Just Add Water

Your body is designed to be healthy. We tell our patients this every day at Franson Family Chiropractic. The best definition of health is optimal cell function.  If you provide the elements that cells require for function and avoid those elements that are toxic by nature – you have the best chance of experiencing your true health potential. Water is at the top of that list; water is one of those essential elements. Water is IT!

To help educate our patients about not just water but about how they choose to eat, move, and think, we have created the Bonfire Health program. To learn more about hydration and how to fuel your body watch our Advanced workshop “Well People Eat” by internationally recognised speaker Dr. Stephen Franson.

We all tend to remember water in the summer, but it’s important year round, even in the cold winter. It is critical in almost all of our bodies’ functions: including but not limited to digestion, circulation, respiration and healing.  Symptoms of dehydration include constipation, dizziness, fatigue as well as skin, hair and nail issues. But like all essential elements, water should not be thought of as a “treatment” for dehydration or a way to avoid constipation; but rather a critical component of a healthy lifestyle.  Air is no more a “treatment for suffocation” than water is a treatment for thirst.  Ideally, we should rarely, if ever, experience thirst.  We should simply drink water – and drink often. Hydration is critical.

The Innate Daily Requirement (IDR) for water will vary according to your body weight.  A good rule of thumb or Best Practice is to consume at least 50 % of your body weight (lbs) in fluid ounces of water (and an additional 50% in healthy food choices – fruits and vegetables).

Optimally we should drink pure spring water from an our own well/land. The best water source for the modern city dweller is Reverse Osmosis,.

The trend in healthier water consciousness today has led to an unfortunate trade off for the environment – plastic pollution.  Millions of plastic bottles end up in  andfills and in the oceans every day.  In fact, there are “islands” of plastic flotsam clustered on the surface of the Pacific Ocean now that are  so large that they show up on ships’ radar.  One such cluster, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is reported to be larger than the state of Texas – and growing.

We have a solution to both problems.  Buy a cool canteen. One of our favorite Best Practices in the Bonfire Program is to invest in a re-useable stainless steel canteen. In our practice we found that when patients purchase a non-disposable
canteen that they love they keep it (and their water supply) with them at all times.  This increases water intake substantially.  You get all the health benefits
– saving yourself – and the planet, all at once.  Good job, You.

Vital Behaviors:

• Consume 50 %(+) of body weight in oz. of pure water
• Reduce caffeinated beverages and alcoholic beverages
• Eliminate added salt