Dehydration and Your Health

“The amount of water in the human body, averaging 70%, varies considerably and even from one part of the body to another area. A lean man may hold 70% of his weight in body water, while a woman – because of her larger proportion of water-poor fatty tissues – may be only 52% water. The lowering of the water content in the blood is what triggers the hypothalamus, the brain’s thirst center, to send out its urgent demand.” Quoted from ‘Water - The Shocking Truth’ by Dr. Patricia Bragg N.D., Ph.D.

Your body cannot function properly if it fails to have the proper levels of minerals, vitamins and water. The human brain is mostly fat and fat is mostly water so the bottom line is your brain is about 80% water.

There are many signs of dehydration but one of the most noticeable is a loss of energy. Additional signs of dehydration are dry mouth, thirst, dizziness, lightheadedness, headache and muscle weakness.

Water carries nutrients to your cells and waste away from your cells among other functions. Your body temperature is also regulated by water.

Your brain cannot function properly if you are dehydrated and most of your bodily functions are inefficient at best if you don’t have enough water in your system.

Diseases can gain a foothold in your body when it has been weakened by malnutrition or dehydration. Your body releases histamine when it is dehydrated which can make you more sensitive to allergies. Constipation is a problem that happens more often in dehydrated people. Skin problems happen more frequently in people that don’t have enough water.

Diverticular disease is a medical problem where a pocket forms in the weakened wall of the bowel. It is believed that this disease happens in some people when the body has had to rely on the abdominal muscles too often to push hard stools out. Hard stools can happen when the diet has too little fiber in the diet AND too little water.

You can help prevent this one disease with proper nutrition and hydration.

Eating processed foods, drinking coffee, juices, soda and alcoholic beverages can help leach water out of your system.

Each person has different water requirements so it is impossible to tell you how much you should drink.

Athletes require more water than someone sitting in an office. Breast feeding mothers need more water than mothers that aren’t lactating.

Properly hydrated people have almost clear or light yellow urine unless they are on medication. The darker yellow the urine is the more dehydrated you are.

A common recommendation on fluids consumed is a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day with a maximum of 12 ounces per gulp. Spreading your water intake out at relatively even intervals is usually recommended.

IF you are breast feeding, sweating, or doing any activity where you lose fluids, you’ll need more water. Anyone that intends to exercise should drink extra water 15-20 minutes before you start your exercising. This extra water can help prevent muscle cramps or reduce their severity if they do develop. (Muscle cramps can happen during exercise because of dehydration and a magnesium deficiency.)

You can start rebuilding your health and protecting what you have by making sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day.

2007-2008 Copyright by the Natural Remedies Products Staff a.k.a. NRP - Dehydration and Your Health

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