Your body is the vehicle for your spirit!
If you don’t take care of your body where will you live?
What if you could look younger and normalize your body weight? You would want to know that, rig ht?
I am not going to tell you what to eat! This isn’t about eating or exercising!
Yet, it will affect your energy levels, appearance, cognition, and so much more.
Are you interested?
I am Katharine Clark, R.N., C.H.H.C. I’ve dedicated my professional career to helping people learn how to care for themselves, through knowing how their body works, and living in a way that supports health, and mitigates the health insults we encounter in our world. Longevity and anti-aging are real, and I want to let you know how you can choose the lifestyle more likely to extend your life and your health by a way of living, eating and thinking that is in harmony with the way the body works, and the environment around us!
When I got out of nursing school and went work in the hospital, I decided that I wanted, and still do want, to work with people who want to help themselves improve their health and vitality through the proper feeding and maintenance of themselves! I’m going to share what I’ve learned with you in this series of ebooks and empower you with this knowledge of how to support your vitality, radiance, and longevity.
So if that is of interest to you, please read on.
I’m going to tell you about a simple but rarely practiced habit that affects every cell in your body!
I’m not going to be telling you what to eat, or what not to eat in this e-book. This is about hydration!
I am excited to share this information with you. I hope you will take to heart and start to reap the benefits!
I do offer private coaching and group coaching classes to help you fine tune your body and take your health knowledge and self-care to the next level. For sure, join my email list on KatharineClarkRN.com to receive my free newsletters.
My Story
I never felt good as a child or teen.
Sometimes I would have to sit down on the steps at my school. I did not have enough energy to climb 2 flights of stairs to get to my class without sitting down to rest. Fatigue was constant, then when I was 6 years old, the psoriasis started. I wore long sleeves and pants to cover up the white flaky scabby sores all over my body and scalp. As if that was not enough there were almost constant fever blisters. Every one of my school pictures growing up showed me with an ugly painful sore on my mouth. I lived with pain, I had headaches all the time. It is not hard to guess that I was also depressed. Doctors treated the symptoms and gave me the best drugs they could prescribe but nothing helped. I had prescriptions for tranquilizer, sleeping pills, anti-acids, sinus and pain pills before I was 16!
Then I started to study natural healing. I found so much information about how diet and lifestyle could help you feel and look fantastic and actually live longer. I started to learn about the way the body works, homeopathy, herbs, cleansing, and a variety of diets. Nursing school helped me understand how the body works, and ways to support digestion, elimination and cleansing. Its not what they were teaching, but its what I learned between the lines.
Gradually, I started to have energy and a zest for life. The fever blisters came less and less often, and eventually the herpes and the psoriasis went away completely!
This is remarkable since the usual progression for my symptomology is to get worse!ITs likely I would have gotten colon cancer from constipation or shingles from the herpes virus, and /or psoriatic arthritis from psoriasis. I could have had heart attacks like my father at age 52 and both his parents.
Instead, I got better! I got to feeling better. In stead of being tired all the time, I started to take walks, work out, and learned qigong. I have not had chronic constipation, a fever blister or a spot of psoriasis for decades! I feel even better now, than I did as a sick young adult!
I want to share with you what worked for me.
I am not a doctor. I can not tell you what to do for your maladies.
In nursing school, I learned in anatomy and physiology how to cultivate health by supporting the body functions. Recently, “New Medicine” and Lifestyle Medicine and Functional Medicine are embracing prevention of disease and finding that the prevention is also helpful for recovery. It is the basics.
People who raise dogs know what dogs need to thrive. People who raise gardens know what the garden needs to thrive.
Do you know what you need to thrive? In these pages, you’ll make discoveries about self-care, self-love and how to thrive.
Please continue to consult your medical professional for your health and medical advice. In fact, find a reputable Lifestyle or Functional Medicine practice for your primary care, if possible. I’m not able to offer you medical advice. None of the statements in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please see a qualified medical professional for your medical care.
Drink To Your Health:
Hydration
How many times have you heard “water is life”?
Hydration is essential for health and well-being of every single cell of your body.
In most cases dehydration can be prevented and avoided.
“Dehydration can lead to serious complications.” Mayo Clinic
“Water, or the lack (dehydration), can influence cognition. Mild levels of dehydration can produce disruptions in mood and cognitive functioning.” National Institute of Health
Dehydration happens when your body doesn’t have as much water as it needs.
Up to 60-80% of the body weight is made up of water. Your need to drink water varies with your age, diet, activity level, environment and metabolism.
