Properly hydrating gives you the best chance to maximally hold your chiropractic adjustments in Prior Lake. A healthy spinal disc is 90% water, while a degenerated disc has 30% water or less. Disc health depends upon proper spinal mobility (alignment) and water intake.
“Vital waters” is broken down into two parts. “Vital” waters are fruits and vegetables that contain vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that your body can’t make on its own, and “water” for the water that you drink.
Recently, the FDA changed the food pyramid to back up what nutritionists have been saying for years- fruits and vegetables are the foundational food group, not breads and cereals. As mentioned, raw and slightly cooked fruits and vegetables contain several key ingredients you need to thrive, and thereby help you maximally hold your chiropractic adjustments in Prior Lake. Here’s a description:
Drinking water and proper hydration is important because of its many functions: transporting nutrient and oxygen into the cells, moisturizing the air in the lungs, assists with metabolism, protecting our vital organs, helping organs to absorb nutrients better, regulating body temperature, detoxifying, and protecting our joints.
As you can see, water is a very busy molecule in our bodies which is why it needs to be constantly drained and replaced. But how much should you be drinking in an average day? What temperature is best? And what is the best kind of drinking water?
The amount of water we drink each day really depends on our body’s needs. A professional sumo wrestler will need more water than a librarian. People who are trying to lose weight (assuming they’re actually overweight) will usually be more dehydrated to begin with than individuals who are at a healthy weight and thus should be drinking a higher percentage of water compared to their body weight. Healthy discs are about 90% water, while those affected by years of degeneration can have as little as 0-10%. In other words, the disc is practically gone! As a general rule, a person’s body weight in pounds, divided by two is the number of ounces of water a person should drink each day. This could seem like a lot at first, but it is worth ensuring that your joints and tissues are properly hydrated. If you find yourself having to go to the bathroom a lot after two weeks of this, then you can cut back a little to a more comfortable amount. Lastly, people with kidney conditions should be careful to not over-drink water.
Room temperature water is usually the best. If you drink a large glass of cold water, then try to hula hoop a half hour later, chances are that you will hear the water still sloshing around in your stomach. This is because your body will not absorb or pass the water until it is heated to near body temperature. The problem with drinking cold water is that you’re spending energy to heat the water now and therefore, it makes you tired after a while. So, use your energy to use a little of both the blue and red spouts at the water cooler and don’t forget that it’s also a water heater! One of the few exceptions to this rule is when athletes are performing under severe weather conditions in the heat and water is needed as a coolant.
As for the best kind of drinking water, that is a difficult question to answer because although real spring water is best for most people, bottlers are allowed to say that theirs is spring water while it comes from the municipal tap! Your best bet is to get a reverse osmosis filter for your home (see http://www.mercola.com).
What’s not controversial is that the names and labels on the bottles are just wonderful- Deer Park, Aquafina, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Zephyr Hills, Poland Spring, Clearly Canadian, and Dasani. What’s also for certain is that your body’s pH (measured in urine and saliva) should be at least a little alkaline. Water ionizers and adding certain salts to water can have many health benefits. The trick is not only in getting to this point, but staying at the point where your stomach is acidic enough and doesn’t become over-alkalized, which can cause problems with breaking down your food, especially if you’re a meat-eater like most. For more information on alkalizing see drrobertyoung.com.
Now that you know why consuming vital waters is vital to your health, it's important to remember that a properly moving spine that isn't stiff or locked up is another key to proper hydration of the spinal discs. This is because a "pumping motion", much like a sponge, is necessary for allowing the water to get into the spinal discs.
At Prior Lake Spinal Care, Dr. Pietrek utilizes the NUCCA method of chiropractic (NUCCA.org). We know that, in order for spinal discs to degenerate, there first must be an injury that knocks the spine out of proper alignment and therefore alters its center of gravity. THEN and ONLY THEN, the centers of motion become altered. Most chiropractic methods focus mainly on restoring the proper motion to the joint. The NUCCA method focuses on re-establishing one's relationship to gravity, which then improves mobility. The intention is to accomplish this with as few spinal adjustments as possible.
To schedule a free consultation with Dr. Pietrek in person or over the phone, please contact us here.