Happy Tuesday! Dr Kelly here. Water, Water, Water.
Have you ever heard me say water, water, water, water?
I’m guessing yes. Drinking water is a very important piece of homework for my patients.
Our bodies are made up of 60% water, and every cell in our body requires water to function properly.
You need to make sure you are drinking enough water. Too little or too much water is bad.
Dehydration can cause fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and even confusion. It can also cause dry skin, constipation, and urinary tract infections.
Staying hydrated is essential for maintaining good health and preventing these problems.
Water is essential for the proper functioning of our organs. Our kidneys require water to filter waste products from the blood and produce urine.
True Health is optimal Physical, Mental and Chemical well-being. Not just the absence of disease!
Staying hydrated has mental health benefits too!
Staying on top of drinking enough water can help improve your cognitive function and prevent these problems.
Drinking water can help to reduce appetite, as it fills up the stomach it makes you feel fuller for longer.
This can lead to eating less and helping with weight loss.
Even though water is so important, many people do not drink enough water. Most people are chronically dehydrated. They prefer to drink a sugary or caffeinated drink over pure clean water.
How much water should you be drinking in a day?
Typical recommendation is roughly 8 glasses of water per day.
I would recommend in general saying half your body weight in ounces of water. If you weigh 150lbs = 75oz of water per day.
To be more precise, I recommend monitoring the color of your urine. Your urine needs to be a pale yellow.
If it is too dark, you need to drink more water.
If it is too light or clear, this can be dangerous, and you are drinking too much water.
A great tip to monitoring how much water you drink in a day is to start your day with a full water bottle. Put as many rubber bands around the bottle as you need in order to make up the total water you need to drink in a day.
I.E. if you need to drink 75oz of water & my water bottle is 24oz, I start my day with a full water bottle and 3 rubber bands on the bottle. After I finish a bottle, I take one rubber band off. Now I know I need to drink 2 more bottles of water. No more worrying about if & how many times you have filled the bottle up – I hope this makes sense to you. Thank you, Kent, for the tip!
You can reach out by responding to this email, text us or even better, ask me about your optimal water intake at your next visit.
Yours in Healthy Naturally,
Dr. Kelly