Are You Dehydrated?

Our bodies are made up of 60% water. I just saw a poster that said that 75 percent of Americans were chronically dehydrated. When our water balance gets off it can cause a lot of health problems.

Did you know that when you are dehydrated it can cause your joints and muscles to ache. When you are dehydrated you are more likely to strain your muscles. Feeling a bit achy before you go for the over the counter pain meds see if you are dehydrated. Drink a big glass of water.

A quick dehydration test is to pinch the skin on the back of your hand to form a tent. Hold it for a few seconds and then release. Does the skin snap quickly back into place or does it move gradually back to position? If you are hydrated it will snap back quickly.  Other symptoms to look for would be tiredness, achy joint or muscles, infrequent dark colored urination, lack of tears, headache or dizziness. "If you're sweating, you're losing water," says Nancy Clark, MS, RD, sports dietitian in Chestnut Hill, Mass., and author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. She suggests an easy way to tell if you are dehydrated. "If you go from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon without peeing, then you're dehydrated."

Obviously when you are thirsty it is your body signaling that you need water. Sadly we too often reach for other drinks. “Alcohol is a diuretic, It acts on the kidneys to make you pee out much more than you take in – which is why you need to go to the toilet so often when you drink.  In fact for every 1g of alcohol drunk, urine excretion increases by 10ml', says Professor Oliver James, head of clinical medical sciences at Newcastle University.  I had been told that coffee was a diuretic that added to potential dehydration. Seems that is a myth.  "Caffeine can make you need to urinate. However, the fluid you consume in caffeinated beverages tends to offset the effects of fluid loss when you urinate. The bottom line is that although caffeine does act as a mild diuretic, studies show drinking caffeinated drinks in moderation doesn't actually cause dehydration." WebMD

I read that to mean it offsets the loss but does not add to your hydration level. So don't give up your coffee but do make sure you drink water as well throughout the day. Other drinks have to be processed and filtered by the body. The acid in soda robs calcium and other minerals from the body that it needs for other functions.  One report said you needed to drink 32 cups of water to neutralize the acid from one can of soda. High sugar drinks add calories and diet drinks mess up your kidney function, your metabolism and cell damage but I suppose we can save that for another post.
The bottom line is that your body needs water to function properly - just give it what it needs. Drink water first and save the other drinks for occasional treats.  

I liked this quote that I found about the link between stress and dehydration.
"It turns out that the link between stress and dehydration is actually very simple. All of our organs, including our brains, need water to function properly. If you are dehydrated, your body is not running as efficiently, which means that you will be more vulnerable to stress. In other words, stress causes dehydration, and dehydration causes stress." (see http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/water-stress-reduction).

After massage we always have our clients drink a glass of water and encourage them to keep drinking. I read a great explanation in one of my text books. If you think of a sponge that has soaked up a lot of gunk. It needs to be rinsed and wrung out. Our muscles are kind of like that sponge they collect a lot of the toxic gunk for your body. When you exercise or get a massage the muscle sponges get squeezed and if you don't turn on the water to wash that gunk out of your system it will cause you headaches and sometimes even flu like symptoms. Water is far more important to our health and wellbeing than most of us realize.

I found this tip on how to calculate your own daily water requirements from My Food Diary "There are many different methods for calculating daily fluid requirements. However, a simple equation to help adults figure their fluid needs is that for every pound of body weight, you need about half an ounce of fluid intake per day. For instance, if you weigh 140 lbs., simply multiply 140 by .5 to estimate your daily fluid needs in ounces, then divide by eight to estimate your fluid needs in cups per day, rounding up to the nearest full cup. [example: 140 x .5 = 70 ounces; 70 ounces divided by 8 = 9 cups of fluid per day] 0.5 ounces x Body Weight in Pounds = Daily Fluid Requirement in ounces"

The easier way is just take half of what you weigh and divide it by the size drink cup you use.
I hardly ever use an 8oz cup I like the big 16 oz drink cups. I just did the math and I need to drink a little more than I thought.

My Self Care Wellness Activity 
Step 1: Calculate how much water you need to drink based on your body weight.
Step 2: Drink your water. Your body will thank you.