Mineral water aids in maintaining hydration

By Aaron Geerts Express staff writer

As it turns out, not all water — like filtered, bottled water — provides the same amount of nourishment and hydration one’s body needs. Dr. James Stirton, the lead chiropractor at Winters Family Chiropractic, explains the benefits and importance of hydrating with mineral water.

It’s critical for one to stay properly hydrated especially now that triple-digit heat is hitting in full force. While consuming bottled water has its benefits and aids in one’s hydration to a certain extent, it’s not the most efficient way to hydrate due to the minerals being filtered out of it.

“Minerals are the solutes. They’re the things that hold fluid in us. When it comes to hydrating, it’s not just the water that’s hydrating us, it’s the minerals in the water that holds the water in us. I’ve actually recommended to patients to drink tap water to help their mineral balance because, believe it or not, there’s more minerals in your tap water than in your Aquafina,” said Stirton. “They take out and alter the makeup of the water so it tastes better, and it may not necessarily have all the nutritive minerals in the right ratios. What they’ve found is you need to maintain a proper ratio in your body for things to work. It’s not just a lack of water that makes you dehydrated, it’s a lack of the mineral balance on top of altering your overall water.”

According to Stirton, he’s had plenty of patients guzzle bottle after bottle of water yet still show signs of dehydration. This is because they don’t have the mineral balance in their bodies capable of holding onto the water longer, before it’s either sweated or urinated out.

“Water also has two properties. There’s a cohesive property where it can bond to itself which is why it pulls together on the table if you let drops mingle together. It also has an adhesive property which is why you can take a paper dipstick and dip it in water and it’ll climb the piece of paper above the water line. That’s an adhesive property and also a cohesive property because as one molecule of water grabs the paper and moves higher, it also grabs the water molecules from behind and brings them along with it as it kind of travels up,” more concentration of minerals, water will go there. If there’s not enough minerals in your body, you just keep rinsing and rinsing instead of adding the stuff you need to

Stirton maintains that minerals also support one’s thyroid functions, hormone levels, metabolic processes, muscular-skeletal system repair and nervous system health.

“Minerals are those elements on the earth and in foods that our bodies need to develop and function normally. Those essential for health include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, chromium, copper, fluoride, molybdenum, manganese and selenium,” Stirton said.

Stirton said. “Those are important properties. So, minerals are kind of like the paper in this case. They give the water something to follow and if you have an area where there’s keep water from just draining out of you as fast as it’s going in.”

Stirton explained that minerals are also electrolytes — and are essentially synonymous. Beyond the hydration benefits,

According to Stirton, any mineral water is an easy way of obtaining these minerals. However, there are other sources one can consider.

“Any mineral water is a good source. Other good sources of minerals in a natural balance would be Himalayan salt, any sea salt and anything from the ocean – seaweed to sushi. Earthgrown vegetables and fruits are good, too,” said Stirton said. “I’d say iron is the most common mineral deficiency. We usually get it from meat, but there is a surprising deficiency in vitamins and minerals in our food supply because they feed our livestock low nutritive feed and are no longer grass-fed grazing.” For more information, contact Winters Family Chiropractic by calling 530795-4500 or email Stirton directly at jimstirtondc@gmail. com. It’s like the good doctor always says, “If you’re not certain, ask Dr. Stirton.”