Water Works
On any given office day, I am likely to encounter patients with a variety of different complaints:
The school teacher with persistent fatigue and lightheadedness.
The retiree with constipation.
A mineworker with congestion, worried about sinusitis.
An active college student with frequent muscle aches.
On the surface, these people and their concerns may seem entirely unrelated, but closer inspection is likely to reveal that they share a common problem: poor water intake.
Water is an essential element in any healthy lifestyle as vital organs depend on it for proper functioning and to carry nutrients to and from cells.
It is also important for maintaining moist environments in the nose and throat to facilitate proper breathing. Sadly, most people don’t drink enough water– largely because they often underestimate just how much of it they have to drink to replace their daily losses.
Some quick water facts:
Water makes up approximately 60% of our body weight.
We lose water through a variety of processes: urination, breathing, perspiration and bowel movements.
Daily water loss is approximately 1600 mL (a little more than 7 glasses a day).
Daily water loss is increased during exercise, in hot or humid environments, during periods of illness, and when pregnant or breast-feeding.
These water losses must be replaced throughout the day in the forms of dietary water (food) and drinking water.
The last item is of particular interest because people often mistake the soda, coffee, or tea that they drink throughout the day for an intake of water. These drinks, despite being composed of mostly water, also contain chemicals such as caffeine and sugar that actually increase water loss. Alcohol is an additional water source that has a negative impact on overall water balance.
So how can you be sure you’re drinking enough water? In my office practice I offer the following advice:
(1) Try to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily, minimizing the amount of
coffee, tea, soda or alcohol. This can be achieved by drinking 1-2 glasses
of water with each meal and 1 between each meal
(2) If you must drink coffee, tea, or soda, keep it to a minimum (no more than 1
or 2 per day). And for every cup of coffee, for example, drink 2 glasses of
water to offset any losses the caffeine may cause.
With this new understanding of water balance and how vital it is to normal functioning, lets see how this knowledge might help in the management of my original patients’ problems.
The school teacher may likely be a coffee drinker, inadvertently increasing her water losses with little overall gain. This in and of itself could be the root of her problem.
Elderly patients, such as the retiree, have notoriously poor water intake. (Often brought on by other issues such as bladder overactivity or prostate enlargement). Unfortunately, this self-restriction of water can result in constipation. In fact, the number one cause of constipation in this population IS poor water intake.
The mineworker spends most of his day in a cool, damp environment with infrequent water breaks. As is often the case, he has mistaken the “thick green mucous” associated with his nasal drainage as a sign of infection. In reality, this darkening of the mucous is more the result of increased viscosity (e.g., instead of thin and clear, it’s thick and green). A helpful example would be to examine what happens to motor oil–when it’s fresh out of the can, it pours readily and is light in color. As it ages in an engine, it gets thicker and darker. He may well need a decongestant for symptom relief, but increasing his water intake will surely help speed his recovery by thinning his mucous and allowing for drainage.
Lastly, we have the college student–with a diet consisting of caffeinated beverages and pizza, and with the occasional keg party thrown in for good measure, she’s already running in a water-deficient state. Then she runs on the treadmill 30 minutes a day, thereby increasing her water loss, but she doesn’t pay that much attention to replacing those losses. It should be clear that improving her water intake will help with muscle recovery and eliminate the ache.
As you can see, paying closer attention to water intake can reap a number of benefits. So the next time you find yourself tired in the middle of the day, don’t reach for an energy drink–grab a bottle of water instead.
I think you’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel.
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