The Origins Of Dehydration

By Walter Q. Xavier


Three things are essential to sustain human life. Without these, we'll be dead pretty quickly, although the absence of each one takes different amounts of time to kill us. Without air, we'll be dead in a matter of minutes. Without water, we'll drop dead in a matter of days. Without food, we can actually last a fairly long time, up to a month or more, depending on our emergency reserves. Because dehydration can sometimes be disguised as other feelings, it's important to know what kinds of things can make us dehydrated. In this article I'll go over a couple of them, so you'll know what to be careful of.
Even when just sitting around, your body uses plenty of water. You have a finely tuned filtration system that constantly filters your blood and removes all the chemicals that you don't need. So just as a natural course of existing, you need plenty of water. Even if you don't feel thirsty, you're body is producing a need for water around the clock. To keep from getting dehydrated, consider sipping some water throughout the day, even if you feel you don't need it.

Another obvious activity that increases your need for water is exercise. This causes an increase in lactic acid in your muscles, which needs to be filtered out. Exercise also causes the body to heat up, causing excess perspiration, which uses plenty of water. Often times you can go through a rigorous workout and not feel thirsty. Keep in mind that thirst is a last minute warning signal, and be sure to drink plenty of water while exercising.

Consuming alcohol is another cause of dehydration, as anybody who has woken up after a night of drinking can attest to. Your body requires a quite a bit of water to break down and metabolize the alcohol, and this makes you thirsty. However, by waiting until you are very thirsty to drink water, you run the risk of doing damage. So make sure to drink plenty of water along with whatever else you are drinking. This can also help reduce the risk of having a hangover the next morning.

Caffeine containing drinks also cause quite a bit of dehydration. For one, the caffeine requires water to be metabolized and processed, just like alcohol. Also, caffeine is a diuretic, which means it increases your urinary output. This also requires more water, and will make you dehydr
Consuming alcohol is another cause of dehydration, as anybody who has woken up after a night of drinking can attest to. Your body requires a quite a bit of water to break down and metabolize the alcohol, and this makes you thirsty. However, by waiting until you are very thirsty to drink water, you run the risk of doing damage. So make sure to drink plenty of water along with whatever else you are drinking. This can also help reduce the risk of having a hangover the next morning.

Caffeine containing drinks also cause quite a bit of dehydration. For one, the caffeine requires water to be metabolized and processed, just like alcohol. Also, caffeine is a diuretic, which means it increases your urinary output. This also requires more water, and will make you dehydrated. Consider drinking an extra glass or two of water for every caffeinated beverage that you drink. This can help offset the dehydrating effects of caffeine.

These are some of the things which can cause dehydration, which can lead to other health problems like stress, excessive tiredness, and a weakened immune system. By making sure you offset these by drinking plenty of water, you'll be sure to stay healthy.




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