Consequences of dehydration are well documented. You can avoid a great deal of suffering by simply being dedicated to staying hydrated. For instance, in adults, chronic dehydration not only impairs cognitive performance but can lead to a whole host of other problems including constant headaches, fatigue, weight gain, digestive problems, kidney stones, depression, and cancer of the bladder, prostate and kidney.
What does water do in the body?
- Composes 75% of the brain
- Accounts for 22% of bones
- Makes up 75% of muscles
- Makes up 83% of the blood
- Regulates Body Temperature
- Moistens O2 for breathing
- Helps convert food to energy
- Carries nutrients / oxygen tocells
- Helps body absorb nutrients
- Protects and cushions vital organs
- Cushions joints
Water is required by every cell in every function including your vision, your immunity, you mobility, and your thought processes.
Conditions that can be caused by dehydration:
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Headache
- Sleepiness
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Dry & cracked lips
- Dry eyes
- Low blood pressure
- Fever
- Dark colored urine (not from taking medication or B vitamins)
- Rapid heartbeat
- Frequent scant urination
- Low skin turgor
- Constipation
- Cold or clammy skin
- Cognitive Impairment
- Irritability
- Aches & Pains
- Bad breath
- Muscle cramps
- Food cravings
- Confusion
- Stiff joints
- Achy joints
Our brains are about 80% water: A team of scientists in the UK found that 90 minutes of sweating without replenishing lost fluids shrinks the brain as much as a year of aging. It also causes withering equivalent to two and half months of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some Signs of Chronic Dehydration (include those in the previous list, too)
- Joint pains
- Heartburn
- indigestion
- Fever and chills
- Sunken eyes
- Frequent bladder infections
Hydrating Beverages: Drink this to stay hydrated and to rehydrate yourself:
- Drink pure clean water.
- Purchase water that is distilled, RO, purified, or fresh spring water. I prefer distilled. If that’s not available, I buy the water from the 7 stage machine at the market. I have my own glass bottles that I carry to refill.
- Buy a home distiller. One where no plastic touches your hot water. See KatharineClarkRN.com for my recommendation for water treatment system..
- Buy and store water glass containers not plastic. Plastic may migrate into your water and then your body and cause harm.
- Buy water from the purification machines found in your grocery. Check the machine maintenance record. Only properly maintained machines are reliable.
- Purchase a home water purification system and put satellite filters at the tap and shower. I list some links to the kind of water treatment systems I like on KatharineClarkRN.com
- Some local water delivery companies have water in glass. Look for water with a neutral or close to neutral pH that is also lover than 200 in Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
- Herbal tea.
- Lemon water. This is a wonderful way to being your day! Lemon water increases the power of water to emulsify fat toxins, wash away toxins, normalize your pH, and rehydrate.
De-Hydrating Beverages..
Avoid these. They don’t count toward your daily water intake. They are not hydrating for your body.
You many choose not to drink these, or to limit them. They aren’t doing any good for you other than possibly satisfying a craving that is stimulated by marketing and intentionally addicting substances, including sugar, colors, and/or flavors.
These beverages do not as hydration. You will still need your water in order to stay hydrated. In fact, you may need more water as a consequence of drinking these beverages. You might want to drink an extra glass of water for every glass of these beverages you drink.
- Carbonated water and sodas are de-hydrating. Another downside is they are acidifying too. Break the habit!
- Alcohol is dehydrating and destroys your brain cells and liver cells. Alcohol is also a diuretic meaning it will make you lose water. If you drink and it is usually diuretic. (Diuretics cause you to lose water through urination rather than being hydrated.)
- Coffee is diuretic, dehydrating, and acidifying. If you choose to drink coffee, the best choice is organic, shade grown, single source coffee grown at a high altitude.
How Much Water to Drink
Don’t rely on thirst to determine fluid requirements. On average the thirst response does not kick in until you are 2% dehydrated. Constant dehydration can cause you to lose sensitivity to water deprivation so the thirst response is even further delayed. By the time you feel compelled to drink the adverse effects of dehydration will have already taken hold.
How much you drink can vary based on your age, activity level, food consumption, environment and metabolism. So here are the standard guidelines, which you will have to customize to meet your needs. I’ll give you more helpful information below.
- 8 – 8 ounce glasses/day
- 1/2 ounce for every pound of body weight
- Depends on you – can’t drink too much
- Add a pinch of salt, dash of lemon to improve water quality & effectiveness
Timing for Drinking
- Drink a quart 1st thing in the morning. I like to keep a large glass of water or herbal tea by my bedside. I drink this when I first sit up in the morning.
