Discovering Chronic Dehydration Symptoms

When we think about people getting sick or even dying from water related issues, we often think of 3^rd World countries, unsanitary water conditions or complete lack of safe drinking water.  However, even in the United States where we have access to water 24/7 a majority of individuals are not consuming enough water daily.

Most people don’t think they need to worry about dehydration unless they happen to find themselves on a camel ride through the desert.  A condition known as chronic dehydration is a growing problem. This condition is often exasperated by drinking too little water combined with consuming sugary, carbonated beverages.

John Ivy, PhD, coauthor of Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition (Basic Health, 2004), compares a dehydrated athlete to a stalled car on the side of the road, hissing smoke. In a car, the water system should cool the engine and transfer heat to the radiator, but if the cooling system fails, the engine conks out.

Chronic Dehydration Symptoms: Top 10 List

1. Fatigue and Loss of Energy: Dehydration of the tissues causes activity of enzymes to slow down.

2. Weight Gain and Obesity:  Our body craves the water it needs and may convince us to eat foods that are rich in water. Thirst is often confused with hunger.

3. Cholesterol: Too much liquid is drained from inside the cells when a body is dehydrated so the body tries to make up for this by producing more cholesterol.

4. Digestive Disorders and Stomach Ulcers: Reduction of the secretion of digestive juices occurs creating havoc with the normal process of digestion. To protect its mucous membranes from the now acidic digestive fluid, the stomach secretes a layer of mucus.

5. Respiratory Issues: The mucous membranes of the respiratory region are supposed to be slightly moist to protect the respiratory tract from substances that might be present in inhaled air.

6. Acid-Alkaline Imbalance: The enzymatic process is slowed causing acidification.

7. Eczema: The toxins can’t be released if you can’t produce enough sweat.

8. Cystitis, Urinary Infections: If toxins contained in urine are not well diluted, they attack the urinary tract.

9. Premature Aging: The body of a newborn child is composed of 80 percent liquid and this ratio declines as we reach adult hood it is around 70 percent.

10. Rheumatoid Arthritis and Inflammation: Dehydration increases the concentration of toxins in the blood and cellular fluids, and the pain increases in proportion to the inability to flush these toxins.

While increasing your water intake is a really good thing to ensure you get enough for healthy living, please drink responsibly.  There are 1500 plastic water bottles consumed in 1 second in the US! This means 90,000 per minute and 5,400,000 each hour! (Statistics from treehugger.com).

Sandy J. Duncan is a freelance writer and wellness enthusiast.  She and her husband have 5 teenagers and have been married for 21 blissful years.  She loves writing, researching, learning, growing and sharing anything about natural living and healthier choices.

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