Dehydration and What It Means

When we are young we just drink water or some beverage when we are thirsty.  Thirst is the symptom to drink.  However, when you age thirst is not enough to start jugging down the water.  Water has to become a daily  habit to avoiding dehydration.

I personally thought that with all the produce I consume I wouldn't need to worry about drinking water to prevent dehydration.  Well I was very wrong.  One day after a motorcycle ride with my husband and lunch out with a group I started having stomach pains.  I just thought it was a disagreement with the food I had for lunch.  Fortunately I made it home before all the horrific symptoms of dehydration set in.  I was extremely  dizzy and spent a lot of time in the bathroom.  My husband immediately took me to the Emergency room where I was hydrated intravenously.  I promised myself to get into a strict drinking of water routine.  However, I didn't take this seriously enough and had two more attacks.  There are three stages of dehydration which include mild, moderate and severe.   You may be lucky to have a few mild symptoms such as feeling tired, slightly nauseous and a bit dizzy.  Start drinking water immediately and if you have a gatorade water product on hand this will also help a great deal.

I began my regime of drinking gatorade and water combined.  I started to feel better and to this day I get at least  1.5 quarts of water today with a small amount of gatorade.  As we age we have to think of dehydration  prevention as the body does become less forgiving.  When you live in warm weather your need for water increases so start drinking water today if it has not been on your agenda.

For those of you who truly dislike water try adding the juice of a lemon plus a teaspoon of xylitol or stevia and make a lemonade drink.  Carry your water around the house and always have a bottle in the car so there are no excuses for not drinking enough water. The good news is that dehydration is preventable.  And it goes without saying that if you are physically active you need to replace your water loss and keep your electrolytes in balance.

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