- Stop drinking about 30 minutes before meals. Water can make you feel full, and it can dilute your digestive juices.. If you want to lose weight and eat less, you might want to have a large glass of water or two, but wait 15 – 30 minutes before starting to eat. Chewing your food well, will often lead to eating less food before you feel full.
- No more than 1/2 cup with meals. Water can dilute your digestive enzymes.
- Don’t drink more than a few ounces for 1 – 2 hours after meals. Depending on what you eat, it might take longer for the food to pass through your stomach and on down the tract. So wait awhile before drinking much. Sipping throughout the meal and afterwards is OK. Just be sure not to do the bulk of your drinking while you are eating!
- Sipping vs Gulping. Yes, you can quickly drink your first glass in the morning but during the day see if you can sip rather than guzzle.
- I prefer to stop drinking at least 1-2 hours before bedtime.
- Yes, drinking more might lead to urinating more! You need to urinate to eliminate toxins! Just get used to it!
Hydration Habits
- Start out the morning with a shower for your insides! Place a large glass of water, water with lemon juice, or herbal tea by your bedside, so you can drink it first thing in the morning. You can follow this with your coffee if you choose.
- Find a way to measure out at least enough water in ounces to total half your body weight in pounds. So if you weight 100 pounds, drink 50 ounces of water. I use glass bottles with lids. You can use a gallon jar, sports glasses, canning jars, whatever you can devise. Fill them up every morning or every evening, and then make them disappear during the day.
- Keep the water bottle handy.
- Swap out dry snacks for fresh fruits and vegetables, which help you meet your hydration needs.
- Pile on the produce! Eat more green salad! I especially like alfalfa, clover and radish sprouts, they probably the most nutritious veggie and they are water rich, too.
- Sip a 1/2 cup of water, this will slow your pace. Hopefully, it will help you chew more mindfully, and of course, stay hydrated. Avoid drinking more water with your meal.
Conditions that may increase your need for rehydration
Environment
Sun Exposure: When you are out in the sun more than usual you may sweat more.
Windy Weather: You lose more water through evaporation from your skin and eyes.
Hot Weather: You sweat more.
Cold Weather: The air is drying in cold weather!
High Altitudes: There is less oxygen when you go higher and higher. You may notice that you being to pant and urinate. Both the urinating and the exhaling of water constitutes to drying out your system. If you are also in a dry climate, this compounds your need for adding more water intake. If you are at high altitude for a longer period, this can contribute to chronic dehydration, so be aware of the signs and be sure to drink more.
Dry Climates: If you aren’t used to living in a dry climate, you will want to increase your water intake to offset the evaporation and literal drying out of your skin.
Activity
Exercise: When you are exercising and sweating and breathing hard, you are losing more of your body fluid. This increases your need for rehydration. Be sure to sip water during your workout. You can become chronically dehydrated if week after week, you sip less than you lose. Weigh yourself before and after your workout. For every pound you’ve lost during the workout, drink 16-20 ounces of water to compensate. During hot weather, labour intensive work or exercise this amount should be increased. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists recommends workers aim to consume 250 ml every 20mins when working in the heat.
Medications/Supplements
Prescription medications: ask your pharmacist about side effects. Diuretics, blood pressure reducers and most medications that list possibly diarrhea and vomiting can be dehydrating.
Supplements or even fresh vegetable juices: Watermelon, parsley, celery seed, dandelion, and watercress all increase your urine output and can be dehydrating.
Conditions
Diabetes: When blood sugar level are too high, you urinate more and increase your need for rehydration.
Illness: You need more water and may be less likely to drink when you have a fever, cold, influenza, bronchitis or bladder infections. Be proactive to drink more water. Hibiscus and/or rose hips tea can be helpful because it is tasty, hydrating, and a good source of vitamin C!
Stress: When you’re stressed, you need to drink more water. When you’re stressed and especially if you are chronically stressed the hormones your kidneys product can be affected.
Vomiting or Diarrhea: Anytime you have diarrhea or even vomiting: you are losing water and need to drink more to replace the lost fluids.
Pregnancy, especially if you have vomiting: During pregnancy, your overall blood volume and cardiac output increase, which can thereby increase your fluid requirements. Talk with your doctor or midwife about the hydration issues during pregnancy.
Childbirth: If you have a home delivery especially, you many not be remembering to drink as usual. Especially if your labor is long, you want to assign your birth support person the role o keeping you hydrated. If you are in the hospital and on an IV during delivery, this may not be such an issue.
