A human body replete with hydration and wellness is approximately 70% water. Bones are 30% water and blood 90%. Approximately 75 million Americans are chronically dehydrated and don’t know it.
Chronic dehydration is one of the principle sources of many of the health conditions many Americans experience today. Dehydration shows up as many different symptoms beyond thirst and dry, sagging skin. And reversing these to achieve hydration and wellness are not just easy but enjoyable.
Aside from these, general symptoms of dehydration include:
headache
weakness
dizziness
fatigue
loss of balance
lethargy.
Stay consistently dehydrated and symptoms can scale up more seriously. These more serious warning signs include:
dry mouth, skin or eyes
little or no urine output
sluggishness
high blood pressure
rapid heartbeat
fever
loss of skin elasticity.
These symptoms demonstrate the very opposite of your goal of hydration and wellness.
Dehydration Is the Opposite of Hydration and Wellness and It Shows Up Most In Older Adults.
We also find the following symptoms in out-of-balance seniors, people who are generally even more dehydrated than the average person:
wrinkling, body mass and size shrinking, increasing weakness, degrading posture, falling and breaking bones, high blood pressure causing strokes, constipation, incontinence, quick temper and irritability, complaining and grumbling, mood swings, sadness and depression.
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Hydration and Wellness Require Skin and Body Tissue Are Given Ample Water.
“We may not get enough water into our cells, where it’s crucial for metabolism and countless other functions,” says Dana Cohen, MD, author of Quench: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration.
Hydration and wellness means you have to keep the brain lubricated. The brain is the control tower for your whole body and your health. And it requires the greatest amount of water to function. This is because water facilitates the electrical functions that essentially command the entire body.
Achieve optimal hydration and wellness by drinking water. You can get water from eating but drinking water should be your first priority. Most of the water we supply to the body comes from what we drink. The rest comes from food and leftover cellular metabolism. We lose 80% of our fluids in urination and 20% through perspiration through the skin or respiratory system.
Move water through the body with exercise for better hydration and wellness. Water runs through our veins, arteries, glands and organs in order to feed, pump, and transport fluid. Even gentle workouts or walking help disperse water through the body. When you move your connective tissue through exercise, it helps pump water through the body. It establishes a good level of hydration and wellness.
Water also regulates body temperature by distributing heat and cooling the body through perspiration. It stabilizes body temperature by helping regulate blood flow. When the body is dehydrated, blood flow reduces leading to an increase in body temperature. When the body is properly hydrated, blood flow increases helping cool the body. Beautiful balanced hydration and wellness result.
Dehydration adversely affects blood pressure. Water makes up about 73% of the human heart. So staying hydrated is a key factor in regulating blood pressure and feeling well.
Dehydration also raises sodium in blood which can lead to high blood pressure.
“Drinking water can help normalize your blood pressure but doesn't necessarily lower your blood pressure unless you are dehydrated. Because your blood is made up of 90% water, the overall volume will decrease when you are dehydrated. When this happens, the body will respond by narrowing blood vessels, causing blood pressure to rise.” —Yvette Stines, MEd, MS at Very Well Health
Hydration and Wellness Result When You Take Good Care of the Kidneys.
Kidney, the organ of the Water element in traditional Chinese medicine, suffers when the body’s dehydrated. Lack of water can affect your kidney function and increase the risk of kidney stones.
Constipation is another side-effect of dehydration. Regular bowel movements are very good signs of hydration and wellness.
Dehydration also leads to muscle damage and weakness along with brittle bones. Both of these can lead to falls and bone breaks.
The 5 Stages of Life According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Give Us Important Clues to Hydration and Wellness.
In the fifth and last of the five phases of life, after 60 years of age, is when many people become seriously dehydrated causing stiffening and loss of skin tone. TCM’s Five-Element Theory astutely assigns Water the element of this life phase.
Especially in this phase of life, dynamic yang energy is at its lowest point. Most people in this phase stop exercising, being active, drinking water, and eating very well. They begin demonstrating the opposite of hydration and wellness.
As one result, they experience a notable loss of collagen.
Collagen absolutely needs water to do its job of holding the structure of skin.
“… collagen is very dependent on associated water for its mechanical properties. In skin, where type I collagen is dominant, there is a longstanding concern that the skin and therefore collagen may partially dry out and result in structural degradation.” —Richard G. Haverkamp et al in the article, Collagen dehydration in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
For these and other reasons, continued good hydration is critical.
But many older adults don’t feel thirsty even as their bodies require more hydration than ever.
Many older adults experience a decrease in receptor sensitivity (osmo- and barareceptors) responsible for detecting the fluid within and around cells.
Even though their bodies require more water, they don’t feel thirsty. Older adults need to drink several glasses of water a day whether they feel thirsty or not.
Amp Up Hydration and Wellness by Drinking Gel Water.
Gel water charged by electrolytes fuels the cells of the body.
Groundbreaking research from Harvard and Cornell Universities has found that the water in both human and plant cells is not H2O but H3O2.
This is a gel-like structured water charged by electrolytes acting as fuel “for every action of every cell,” notes Gerald Pollack, PhD,(1) head of the University of Washington’s Pollack Water Lab.
Colloquially called “gel water,” gel water is produced when fruit, vegetables, cacti, chia seeds, and collagen are introduced in small amounts to drinking water.
The Pollack Water Lab’s findings about water, hydration and wellness indicate that the food we consume is almost as important as the water we drink.
Certain studies show drinking water alone is not enough to be well hydrated. Some subjects in these studies proved this when they couldn’t achieve hydration even though they were over-drinking water.
Dr. Pollack believes gel water primes our cells for optimal function. He says it’s actually more hydrating than water not improved with produce.
