00:00Welcome to all. I am Dr. Anubha Jain, lead journalist with ETV Bharat.
00:04Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Dana Kohan,
00:07an American integrative medicine physician and best-selling author,
00:11best known for her groundbreaking books, Quench and Fuel Up.
00:15She is visiting India and is here with us today.
00:18Welcome to ETV, Dana.
00:22Hi, thank you so much for having me.
00:24We truly appreciate your presence today.
00:27So, at a time when stress, fatigue, lifestyle disorders and poor nutrition are on the rise,
00:33many people are looking for simple, sustainable ways to improve their health.
00:37In this conversation, we will explore the science of hydration, nutrition, preventive health care
00:42and how small daily choices can have a powerful impact on our energy, resilience and overall well-being.
00:49After all, some of the most effective tools for better health may not come from a prescription,
00:54but in the choices we make every day.
00:57So, to begin with, Dana, we would like to know every author and physician has a story behind their work.
01:04In your research and clinical practice, how closely are hydration and nutrition linked?
01:09And can improving hydration alone make a measurable difference to overall health and well-being?
01:14And what are some of the hidden signs of chronic dehydration that people often overlook?
01:21Oh, great question.
01:23So, when I talk about, look, we'll ask the last question first because I think it's important.
01:29When I talk about dehydration, I'm not talking about overt dehydration.
01:34You know, everybody knows what that looks like.
01:36You're, you know, vomiting all day long and you're, you know, your eyes are sunken in, you're throwing up.
01:43And that's a completely different thing.
01:45You need to go to the hospital, get IV fluids.
01:47I'm talking about this low-grade, every single day dehydration that all of us experience every single day.
01:55And so, how do you know?
01:57How do you know what that means?
01:58By the way, there's many studies that talk about this low-grade dehydration is a risk factor for most chronic
02:06disease,
02:06which is an epidemic, right?
02:09So, any kind of chronic illness, specifically, there's research about diabetes and Alzheimer's,
02:14and then all the things that we know, like constipation, fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dry skin.
02:24Those are the signs, right?
02:27But how do you really know?
02:29And there is, it turns out we don't have a great blood test for it.
02:33There's nothing simple that I can say, oh, here, do a blood test.
02:35We'll see if you're dehydrated.
02:37It doesn't exist.
02:38So, the single most important thing is our urine output.
02:42And we are meant to pee every two to three hours during our waking hours.
02:49So, if you're sitting at your desk for eight hours all day long, and you haven't gotten up to pee
02:54once, you're dehydrated.
02:57So, it may take, you know, while at work, doing little hash marks.
03:02How many times have I gotten up to pee today?
03:04And then, you know, so that is the single best thing that you can look at to know if you're
03:10chronically low-grade or sub-clinically dehydrated.
03:15I think that answered all the questions.
03:18Okay.
03:19And as an integrative, you know, medicine physician, you often focus on addressing the root cause of illness rather than
03:25simply treating symptoms.
03:26So, in today's fast-paced world, how can people make simple changes to improve their hydration and nutrition?
03:35I'm going to give you very specific things to do.
03:37Okay.
03:38And very easy.
03:39I live in this world.
03:40We all have to live in this world.
03:42So, simplicity is important.
03:43And I just want to say, too, it's always about going back to foundational health, hydrating, nutrition, exercising, sleeping, all
03:53of these things, you know, before you go on a stack of supplements or, you know, you always bring yourself
04:00back to the basics, right?
04:02So, this is, and hydration to me is always first, right?
04:07And it's so related to nutrition because I said you're eating your water, right?
04:12So, you want to eat those.
04:14You know, nature has our backs.
04:16Nature understands it better than any doctor.
04:19There's phytochemicals in fruits.
04:22There's colors in fruits and vegetables.
04:25We need to be eating the rainbow of those colors and fruits.
04:28We need protein.
04:32We need to get the ultra-processed foods out of our diets.
04:36And any little step in that direction is going to be a massive improvement in your health.
04:43So, these are the things I'm going to ask you to do.
04:45Number one, you start your day with a big glass of water.
04:48Before your feet even touch the ground, a big glass of water.
