to herniate and cause degenerative disc disease or arthritis. I explain to patients that this is similar to driving a car on a nearly flat tire, which over time begins to wear out, and may even blow. It's the same with your discs. If you are in this state of mild dehydration for a prolonged period of time, you are headed for a blowout of your disc or degenerative disc disease and arthritis.

Walking in Divine Health, Don Colbert, M.D.

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