How Dehydration Affects the Body
Healthy nutrition includes drinking at least 4 to 8 glasses of water every day. Admittedly, this is a wide range, but 4 8-ounce glasses of water represents the minimum intake for adult men and women. A useful frame of reference is the presence or absence of thirst. Optimally, you should never feel as if your mouth and throat are dry and that you “need” a drink of water. For example, hikers are frequently reminded by trail guides to drink water continuously throughout a hike. Experienced trail guides add the friendly warning that “if you feel thirsty, it’s too late” to ward off a headache and other symptoms of dehydration such as dizziness and confusion.
Sufficient water intake is critically important in maintaining normal physiological processes and eliminating metabolic waste products. All cells are aqueous environments. Drinking appropriate amounts of water every day aids each and every one of your body’s cells in performing its numerous functions so that you remain healthy and well. Also, water is a key component of the intervertebral discs. These shock-absorbing cartilaginous structures assist your spinal column in supporting the weight of your head and torso and distributing mechanical loads so that you can effectively perform physical tasks such as carrying weights.
The intervertebral discs consist of a fibrocartilaginous outer ring (the annulus fibrosus) and a gelatinous center (the nucleus pulposus). Water is a significant component of both structures, especially the nucleus pulposus. Intervertebral discs begin to degenerate by the age of 4, and begin to gradually lose their blood supply, turgor, weight-distributing, and shock-absorbing capabilities. If dehydration has affected the intervertebral discs and has begun to result in clinically significant degeneration of a disc or discs, a person may experience back injury, and ultimately chronic back pain. Thus, for many reasons, ensuring optimal daily hydration is critically important for all members of the family, including children, adults, and older adults.
Sufficient daily water intake should be accompanied by the components of a healthy diet, including eating regularly from a wide variety of food groups, including fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and possibly dairy products. For example, all family members should eat at least 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day. As well, a complete healthy lifestyle includes regular vigorous exercise. Five sessions per week of at least 30 minutes per session is recommended. Regular exercise provides mechanical challenges to bones, joints, intervertebral discs, and other musculoskeletal soft tissues, enabling these structures to obtain and maintain optimal strength, flexibility, and resilience.
Regular chiropractic care helps coordinate all your healthy lifestyle activities. By detecting and correcting spinal misalignments as well as removing sources of nerve interference, regular chiropractic care helps all members of the family get the most out of their nutritional and exercise programs. As a result, regular chiropractic care assists children, adults, and seniors to achieve long-term health and well-being.
If you have not been to a chiropractor before and want to find out more, please contact us or call (803)-772-3300 to receive the answers to your questions from our experienced team. We also welcome referrals, so we invite you to share our chiropractic and wellness information with your friends and loved ones.
TESTIMONIAL
“Dr. Matt has completely rid me of migraines and helped me with some pain I was having due to a varicose vein in my leg. He takes the time to explain everything in terms I can understand and never rushes through an appointment. He truly cares about his patients and it is apparent. So thankful I found him!”
Dr. Matt and Amanda are very friendly and knowledgeable professionals. They’re helping my wife with some knee and heel pain. She loves the pain relief she gets after her visits!
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| Tues. | 1:00 – 7:00 |
803.772.3300
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At Midlands Family Chiropractic our mission is to remove any unnecessary stress or tension and make you feel comfortable during your visit with our chiropractor.
Many seemingly unrelated symptoms often arise from imbalances in the spinal column, and Dr. Boyeson will be able to determine the root of the pain and create a personalized chiropractic and wellness plan to suit each patient’s individual needs. Under the supervision and care of our caring and skilled chiropractor, patients report higher functioning in all areas of their lives.
At Midlands Family Chiropractic, we will explain how chiropractic care works and give you a full evaluation to see if our chiropractic solutions are a good fit to address your needs. If there is a good fit, we can customize a plan of chiropractic care for your condition and health goals.
Midlands Family Chiropractic focuses on you as if it was our own family.