04:52You can throw a little lemon in there if you want.
04:54You can even put a little pinch of salt in there for the minerals that you can get from salt.
04:58That's a great habit, easy, done, to get into.
05:04Another thing I do is I try to create a habit of drinking a glass of water before every meal.
05:11So that you're just, you're getting that extra water in and you don't have to think about it.
05:15If it becomes a habit, you're getting that extra water in.
05:17And then whatever else you're drinking throughout the day is icing on the cake.
05:21You need to, as far as nutrition, and there is, to me, no better way to get really nutrient-dense
05:31foods than your blender, right?
05:34So, a blender, which in the United States, there's something like 96% of all households have a blender.
05:43And making smoothies.
05:45So, blended greens with water and then whatever else you want to put in there.
05:51You can put fruit in there.
05:52You can put protein powder.
05:54Or you can put protein in the form of hemp seeds or cottage cheese.
05:58It's a really nutrient-dense way to, you could do that for breakfast.
06:03It's a great idea for breakfast.
06:05And there's thousands of recipes online.
06:08You don't need to be a chef or a cook to figure out.
06:11And it's very difficult to put ultra-processed foods in your blender.
06:15Nobody puts cake in their blender or junk food in their blender.
06:18So, that's a great habit to do.
06:21And then lastly, we have to move.
06:23In my first book, Quench, we talk about movement as a hydrating act.
06:28So, there is this fascia in our body, which is the connective tissue that surrounds every organ and every cell
06:35in our body.
06:36And we've only recently learned that fascia acts as a hydraulic pump.
06:41So, it moves fluid throughout our body.
06:43It sounds simple, but it was mind-blowing to me because I only ever thought before that fluid gets moved
06:50via blood and lymph.
06:52We now know that fascia acts as a hydraulic pump.
06:55So, any movement that you're making, you're moving fluid through your body.
07:02So, one of the reasons that I believe sitting is the new smoking, I don't know if you've heard that
07:08term before,
07:09is because it squelches delivery of hydration to your periphery.
07:13It's one of the reasons.
07:14And there's proof of that, too.
07:16They've done studies of sitting and looking at the vessels and the dehydrated vessels from that.
07:23So, you've got to move.
07:25So, first thing in the morning when you get up, start from your toes.
07:30And I'm not talking about exercise.
07:31We all need to exercise.
07:32That's a completely different conversation.
07:34I'm talking about movement.
07:36So, from your toes to your head, you want to move every joint, twist and turn and move and make
07:42it up.
07:43It doesn't matter what it is.
07:44But you want to bend your knees.
07:46You want to move your hips first thing in the morning.
07:49And then, if you can, throughout the day, think about you have to get up and move and walk and
07:55get out of your seat.
07:57So, some simple, you know, things that we can do to really make a huge difference.
08:02Very nice.
08:03And what is the biggest misconception about hydration that your research challenges?
08:11Biggest misconception?
08:14Well, I think from a patient's standpoint that we can overhydrate.
08:21We can drink too much water.
08:24You know, meaning when we drink plain bulk water, is what I call it, we're flushing out electrolytes.
08:32And we're not replacing those electrolytes, things like sodium and potassium and calcium.
08:36So, you can overhydrate by drinking too much water.
08:41And I see it a lot, especially in my patients that do a lot of hot yoga, where they sweat
08:46and they don't replenish all those minerals that they lost from the sweat.
08:51So, overhydration can be a problem as much as dehydration.
08:55And it's the same symptoms, meaning you can be fatigued, brain fog, you know, some of the same muscle cramps.
09:03So, you can get both from dehydration or overhydration.
09:06Dina, thank you for sharing your valuable insights with us today.
09:10Your perspective highlights that better health does not always require complex solutions.
09:16Often, simple changes in how we hydrate, nourish and care for our bodies can have a profound impact on our
09:22long-term well-being.
09:23So, after this discussion, we have learned that everyday habits can be among our most powerful tools for building healthier,
09:30more resilient lives.
09:31Thank you for joining us.
09:32And I am Dr. Anubha Jain from ETV Bharat signing off.
09:37Thank you so much.
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