Re: chronic dehydration

 Hey. All. I know that dehydration can cause some serious issues if it gets really bad, like when people drink loads of alcohol on the beach, bad combination. However, what happens if one drinks some caffeine and doesn't drink nearly enough water day in and day out?

Caffeine is a definite diuretic, so you can easily become dehydrated from drinking coffee. The sugar people add to coffee and alcohol, which raises blood sugar are also dehydrating. Sugar is very hygroscopic (water absorbing). So you can think of glucose molecules as little sponges. As the body eliminates excess sugar through the urine it takes the water right with it.

I'm sure that optimal hydration would really improve one's health. What are the symptoms of chronic dehydration?

The easy ones to notice are dry lips and skin, constipation, and in severe cases tenting of the skin. This is where you pinch the skin and it does not rebound right away. Other symptoms that people may not associate include joint pain and low blood pressure. If there is a lung infection or sinus drainage it can also lead to thicker, stickier mucous that is hard to cough up.

Also. The medical community says to avoid salt, the iodized mineral stripped type. A lot in the natural health community state that sea salt is good for hydration and that it is actually not harmful for hypertension. This is important as my bp has been elevated when i go to the doc.

Salt is essential, just like water. But just like water though, too much can be a problem. Unless you are sweating out a lot of electrolytes or have an electrolyte imbalance from kidney disease or something then it is important to minimize salt intake. Most of us get way more salt that we need daily just from our diet.

So, what are the symptoms of dehydration? And, can real salt help with it without harm?

Answered above.

But another thing to keep in mind about dehydration is the type of water you drink. All of the waters claiming to be hydrating because they are clustered, etc. are actually dehydrating. These gimmick waters are really nothing more than highly purified waters. The more pure a water is the faster it will enter the cells. On the other hand entering cells to quickly can be harmful as the cells could rupture if the excess water is not eliminated quickly enough. This is what happens to kill salt water fish when they are placed in fresh water. So the body has to eliminate that water very quickly . So quick in quick out leading to more dehydration. This is why these waters act like diuretics. R/O and distilled waters fall in to the same category. This is another reason I prefer spring water first followed by R/O water with minerals added back to the water. Saturated waters are more evenly absorbed and eliminated, and you get the benefits of the minerals in the process.

Thanks, AB. ps. great forum!

Thanks.