Walters: This life-altering liquid can help you get your health back in balance

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When I went for my yearly checkup with my primary doctor in September of 2020, the results were frightening.

My cholesterol, which had been a tad high at 200 the prior year, was 264. My triglycerides, which had been 170, were over 500!

I seemed much more worried about it than my doctor. He wasn’t ready to put me on medication or take drastic measures.

After all, we were just emerging from the stay-at-home portion of the pandemic, where pizza, chicken wings and other foods of comfort and convenience were bombarding my diet.

I stayed active by running and working out during this time, so my weight was only up a few pounds, but it was my insides that had me fearing the worst.

Simultaneously, I have been battling an issue with high amounts of potassium in my kidneys for 15 years. My nephrologist diagnosed it as hyperkalemia, and there is no clear reason as to why it occurs.

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The only thing that ever helped me reach normal levels was this awful water pill that had me constantly running to the bathroom, making it hard to take daily. I also have been taking another pill that was supposed to bind and expel potassium for years.

Around this same time of high cholesterol and high triglycerides, a visit to my nephrologist showed my potassium levels were even more elevated than normal.

At that point, I dedicated the next year to doing two things: eating better and drinking more water in hopes of cleaning out my kidneys, lowering my cholesterol and getting those triglycerides back to where they need to be.

I’ve never been one to drink much water. I had always consumed a lot of iced tea, sports drinks and flavor packets in water. (And maybe a beer or two).

I knew this would be a hurdle.

Eating better wasn’t that difficult. Prior to the pandemic, I enjoyed cooking meals and making salads.

Once the haze of the pandemic started to clear and certain foods were more regularly available again (and I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store was like heading into battle), I got my diet back in line in hopes of lowering my cholesterol and triglycerides.

The water part was the hardest change. I knew I needed to drink quite a bit, but I wanted to know how much, so I did some research.

I read that the old saying about drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day was a myth, of sorts. It’s basically a good guideline to get you to drink more water, but it’s not exactly accurate.

In actuality, it has to do with body weight, physical activity, etc…

One metric I found said to drink between half your weight and your full weight in ounces of water a day.

In other words, I’m 150 pounds, so I’d need to drink between 75 and 150 ounces of water a day.

That seemed like a big task. As I insinuated earlier, I don’t exactly have the biggest bladder.

Luckily, I’ve been working from home since March 2020, so it gave me the opportunity to be closer to my own facilities, so to speak.

I set off on my watery quest, drinking at least 75 ounces of water a day beginning Jan. 1, 2021. After three months of doing this religiously, I visited my kidney doctor.

For the first time in 15 years, my potassium levels were normal without the aid of a water pill. We tested again a month later, and my potassium was still in the good area.

After 6 months of normalcy, he decided to take me off the other medication I had taken for years. He tested me a couple of months later, and again, after blood tests, my potassium was good.

I’m hoping this is a permanent thing, but the verdict is ongoing.

As for my yearly check-up visit with my primary doctor in September 2021 — a year after my frighteningly high test results — I got good news. My cholesterol had sunk 60 points to 204 and my triglycerides sank to 169. Both were still a tad high, but given the prior year’s results, I’ll take it.

As we head into spring and the warm weather returns, make it your mission to eat better, drink water and stay active.

If my story doesn’t motivate you to up your water intake for a healthier life, than take the words of Harvard. According to Harvard.edu, the benefits of water include:

• Carrying nutrients and oxygen to your cells.

• Flushing bacteria from your bladder.

• Aiding digestion.

• Preventing constipation.

• Normalizing blood pressure.

• Stabilizing the heartbeat.

• Cushioning joints.

• Protecting organs and tissues.

• Regulating body temperature.

• Maintaining electrolyte (sodium) balance.

Can you believe all of that can come from drinking a mixture of two hydrogens and one oxygen?

I’m 45 years old and feeling as good as I ever have.

I still love chicken wings (in moderation), but I also like it when my kidney doctor draws a smily face on my bloodwork report.

It makes me as proud as my second-grader when she comes home with a star on her homework.

Contact Walters at twalters@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Imbibing the mixture of two simple elements will make you healthier