Breast Feeding: Of course, you’re losing more fluids and electrolytes, so you will want to increase your water intake consistently. In this case, dehydration can lead to not producing enough milk. Consult with your doctor, midwife or pediatrician for guidance.
Menstruation: Fluctuating hormone levels may increase your need for rehydration. If your period is very heavy this may also increase your need for rehydration.
Blood loss: If you cut yourself and bleed excessively but do not go to the hospital, you need to replace that lost fluid by rehydrating.
Aging: A few factors affect your hydration levels as you age. For one thing, your ability to conserve water declines. You may also have less of a sensation of thirst. It is also possible that you will simply forget to drink enough. Observe yourself for the signs of dehydration, to be sure that 50 ounces of water per 100 pounds of body weight is adequate. Remember coffee, tea, soda and bottles juices do not count toward your daily requirements for water. They may even increase your need for hydration.
Diet:
Low-carb diets: Eating a low carb diet can be dehydrating and you’re often getting less water because carbs such as oatmeal, rice, pasta and millet soak up water when cooking and can also increase your hydration.
Alcohol: Drinking alcohol is potentially dehydrating for a few reasons. One, its not hydrating, so it is not helping! Two, alcohol is a diuretic. Due to this diuretic effect of alcohol, your cells shrink, pushing more water out to your bladder, sending you to the bathroom. Three, alcohol inhibits an antidiuretic hormone that would normally send some of the fluid you are consuming back into the body, and instead sends it to your bladder. Four, when you’re “under the influence,” you probably are less aware of the early signs of dehydration like thirst and fatigue. So, you are less likely to compensate by drinking more water. The rule of drinking one glass of water between every glass of booze is a good one to follow.
Eating too few fruits and vegetables: You can gain water toward your hydration goals from eating fresh juice fruits and vegetables. So, if you aren’t eating the recommended 5+ servings a day of fruit and vegetables, you may need to drink more water to get your daily requirements. By the same token, if your diet contains a larger portion of fruits and vegetables, you many need to drink less water to stay hydrated.
Rehydration Remedies.
Gatorade: As you can guess, when I read the ingredients of Gatorade, I am not enthusiastic about the colors, flavors or even the last of the claim to being with filtered water. In addition, this comes in plastic.
Organic versions of Gatorade are available in stores, but once again read the label.
You can make your won rehydration remedy but putting a pinch of high-quality salt into a glass of water. Mix it up. Drink it down.
Warm water with a splash of fresh lemon juice can be a tasty helpful hydrator. Its great to have this every morning, first thing!
Miso Soup: A wonderful way to rehydrate, if you’ve been sweating or gotten overheated, is warm miso soup. Find a nice recipe and add some seaweed if possible. This is a delicious fermented, mineral rich beverage that is hydrating, remineralizing and also helps you use the water in it. Do not boil miso. You want to mix it into warm water, or mix it in cold water and heat it til its hot to your finger.
Unpasteurized miso is a probiotic rich food. Find this in the refrigerator case. Buy one that is not soy. Buy one that is organic and non-GMO. It keeps in your refrigerator for a long time. You can boil vegetables and then let it cool, and mix in the miso if you want a hardier broth. Still be sure to chew, chew, chew! South River Miso comes in glass, I like it. Miso Master is also a good brand.
Helping yourself with a health coach.
You may want to hire me as your healthy lifestyle coach. Together we can devise ways to create healthier habits for you that fit into your lifestyle. I am happy to pass on the advantages of my 40 years of professional expertise and wisdom to make it easier for you to realize your goals for radiant health, vibrant energy, and emotional balance.
I see clients face time, over the internet, and/or in person. You may choose to bring me to your home. I can help you with a pantry overhaul, show you how to shop, how to prepare healthy meals (for a busy lifestyle, or a big family), and teach you to handle your hydration and nutrition with ease and pleasure.
Recommended Books
Fly Healthy! The Jetsetter Health Handbook by Katharine Clark RN
Your Body’s Many Cries for Water by Dr. Batmanghelidji
Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski m PhD, CCN, CHN
Digestive Wellness for Children: How to Strengthen the Immune System & Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion by Elizabeth Lipki, PH.D., C.C.N. CHN.
Dr. Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care: A Complete Program for Tissue Cleansing through Bowel Management: Sep 1, 1998 by Dr. Bernard Jensen
Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski
Warning
Although it would be difficult to drink too much water, keep your hydration in the recommended range on a regular basis.
Disclaimer
None of the statements in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please see a qualified medical professional for your medical care.
Katharine Clark, RN 