Did you know that about 60 % of your body is made up of water? Do you know how much water you should be consuming every day? And why is keeping hydrated so important?
Chiropractic care helps keep your spine, nervous system and brain functioning to their best and keeping hydrated is a key factor here. Did you know that water helps your body flush toxins out from your organs, is essential for carrying nutrients to your cells, cushions your joints (synovial fluid) and your nervous system (cerebrospinal fluid), helps you digest your food properly and is a major player in body temperature control?
Who would have thought that something as simple as hydration is involved in all those normal bodily functions? As you can tell, keeping your cerebrospinal fluid healthy keeps your nervous system and brain healthy! Winner!
As a Chiropractor, the main objective is keeping your nervous system and brain working to their absolute best. This allows your brain and body to communicate better, which allows ease and harmony in your body. Do you remember what happens to your brain and body when your spine is subluxated?
When your spine is moving too much, not enough, or in a different way (a subluxation) it changes the way your brain sees your body. Subluxations literally change the way information is sent through your nerves, spinal cord and up to your brain. This impacts how your brain perceives and responds to ALL other sensory information from your body. Subluxations cause your brain to learn how to function poorly and sense pain, just like how your brain helps you learn how to ride a bike. The quality of the sensory information received by the brain impacts how your brain and body function overall. So, you may not even notice that your spine is subluxated and that your brain is learning how to function poorly.
So how do you know if you are adequately hydrated? Be the colour of your urine – if the colour is a light yellow, or ideally clear, then your body is hydrated well. The amount of water each person should consume varies significantly depending on climate, activity levels etc. But a general guide is for men 2.5L and women 2L. Research suggests that men are currently consuming 2L and women 1.5L. This is a 20% and 25% reduction respectively.
So, what can you do to improve your body’s hydration? As you can imagine, water is the best source to allow your body to be hydrated properly, but some people reach towards other drinks. Tea and coffee contain caffeine, which is a diuretic (encourages more urine production) and will encourage you to use the bathroom more rather than you keeping hydrated. There are also sugary drinks like soda/pop and squash – this can also lead to more urine production if your blood sugar levels become high.