Rethinking Hydration: Debunking the 64-Ounce Myth - Episode 28
In this episode of Marrón Pelvic Health Pelvic Health Podcast, Dr. Kari Roberts explores the intricacies of hydration and its impact on pelvic health. She dispels common myths about fixed water intake, emphasizing that individual needs vary based on factors like body size and activity level. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Dr. Kari recommends monitoring the color of your urine as a personalized hydration guide. She discusses the consequences of over- and under-hydration on pelvic floor function, including issues like lubrication, bowel movements, and bladder control. Listeners are encouraged to find their own 'sweet spot' for water consumption.
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Dr. Kari: Have you ever wondered how much water you should be drinking a day? If so, stay tuned because I'm going to get into it.
Welcome to the Marone Pelvic Health Podcast. Hi, I'm your host, Dr. Carrie Roberts. On this show, we will be discussing a variety of things regarding your pelvic health. These conversations will be a mix of education, personal experiences, and a blend of tips you can apply to have a healthier pelvis.
The goal of this show is to normalize conversations around pelvic health and help women stop suffering in silence.
So let's talk about water.
It's warming up slightly here in Georgia, and I've got my water bottle here, my. My little tumbler here. And I was filling it up this morning, and I was thinking this would be a really good podcast topic to talk about.
Are we drinking enough water?
And there are lots of things out there. A lot of people say, minimum 64 ounces.
There are a lot of people out there that say you should be drinking at least half your body weight in ounces. And then some people think you should only drink when you feel thirsty.
What's the real answer? I did not do any research on this. I don't have any special studies to cite. I'm sorry.
If you are the research police, I'm probably gonna **** you off with this episode. But I'm just going off of clinical experience,
things that I've experienced over my 20 years of being a physical therapist.
So first of all,
I can't say where the 64 ounces came from, but what I can say, that's a really good benchmark. It's not always exact because some people need more, some people need less.
People are not the same size. So someone that's £300 that might be working outside in the heat, in the south in the summer,
it's argued. You can. One could argue, let's put it that way, one could argue that that person probably needs a lot more fluid than maybe someone that's 112 pounds that lives up north in the wintertime, that's not really expending a lot of energy or losing a lot of water weight in a day.
Right? You could. You could reason that those two people, given their physical needs, given their environmental needs, need different water. Wa. Amounts of water or different amounts of fluid. Right?
That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Yes, it does. Now, I've done all kinds of physical therapy. I've done a lot of things in this life of mine. I've done a lot of things in this physical therapy.
Life of mine. I've been an outpatient physical therapist. I've been a home care physical therapist. I've done. I've treated peeds. I've worked in the pool. I've worked on land. I'm a public health physical therapist.
I.
I've worked in personal injury. I've done all kinds of things. But for a period of time during the pandemic, when I was terrified to be around people, I actually worked in injury prevention at a food distribution center.
Yes,
I did injury prevention in a food distribution center in a warehouse where people drive forklifts and trying to think. I used to know all the lingo. Now I'm trying to see if I can remember forklifts and pallet jacks and all kinds of equipment that I didn't even know existed.
And I would have to be responsible as a physical therapist on the premises, the only doctor in the house. I was responsible for educating the team to be healthy. And when it became summertime here in Atlanta, one of the things that I was responsible for was making sure that the team was hydrated.
And when I was in that position, of course I was like, oh, 64 ounces. 64 ounces.
And that's not the materials that I was given at the time. When I researched it, what I came up with in my research findings was,
you really let your pee be your guide.
Yeah, you heard me correct. You really let your pee be your guide. So basically, if you go to urinate and your pee is a bright color or it's a dark color, that means you are not consuming enough fluid.
That means you're more or less dehydrated. If you void or pee and your. And your pee is an extremely pale, almost white or clear color, that means you are consuming too much water.
Yes, you are too hydrated. So you want your pee to be a pale yellow. It should have some yellow to it. Not too dark, not too light, just kind of right in the middle.
You should also drink before you feel thirsty, because when you feel the urge to drink, you are usually already starting to feel. You are. That's your body telling you you're already getting into that dehydrated state.
Now, that's not to confuse that. When you are in the habit of drinking water and you're just like, oh, it's time for me to drink. That's a totally different feeling than a thirst.
