What is my first piece of advice for someone who has been diagnosed with scoliosis? Get hydrated. Note I did not say drink water. While drinking water is a way to get hydrated, there are options to make it more enjoyable and even enhance your day.
Reading Your Body’s Many Cries for Water and You’re Not Sick You’re Thirsty opened my eyes to just how important it is to healing. When I went deep into reading about functional nutrition, the literature fell short of what biological needs are being expressed in the case of scoliosis. I will withhold my rant on this for the time being, BUT I do want to express my belief that a staple in the healing journey of the body is supporting its systems through hydration, followed by nourishment, appropriate movement, and rest.
I have some serious feelings about hydration. Whether you’re feeling fatigued day after day, have pain, experiencing pesky symptoms, or are breathing, you should hydrate adequately. It can be the traditional 8 glasses a day, or the more contemporary recommendation of drinking half your body weight in ounces of water a day, this can be a great place to start. But getting hydrated and drinking water are not one in the same. You can drink water to get hydrated, but the type of water you drink can be as functional as you’d like it to be.
I hear people say things like “I don’t like drinking water”, which is ok. No sense in punishing yourself. Yolo after all. The way you hydrate can be a reflection of you. Are you sassy? Your water can be too! Add a couple of strawberries, a cucumber or an orange to a pitcher of water and let sit in the fridge overnight. It’s a refreshing treat to hydrate and pamper yourself at the same time. Are you classy? Sparkling water it is; hello champagne vibes.
My hydration story has evolved over the years and today I share my current favorites.
Celery Juice
This will forever be in my toolkit for getting hydrated. While a bit time consuming to juice a bunch of celery in the morning, it quite simply is the quickest way to feel sufficiently hydrated that I’ve experienced. Celery is rich in water and salts, and when taken for medicinal purposes, is a powerful way to get sufficient magnesium. Magnesium calms the body and in turn, calms the mind.
Lemon Water
Before I have my celery juice, I first squeeze half of a lemon into a glass and fill with water. I JUST started doing this and I don’t know why I judged this simple beverage for so long. Well, I suppose that’s the very issue, I judged it. But now, I enjoy it. Lemon juice has vitamin C and is significantly less work to prepare than celery juice. It’s also alkalinizing, which really doesn’t mean much to me, but I keep hearing this is good. I don’t go nuts with the lemon water, I only have once glass in the morning and that glass completes my lemon water quota for the day. I don’t add anything to this. Not honey, no sweetener, nothing. I like it in this pure form and find that it sort of wakes me up as I’m getting my day started.
Electrolyte Water
It doesn’t get any easier than this. One little squeeze of quality electrolytes transforms a glass of water into a hydration station. Right now I’m using Vitality Drops that I get from Young Living. I’m a big fan of Young Living (and a distributor if you’d like to get started!) and I am thankful that they make products like this that are made with quality ingredients from a company I trust.
Coconut Water
There is a coconut water with coconut puree and I lose my mind over it. It tastes delicious and has the following minerals: potassium, magnesium, manganese (check out the post on the link between manganese insufficiency and scoliosis), and more. The brand I like is most affordable from Whole Foods. The regular grocery store charges a premium (almost $2 more!)
Mineral Water
My favorite sparkling mineral water is San Pellegrino. It is known for having noteworthy sulfate content. I find the bubbles to be so satisfying. Sparkling water is a bit of an acquired taste. I remember thinking it was so gross back when I was in my early 20s and now I think it’s some of the best stuff ever.
Maple Water
Maple water is a treat. I like to drink it at the end of the day, before bed when I’m craving something sweet. There’s something luxurious about chilled maple water that simply has no comparison. And it’s packed with impressive minerals that has kale green with envy.
What are your favorite ways to hydrate? Share in the comments below!
