Holistic medicine and your power to be well: Water

BY DR. JOSHUA PHILLIPS, ND

— Originally published in the Source weekly, from Dr Phillips’ monthly column, The Medicine Cabinet Within.

The healing and vitalizing qualities of water, consumed internally and experienced externally, cannot be overstated. Lack of adequate daily hydration can be a contributor to nearly every health concern, with little exception. While it might seem simple and obvious, many of us go to great lengths to address health concerns, signing onto any number of treatments and medications, often doing so in a state of chronic dehydration.

Most have heard that our bodies are composed primarily of water, and it’s true — the percentage varies based on age, sex and a number of changing variables, but we are somewhere north of 60% water on any given day (hopefully). That being said, it is not a stretch to imagine that our consumption of and relationship with water is a very important one. Despite this, the number of patients I sit with, who try to convince me that water doesn’t taste good, and that they get plenty of hydration drinking the tea or juice or (fill in the blank) that they consume throughout the day, is amazing.

On top of this, we are a culture that loves to consume drinks that have diuretic properties — drinks that further encourage the body to eliminate vital fluids through urine, fluid that it would have otherwise hung onto. Coffee and alcohol are at the top of the list, and hey, who doesn’t like to start the day with a cup of coffee and finish it with a drink, right?

Dehydration is a relative thing and can happen acutely in the face of a hot summer day, vigorous exercise and not drinking enough water. The body will usually give some obvious feedback in the form of thirst, fatigue, even headache or muscle cramps if water is not consumed. Often, in this environment, electrolytes have also been lost, and their supplementation along with water is typically the recipe for adequate rehydration.

More common though, is a smoldering state of dehydration where the brain has “given up” on the thirst reflex and essentially gotten used to a state of sub-optimal hydration levels. In his book, “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water,” author F. Batmanghelidj, MD describes a long list of chronic health conditions that either have their roots in or are worsened by sub-optimal hydration. Chronic pain, chronic fatigue, diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune conditions, neurological disease, colitis and other GI conditions as well as cardiovascular issues are all on this list. Normal cellular functioning, essential biochemical reactions and the basics of detoxification by the liver and kidneys rely so heavily on H20, that it is not a stretch to suggest that a discussion of water consumption should be part of every treatment plan.

So how much water is enough? This is a topic of some debate, but an old naturopathic rule-of-thumb is one half of your body weight in ounces. Meaning, if you are a 150-pound human, roughly 75 ounces of water should be consumed daily. Another important point is that the majority of this should be consumed not with, but rather between meals. The reason for this is that too much fluid drunk during a meal will dilute stomach acidity, comprising the digestion capabilities of the stomach. Obviously vigorous exercise and hot weather can dramatically change this volume equation, requiring more hydration, and in some cases the addition of electrolytes, which ultimately help your body retain and utilize the water.

To take a more esoteric turn on this topic is to suggest that spending time in water also has extremely vitalizing and rejuvenating properties. Living in central Oregon, especially this time of year, makes it very easy to immerse yourself in some very pristine and energizing bodies of water. Regardless of whether it is simply psychological or there are measurable mechanisms, most can attest to the healing power of water, evident in the experience of swimming and playing in our lakes and rivers.

Given our access to clean and healthy drinking water in Bend, as well as lakes and rivers that are teeming with nature’s life-force, we are very fortunate to have ample opportunity to enliven our minds and bodies with this most fundamental component to life — water.