Happy Friday! I hope you have had a great week! Have you been paying attention to your eater intake this week?
Let’s continue our talk about water this week by discussing dehydration.
Water is the most common nutritional deficiency in America. The over consumption of diuretic beverages and listening to the thirst signals your body is giving you can quickly lead to dehydration! Your body is unable to store water so it is important to replenish daily…remember the formula I shared last week? It is: body weight/2 + (oz. of diuretics X 1.5) = ounces of water you need daily.
Where does all the water you drink go if it isn’t being stored??
While water is initially absorbed for use within the body, it is expelled after being used. You lose 4% in your GI tract, 12% through breathing, 24% through your skin and 60% from your kidneys as urine.
If you lose just 2% of your needed water, you become fatigued. Maybe you need a glass of water to fight the afternoon slurp, not a sweet treat of extra cup of coffee.
A 10% drop affects your digestion, immune and cardiovascular function. Your body will begin to shrink or close blood vessel and capillary beds as dehydration sets in. This limits your blood flow throughout the body. The result is high blood pressure because the only way to move fluid through a smaller opening is with force!
Guess what happens if you lose more than 10%….DEATH!!! Pretty sure I don’t need to elaborate on the one!
Dehydration has many signs, both early and more mature. You might be surprised to know that “dry mouth” is actually one of the very last signs that appear.
The early signs are fatigue, anxiety, irritability, depression, cravings, cramps and headaches. Mature signs include heartburn, joint pain, back pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, constipation and colitis.
Dehydration does not just occur in the heat of the summer sun!! you can experience it any day of the year. Familiarize yourself with the early warning signs and take action if you are experiencing any of them! Have a glass of water, add a pinch of sea salt as I suggested last week to keep your electrolytes in balance and help aid absorption.
To stay ahead of your hydration, sip water throughout the day. Don’t chug it all at once! Your body is not able to use and distribute large amounts of water at one time. Your pipes will be overflowing! Your will expel most of the water before your body have a chance to absorb it.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of water, I recommend Your Body’s Many Cries for Water. Or just hang around here, I am certain I will pass on more gems from that book in the future!
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