You know that our body needs water to works properly, but you may not know, the water plays important role in the health of your back and spine. Do you know how it works?
From the photo above, you can see that there is intervertebral disk lies between two vertebrae. It functions as shock absorber. The disk builds up with two part, flexible and strong ring at the outer, and inner fill with pulposis – a gelatinous substance. Along the day, the water is squeezed out of the disk as the spine works. At night, the disk will slowly rehydrate with we lay down.
The daily dehydration and night rehydration is the reason why our height is different during day and night. To keep the disk hydrated, we should move regularly. As the spine moves, it will help the disk to absorb the water and remain hydrated.
However, if our body is dehydrated, the disk will become compromised. When the disk is fully hydrated, the outer ring can bear 25% of the weight, and the inner pulposis can support 75% of the body weight. If the body is purely support by the outer ring, it will cause pain, swelling, and even ruptures or herniations of the outer shell of the disk. This is also why we shouldn’t only drink water when we feel thirsty.
A good water drinking habit should be practice to stay healthy.
- Drink twice as much as it takes to quench your thirst
- Drink frequently throughout the day to prevent dehydration
- Drink one cup for every 20 pounds of body weight
- If you exercise or work in hot climates you will need to drink extra amounts of water
- Keep an eye on urine, yellow or amber color means you need to drink more
Keep hydrated, and drink clean water as you can! Make sure the water is your house is filtered by water filtration system and not contaminated by harmful substances.