Like, I need to drink something. That's what I'm talking. So you should be drinking. You should be taking in fluids at a regular cadence so that you never really feel thirsty,
so I thought that was interesting. So, of course, I'm a skeptic. So I didn't all the way believe it. But when I started saying that to the folks that work there at the.
At the plant,
it went well. And I'm like, girl, what color is your pee, buddy? What? You know, how's the pee look? And they're like, oh, it's pale. I feel pretty good. Okay, great.
And people would have little muscle cramps, or they might feel like they're going to pass out. They come to see me. What color is your pee? Oh, it's bright yellow or it's really strong.
It's really dark. Okay. There was something to that. So I no longer tell people that you need to drink at least a minimum of whatever. I really encourage them to let their pee be their guide.
And that's a really good thing, because when you are more active, you. You're going to need more fluid. And especially if you're more active outside, or if it's hotter outside and your body is eliminating more water, if you're sweating and stuff is evaporating off your body, then naturally you're gonna need more fluid to.
To level that out. Whereas if you're inside or if it's colder, you're not evaporating as much, then you won't need to drink as much. So it makes perfect sense now.
This is a podcast about pelvic health. Pelvic floor. What does this have to do with the pelvic floor? Well, the pelvic floor, these are skeletal muscles. So these muscles have just like other muscles in our body.
So we want to make sure that these muscles stay hydrated as well. So we want. And if these muscles get a little bit dehydrated, then that can affect their function.
What happens when the pelvic floor doesn't function well? We can have some changes with our bowel and bladder continent. We can have some changes with our sexual function. If a patient is not hydrated enough.
A lot of times what I see in the clinic is it can have some impact on how well they lubricate. They may not be generating enough lubrication for sexual needs or just vaginal health and wellness for their comforter.
Their comfort level in their ******, that might be off because they're not hydrated properly.
Or if you're not hydrated properly, your stool might become a little bit firmer, which can be a little bit of a predisposition for constipation. So if someone is coming in and they're having a hard time moving their bowels, then usually talking about their fluid intake is one of the first things that I will address.
That's the easiest way to get the stool moving, right? It's a low level. Drink more fluid, drink more water. Let's see about that. If you're overly drink. If you're drinking too much for your system.
If I'm looking at your bladder diary and you're drinking 200 ounces and you feel like you're peeing all the time. Okay, sis, let's pull it back a little bit. Maybe you're drinking a little too much for your, for your body.
What does that urine look like in the toilet? Number one? Let's maybe see if we can dial it back a little bit. Maybe we're overloading the system. Take some fluid off of the system.
Let's see if we can maybe normalize how often you're going to the bathroom. Maybe we can take some stress off of the bladder. Maybe it's not really a bladder control issue.
Maybe your system is just overly working because you're putting too much fluid in it. So that's how much water you're drinking has a direct impact on your pelvic health and your pelvic wellness.
So that was just a quick conversation I wanted to bring to you and I would love to hear your feedback. Is this a new concept? Is this something you've heard before?
Are you a hard and fast? I've got to drink a gallon a day. Are you a hard and fast? I've got to drink 64 ounces a day. Let me know, hit me up in the comments, go to my DMs.
Just let's keep the conversation going.
One thing I do want to share is I was on the gallon train for a little while and I do have a history of interstitial cystitis. I think I talk about that in episode two, right?
I think episode one or two, I talk about that. My body, I can't do 121. Or is it 123? 120 some odd ounces. I can't, my body can't do that.
It's just too much for me.
It doesn't feel good living in my skin when I'm consuming that much fluid. So my sweet spot, spot when I'm not that active is about 60 to 70 ounces. And then when I'm more active,
upwards of about a hundred is where I feel comfortable. And so by tracking it and seeing how I feel and seeing how often I'm going to the bathroom. That's where I know that.
Oh that gallon 120 or more. It's just not for me.
Right around a hundred. When I'm feel, when I'm really active is more my sweet spots. So you take what is recommended and you see how your body feels and then you see how you feel and then you kind of meet in the middle and see where it works and then you get to like how they say you.
What? How do they say it? You meet them where they are, you meet yourself where you are and you can still kind of make a draw a line in the sand for what works for you.
And I encourage you to do that as well. So also let me know how much ounces work for you. So that's all I have for you today and I will be back in two weeks with another episode.
Thanks thank you for listening to this episode of the Maroon Pelvic Health Podcast. Please do me a favor and leave a review so that more people can find this content.
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