Elevate Your Hydration: The Essential Role of Water and Electrolytes in Optimal Health

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Unlock the secrets of optimal hydration with integrative family nurse practitioner Damaris Margaret Grossman as she shares her profound insights into the underestimated power of water for our health and wellness. Damaris recounts her personal health journey, emphasizing why water is not just a beverage but a foundational element for life itself, essential for bodily functions ranging from temperature regulation to waste removal. Discover the intricate balance our bodies aim to maintain through cellular homeostasis and the crucial process of gaining and losing water. Whether you're a science enthusiast or simply looking to enhance your everyday wellness, this episode offers a treasure trove of knowledge.

Damaris goes beyond the basics of hydration, shedding light on the vital role of electrolytes—sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chlorine—in maintaining fluid balance and supporting essential bodily functions. Listen as she explains how to discern the signs of dehydration versus overhydration and the varying recommendations for daily water intake tailored to individual needs. Packed with practical advice, she guides you on incorporating water-rich foods into your diet and adjusting your hydration strategy according to exercise, environment, and health conditions. Tune in to empower yourself with the knowledge needed to elevate your hydration game and overall well-being.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, how are you?
My name is Damaris MargaretGrossman and, if you don't know
me, I am an integrative familynurse practitioner and I talk a
lot about integrative healthbecause it's affected my
wellness and my health and I'vehad to find ways to get better
and just things to you know,improve that and that's kind of
my goal, so that people can findmindful ways each day.

(00:23):
And today I'm talking aboutwater.
Does it hydrate you?
What's the benefits of it?
And, you know, do peoplerealize that it's like so
important?
I'm going to tell you, yes,water is very, very important.
It is like kind of like afoundational component to being

(00:43):
healthy, nutritional umcomponent to being healthy.
Think of it more.
Like um, the body is made up oflike 60 to 70 percent water and
we need to hydrate it.
It's essential for bodyfunction.
You know just like breathingand you know um cellular
function and the bloodstream.
So it's like it helps regulateum.
It helps with temperatureregulation, helps with bodily

(01:05):
functions, lubrication in thejoints.
You know nutrient trans umnutrition transport.
You know waste removal fromlike constipation.
You know hydration is veryimportant in the body.
Now, how is it done?
You know, first, it can beabsorbed.
You know it can be absorbed,you know, through the intestines
, um there's insensible,insensible ways, so um it can be

(01:26):
distributed and travel throughthe bloodstream.
It can do be coming in throughcellular um function, um, and
that enables it throughbiochemistry or cellular
homeostasis, which is the body'sway of balancing out.
And that's what you're tryingto do.
You're always trying to getyourself into as much optimal
state as possible of what yourbody will allow and then you can
excrete it.
So it can be excreted throughsweat, urine and respiration.

(01:50):
So you lose it and you gain itand you know you're always
trying to kind of regulate it.
So what are roles for hydrationand what are things that we
want to use in addition to water?
So H2O is, you know, hydrogenand oxygen ions, but additional
to that, to help, you know,bring in the water into the
cells, you do need electrolytes.
So why do you need electrolytes?
And what are there?

(02:10):
So the electrolytes are sodium,potassium, magnesium, calcium
and chlorine.
So sodium regulates the fluidand balance of nerves
transmission.
Potassium helps with supportingmuscle contractions and the
heart function and it also theyalso help with um.
The sodium potassium pumps openand regulate cell cell um

(02:36):
cellular function and umhydration.
Magnesium helps with musclerelaxation and many enzyme
activity within the body.
So there's multiple methodswith magnesium.
Calcium is essential for,usually for muscle contraction
and bone health and otherfunctions.
Chlorine maintains fluidbalance and a digestive health.

(02:57):
For the most part, that's whatthese electrolytes do and in
turn will help bring inhomeostatic state within the
body.
When it's imbalanced, you'reeither dehydrated or
overhydrated.
Dehydrated is like think darkurine, fatigue, dry mouth,
overhydrated, your nausea,cramps and muscles.
Now each person their need forhydration.

(03:21):
Think, on average, about 64,about eight ounces of water.
Give it um 64 ounces of water aday, cups give or take.
If you're getting reallyregulated you can get to about
80 to a hundred.
So think like half your bodyweights, over 150, you can get
to about 75 ounces of water andyou're doing pretty good.
You know everything they eat.

(03:41):
Has you know some sort of foodof water?
Not everything, but likewatermelon grapes?
Um, they eat.
Has you know some sort of foodof water?
Not everything but likewatermelon grapes, soups, you
know, and your foods.
So general recommendation, it'sabout half your body weight.
I'm not saying that's everyoneyou know.
Obviously, if you have somekidney functions or other health
issues, that may not bepossible to bladder issues.

(04:03):
You know that may not bepossible, but give or take,
that's that.
And then you know, withexercise, where you live and
your health conditions, thatneeds to be regulated.
But would you believe, mostpeople really only get like one
or two glasses of water in waysto hydrate and foods that are
really big in water hydrationare cucumbers, watermelons,
grapes, celery, oranges, thosekinds of like um, um, great.
There's a couple others thatmaybe have higher.

(04:24):
You know I'm not sure what yourbenefit ones are that you like,
but you know those are somethat I like, um, I enjoy, uh,
coconut.
It has a deep rich in potassium, but with that you still have
to, you know, modify like, um,how much you give, especially to
kids and to adults with cardiacissues, but you know it's still
very helpful.
Teas, teas that don't have a lotof caffeine, chamomile,
peppermint, of that nature.

(04:46):
You can make your own.
I have a couple of recipesonline and also that I write
with sometimes electrolytedrinks and then electrolytes to
help with cortisol.
You know, think of it like whenyou're adding in these you have
your baseline amount of water,a little sea salt, orange and

(05:07):
honey.
Very helpful for filtering outthe kidneys, helps also with
cortisol levels, but you knowthis varies for each person so I
can't say it's one size fitsall.
But you know a little bit of anelectrolyte could go a long way
Ways if needed.
Obviously you can add inmagnesium, potassium and
electrolyte tablets Like some.

(05:29):
They have so many out there nowI mean main ones is make sure it
just doesn't have a lot of crapin it.
You know there's.
Make sure it's just, you know,a quality brand and we reasons
why.
You know you want to kind oflike drink daily and how to do
it through the day I alwaysrecommend like a uh straw kind
of cup or when you're exercising, make sure you're hydrating.

(05:50):
Then um, and limit like theamount of like alcohol, coffee
and sugary drinks, cause thatwill dehydrate you more and take
away your um high.
Already tracking, like you know, and then ways to even um
improve your hydration is I havelike little straw cups
throughout the house, um, mywork and my car, so I can kind

(06:12):
of get myself into the routineof really drinking.
And you know um, there are appsnow that help you track there,
even water bottles to help youtrack.
So every little bit you knowwill make a difference and will
actually improve even yourgeneral health, joint pain and
things, without even going intosupplements and such.
You know let's just startsimple.

(06:33):
So a little bit of water goes along way.
You know our body needs it, andjust keep it simple.
Sometimes, you know, even ifit's just water with a little
bit of sprig of some salt orlemon, you know, even if it's
just water with a little bit ofsprig of some salt or lemon, you
know that that could be sohelpful.
I hope some of this is usefuland you find a mindful way each
and every day.
Have a wonderful day.