Affolter Academy

A group of chiropractors watched a video on the importance of nutrition and gut health to our mental health and immune systems. After watching the video, the host asked a question patients often ask him: how much water should you drink?

It was interesting to hear the responses. Several had ideas based on body weight. I asked what the speaker on the video had to say. Most hadn’t caught it. The speaker had a degree in nutrition before going to medical school and nutrition was her field of study. She said that there was no science behind the 8 glasses of water a day. She recommended monitoring our pee. If it is light yellow to clear, we are getting enough water. That is the recommendation I have been giving for years.

Yet, several doctors wanted to give patients a certain value of how much water was needed every day. Those doctors dismissed the obvious thinking of one who said, you need more water while walking across the desert on a hot day than while sitting on a cold winter day.

It gets to back to egos. Our egos like to think we can learn the right answer and have everyone look up to us for our amazing brilliance. How smart do you have to be to just tell someone the obvious answer that everyone is different, and you should monitor your pee?

I have added one additional indicator for myself – wrinkles. I remember watching my grandpa drive the car. The skin on the back of his hands had fine wrinkles. I’ve been seeing that lately on my hands. I’ve discovered that it is somewhat due to dehydration. I drink more and plump-up.

Another point is that tea, coffee, pop, and alcohol are not the same as drinking water. To some extent, your innate intelligence sees them as poisons and uses water to flush them out of the system. From a medical standpoint, they are called diuretics. The thinking is that they cause the kidneys to increase output. Either way you look at it, you need water not just drinks.