The Dangers of Chronic Dehydration

When we think of dehydration, we often think of athletes competing in extreme heat or perhaps a poor soul stranded in the desert. While these are two good examples of acute dehydration, there is another type of dehydration that is much more common place. Chronic dehydration is a widespread problem that many people tend to ignore because their bodies are not in immediately peril (unlike that poor fellow in the desert who has three days to live) yet it is a problem that can be very detrimental in the long run if you fail to provide your body with the right amount water that it needs in order to function properly.

How can you tell if you are chronically dehydrated?

You might think that having a dry mouth is the first sign of being chronic, but actually, a dry mouth is actually a sign of acute dehydration and means that you have already gone past the chronic thirst stage. Our bodies are miracles of evolution and have learned to deal with chronic dehydration by redistributing the water that is available to the vital organ functions. Initial signs that you are not getting enough water are fatigue, constipation, and digestive disorders. This is followed by blood pressureproblems, ulcers, trouble breathing, pH imbalance, excessive weight, eczema, high cholesterol, urinary tract infections, and rheumatism. 

Chronic dehydration speeds up the aging process causing you to feel older quicker and if you consider that our bodies are made up of 70% water (80% of our brain matter, 90% of our blood)if makes sense that we constantly need to keep resupplying ourselves with this all important substance.  In order to find out how much water you really need on a daily basis: take your weight, divide in half and convert to ounces. This means a 200 pound man is going to need to drink 100 ounces of water a day to avoid being chronically dehydrated even more if he happens to be physically active or living in a hot climate. 

Hunger Vs Thirst 

Some of you might be wondering how you have managed to stay alive when you are drinking nowhere near the proper amount of water. This is because the food you eat also contains water along with all those sodas, beers, juices, and coffee drinks that you are drinking. If fact many times that we think we are hungry, we are mainly thirsty and do not realize it since our thirst is sated by the water content of the foods we eat. Unfortunately, by taking care of our water need this way, we are also adding on unwanted stores of fat and making it more difficult for our bodies to eliminate built up waste. 

In conclusion, drinking enough water can eliminate many of the modern health problems that are currently plaguing us. Doing do will have you feeling better, moving easier (in more ways than one) and even looking younger. Raise your glass to fresh pure water.