How to Improve Wellness With Water in Zionsville

Everyone knows that we need to drink water to survive. And you probably know that you feel better when you drink water regularly... But what’s really happening with the water we drink and what does it have to do with chiropractic in Zionsville?

Why Water is Important in Zionsville

Our body weight is about 60 percent water. Your body uses water in all its cells, organs, and tissues to help regulate temperature and maintain other bodily functions. Because water is part of the composition of all our body's tissues we lose water throughout our day. When we are breathing, sweating, and digesting food we are losing our supply of water so it's important to rehydrate by drinking fluids and eating foods that contain water.

So let's dive into (pun intended) why water is so important to our wellness and different ways that we can make sure we are getting the proper amount of water throughout our day.

1) Water protects our heart, muscles, joints, tissues, and spinal cord.

Everyone knows that water is important to drink when we are thirsty or hot/sweating but it does more than just quenching our thirst or regulating our body temperature. It helps keep all of the tissues in our bodies hydrated. If we are not hydrated our blood becomes thicker and our heart needs to work harder to pump. Another negative side effect of our blood becoming more concentrated is that we lose our normal electrolyte balance which is needed for proper heart and muscle function. Water also helps protect the brain and spinal cord, and it acts as a lubricant and cushion for your joints.

2) Water helps remove waste from our bodies

As part of our metabolism - our bodies produce and need to remove certain forms of waste. When our bodies have an adequate amount of water, we typically excrete these toxins/waste products in the form of sweating, urination and defecation. Water is extremely important for our kidneys to function properly to help remove toxins from our blood. Water is also important for normal digestion to take place. Water is absorbed by our large intestine in the later stages of digestion. If there is not an adequate amount of H20 in our digestive system there is a higher likelihood that constipation will happen - slowing down our regular digestion and causing a buildup of waste products. Lack of water is a very common cause of constipation.

3) Water helps our brains function

Water makes up about 75% of our brain! A study published in 2019 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health showed that dehydration decreases our memory, attention, and energy. The brain and nervous system organize and control all other body functions. If we are dehydrated our brain struggles to communicate efficiently with our bodies and we often notice negative side effects like fogginess, confusion, weakness and fatigue. The same study looked at changes in mood/self-esteem with dehydration and hydration and showed that when our bodies are in a dehydrated state that our moods are negatively affected and we are more irritable in general compared to when we have adequate hydration.

These are just a few key examples of how important hydration is for your body to function properly. We could go on and on about the benefits of staying hydrated but we think you get the picture...water is life.

So how much water should we be drinking?

Most likely you have heard that 8 cups of water a day is the proper amount, right? It's an easy to remember number and most people can imagine how much about 8 cups of water is. The real answer is that it all depends, just like any other guidelines there are variables at play like, what kind of climate do you live in, how much exercise are you getting, your overall health etc. Because there are so many variables and everyone's body chemistry is a little different the best way to see if you are adequately hydrated is with the Urine Color Test. After going to the bathroom, look at the color of your urine. If it is clear (like water) or light yellow, you’re well hydrated. Darker yellow is a sign of dehydration. Brown or darker colored urine is a sign that there may be a medical emergency, and that you should seek medical attention.

Most of the water in our diets should come from water alone. Other beverages like soda, juice or coffee do contain water but our bodies need to do a lot of work to convert this form of liquid to pure water that our bodies can use. Our bodies are not designed to use water in the form of sugary or caffeinated beverages. Another great and pure source of water that we can get in our diets is through natural and organic foods, especially fruits and vegetables. About 15-20% of the water that our bodies use is extracted from food to help keep us hydrated.