Water is the key to a healthy life. When I grew up, we never drank it except after sports. My parents thought it ruined your appetite. And one of them was a doctor.
A wave of enthusiasm for “eight tall glasses of water a day” started in the 1980s. The thinking behind it—that most of us are relatively dehydrated—was accurate. We start our day with coffee, which increases urination. We eat foods loaded with sodium. We rarely notice our thirst except when exercising. And as we age, our thirst detection declines. (This is why so many older people have dry tongues and parched skin while not asking for a drink.) We compound our dehydration by exercising with limited hydration afterwards or—even worse—alcoholic drinks that cause us to piss away our remaining water. Then we fall into fitful sleep, with our mouths wide open, and dry out more as the night goes by.
In the 2000s the “eight glasses a day” recommendation was challenged, by nutrition and beverage companies, as lacking sufficient data. Yet while science goes up and down, common sense prevails.
Each of us uses our brain as our highest steady metabolic engine. Our brains work better with more hydration; so much so that when we are dehydrated our body shunts blood to the brain to accommodate. Our muscles work better when they have full blood flow, our kidneys work to wash out our ingested toxins, and our hearts stay at lower beat levels when there is a full blood supply.
Most of the time, when people reach for a drink, the beverage is unhealthy. Readily available alternatives like soda and coffee drinks are loaded with fat and/or sugar, and most of what is available in convenience stores does more to increase the consumer’s weight than slake their thirst. If you drink a glass of water before each meal, less food is consumed; if you do so before each alcoholic drink, less alcohol is consumed. If you drink water throughout the day, less sugar is ingested.
Water remains the spirit of life. The more you drink (within reason), the better— and longer—you live.
Kevin R. Stone, MD
Dr. Kevin R. Stone is a pioneer of advanced orthopaedic surgical and rehabilitation techniques to repair, regenerate, and replace damaged cartilage and ligaments.
He is an orthopaedic surgeon at The Stone Clinic and also the chairman of the Stone Research Foundation. He lectures around the world as an expert in cartilage and meniscal growth, replacement, and repair and holds over 40 U.S. patents on novel inventions to improve healthcare.
Dr. Stone uses anabolic therapy and other biologic techniques to work to preserve the natural biology of a joint, helping people avoid or delay an artificial joint replacement.
At The Robotic Joint Center, Dr. Stone uses advanced robotic-assisted surgery techniques to ensure that partial and total knee replacements result in precise alignment and a more natural feeling knee
Dr. Stone was trained at Harvard University in internal medicine and orthopaedic surgery and at Stanford University in general surgery. His fellowship was in research at the Hospital for Special Surgery and in knee surgery in Lake Tahoe. Dr. Stone is consistently listed as one of the country’s top 25 Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) leaders and ranks amongst the country’s top 75 knee surgeons.
Editor’s Note: Read about one of our National Champions’ experiences with a knee replacement by Dr. Stone at the Stone Clinic. Senior III Smooth and Standard Dancer Mike Lynch talks about his injury, research, procedure, therapy, and progress. Mike also provides a checklist to help you if you travel for surgery.1
Dr. Stone is a physician for Smuin Ballet and has served as a physician for the U.S. Ski Team, the U.S. Pro Ski Tour, the Honda Ski Tour, the Jeep 48 Straight Tour, the Old Blues Rugby Club, Lawrence Pech Dance Company, Marin Ballet, the modern pentathlon at the U.S. Olympic Festival, the United States Olympic Training Center, and for the World Pro Ski Tour. He’s been featured on Good Morning America, the Ologies podcast, and Star Talk podcast hosted by Neal deGrasse Tyson. He is the best-selling author of the book Play Forever. He also served as a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and writes a weekly blog at www.stoneclinic.com/blog.
Dr. Stone enjoys skiing, windsurfing, and biking.
This article was reprinted with the express permission of Dr. Kevin Stone, MD and The Stone Clinic. To see or sign up for The Stone Clinic’s Blog, Click Here!