The vitality and absorbability of gel water is much greater than normal drinking water. The Pollack Water Lab describes it as water that’s not quite liquid, vapor, or ice and identified by an extra hydrogen and extra oxygen atom.
Increasing gel water in the body “is one of the best things you can do for your body. I’ve seen amazing results in hundreds of patients,” says Dana Cohen, MD, author of Quench: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration.
By drinking gel water, Cohen says:
“Weight loss becomes easier than we ever thought possible. We also think better, move better, sleep better, age better…”
European research shows that consuming plants rich in gel water is up to twice as hydrating as regular drinking water. Gel water passes more readily into our cells. It’s denser and less likely to leak out of damaged or aging cells.
Here Are Tips for Consuming Gel Water to Optimally Improve Hydration and Wellness.
Just keep drinking plain water but add a slice of citrus, piece of fruit or leaf of lettuce, for example.
Another way is to sip water while you consume:
potassium-rich foods like bananas and broccoli or
magnesium-rich foods like avocado and dark chocolate.
You can also add a pinch of Himalayan salt to your water to add electrolytes. This transforms regular water into gel water.
Eat six servings of gel-water-rich foods daily. In other words, eat six servings of fresh produce whose water has not been cooked out.
For every dehydrating grain-based food you eat, add an extra portion of fresh gel-water-rich produce to compensate.
Always avoid processed foods because they siphon off fluid during digestion.
Eat plant-based healthy fats.
“Water enters cells through an oil-guarded membrane,” author Cohen says. “Good fats, especially omega 3s, keep membranes supple, increasing absorption.”
Add a teaspoon of crushed chia seeds to your smoothies. When the blender crushes the seeds more gel is created.
Cook with bone broth. It’s full of collagen and gel water.
Cook with coconut oil or ghee both of which are full of gel water and electrolytes.
Using an infrared sauna creates gel water inside the body. The light waves in the red wave spectrum range reach the water molecules in your body. They then split into positive and negative charges and shift their molecular structure into gel water.
The sun does exactly the same as the infrared sauna method above. Modest exposure to the sun is nature’s way of purifying, charging and optimizing water right inside your body.
In theory, the subtle electrical charge of the planet could help split the water molecules around and within us for optimized hydration. Learn more about how to harness earth’s beneficial electrical charge in our blog, Embrace Earth's Energetic Vitality and Feel Renewed. Ground Yourself.
Hyaluronic Acid Supports Hydration and Wellness.
Hyaluronic acid retains water in the body very well.
Be sure you eat hyaluronic acid-rich or -promoting foods especially if you’re older.
Our bodies produce hyaluronic acid naturally. It’s a chief component of all connective tissues. It forms a gelatinous protective matrix that surrounds our cells.
A quarter-teaspoon of hyaluronic acid holds about one and a half gallons of water. Scientists have found hyaluronic acid all throughout the body, especially in eyes, joints and skin.
Hyaluronic acid helps joints work like a well-oiled machine. It keeps bones from grinding against each other which could cause pain and injury.
It helps with wound healing, reduction of scars, elasticity of skin and smoothing of lines.
Bone broth is touted to be the best source of hyaluronic acid.
There are very few actual vegan sources of hyaluronic acid. Most plant-based foods support your body to produce its own hyaluronic acid.
Actual vegan sources of hyaluronic acid are derived from bacteria and yeasts through a process of fermentation. This process creates cells of a small molecular weight ideal for absorption and skin health.
The green algae chlorella is another vegan source with many other health benefits including being the only known plant source of vitamin B12.
These vegan foods help boost your body’s own production of hyaluronic acid:
soy (tofu)
beans
dark leafy greens (kale)
sweet potatoes
citrus fruits
berries
tomatoes
almonds
dark chocolate
red wine
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Endnotes for this article:
Jerry Pollack (Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington) is recognized worldwide as scientist, speaker and author. His passion lies in plumbing the depths of natural truths. The Pollack Lab is best known for its work with wate. It also conducts research on energy, health, and fundamental physics
Pollack discovered and published the first research on gel water in 2009. He received the first Emoto Peace Prize and is a recipient of the University of Washington's highest honor, the Annual Faculty Lecturer Award. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of the research journal WATER and Director of the Institute for Venture Science. Dr. Pollack's (award-winning) books include: The Fourth Phase of Water (2013), and Cells, Gels, and the Engines of Life (2001).
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Sources:
“You've Been Doing It Wrong: Why You're Still Dehydrated.” Goop, 17 Jan. 2019, goop.com/wellness/health/structured-water-youve-been-doing-it-wrong-why-youre-still-dehydrated/.
Alnuweiri, Tamim. “What Is Gel Water?” Well+Good, Well+Good, 1 July 2017, www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/what-is-gel-structured-water/.
Staff, Editorial. “Simple 'Gel-Water Diet' Is the Weight-Loss Solution That Improves Sleep and Fights Brain Fog.” Woman's World, Woman's World, 2 Aug. 2019, www.womansworld.com/posts/h3o2-gel-water-diet-168246.
“Consequences of Dehydration.” European Hydration Institute, www.europeanhydrationinstitute.org/consequences_of_dehydration/.
Popkin, Barry M, et al. “Water, Hydration, and Health.” Nutrition Reviews, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/.
Stines, Yvelette. “Yvelette Stines, Med, MS.” Verywell Health, Verywell Health, www.verywellhealth.com/yvelette-stines-5077313. 15 August 2023.
Haverkamp, Richard G et al. “Collagen dehydration.” International journal of biological macromolecules vol. 216 (2022): 140-147. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.06.180
Fallacara, Arianna et al. “Hyaluronic Acid in the Third Millennium.” Polymers vol. 10,7 701. 25 Jun. 2018, doi:10.3390/polym10070701