Water
Content Courtesy of the Forever Young Podcast with Christiana Egi and Cherrie-Marie Chiu.
Water plays a very important role in keeping our bodies healthy and functioning smoothly. It keeps us not only hydrated but also helps lubricate and cushion our joints, forms saliva for digestion, and helps our bodies get rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements. Water is very refreshing, especially on hot and humid days. Sometimes the only drink that can truly quench our thirst is water. And water has no calories! According to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water muscles and kidneys are 79% and even our bones are watery with 31% percent water.
How many cups of water do you think the average person needs? The general rule is to drink half your body weight in ounces. For instance, if you weigh a hundred and forty pounds, you should drink about 70 ounces of water and so forth. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average woman should consume 11.5 cups of water and the average man should consume approximately 15.5 cups of water. When you meet these minimums, you are helping your body function better and improving your overall health.
Our bodies will require more water in certain circumstances, like when you are in warmer climates when you are more physically active if you are running a fever or having diarrhea or vomiting. Also, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you will need more water too. If you are experiencing any of these, make sure you're drinking more water than the recommended daily minimums, although your body will likely give you signs that you need more water anyway. Dehydration can lead to clumsiness and confusion. Lethargy can increase heart rate and blood pressure, cause blackouts, and potentially even death.
Some people say that hot water can also improve your circulation. You know how taking a warm bath helps your circulatory organs, your arteries and veins expand and carry more blood more efficiently through your body. While drinking hot water may have a very similar effect as a bonus, warmth from drinking hot water or a warm bath at night time can help you relax and prepare you for a very restful sleep. Drinking hot water improves your central nervous system functions and might also end up helping you feel less anxious. According to a 2014 study, people who drink less water resulted in reduced feelings of calmness, satisfaction, and positive emotions. So, in other words, staying hydrated therefore could improve your mood and your relaxation levels.
Since our focus is to remain forever young and we know that some of our readers are seasoned in age, we are going to share some information that relates specifically to our senior friends!
Did you know that older adults are more susceptible to fluid imbalances? When we age, our body’s ability to conserve water is reduced, which can make it difficult to adapt to things like fluctuating temperatures. Additionally, our sense of thirst diminishes with age. By the time someone actually feels thirsty, essential fluids could already be extremely low. With certain medical conditions, medications also affect a senior's ability to retain fluids. For example, individuals with dementia may forget to eat and drink, and in advanced stages of the disease may have difficulty swallowing. It is very important that their caregivers are mindful of their water consumption.
So what can you do as a family caregiver to help? It's very important that family caregivers of persons at risk of dehydration due to age disease conditions or medications are taking steps to ensure these individuals are getting adequate water daily. It is important to pick up on some more subtle early signs that a senior needs to up their fluid intake, keep in mind that thirst is not usually a helpful indicator because, by the time a person feels thirsty, they may already be dehydrated. Instead, look for signs like headache, constipation, muscle cramps, dry mouth and tongue, sleepiness, or lethargy. Should there be any possible signs of dehydration, please communicate them to your doctor or other health professionals.
Sometimes seniors and children just don't want to drink plain water. So get creative. Try different ways of infusing your water with citrus fruits, berries, or cucumber flavored water that may have added calories and chemicals that you are better off without introducing into your body. I'm confident that if you start children off early enough with plain water, they will adapt better after your taste is acquired.
Don't forget foods, raw fruits and vegetables can also be great hydrates. For example, a small plate of cut of vegetables like celery sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and peppers slices separately. Healthy dressing or hummus for dipping can be a nutritious and fluid-filled snack. Fruits and vegetables with a water content higher than 90 percent include cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, bell peppers, grapes, cantaloupe, and oranges.
The Forever Young podcast is created and produced by Christiana and Cherrie Marie Chiu. Produced and engineered by Elisse Hill. The podcast represents our opinions and those of our guests. The content should not be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. Please consult your health care professional for any medical questions. If you like our show, please tell your friends and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. New episodes are available every other Wednesday. Have questions? Email us at ourforeveryoungpodcast@gmail.com.
