Last week I ended up in the Emergency Room with my head spinning, nausea, and sweating. By the end of the day the doctors determined the problem was vertigo, but the first thing they observed was that my body was very dehydrated. Over the course of they day they gave me five bags of saline.

This really surprised me because I thought my body was hydrated. I literally drink water all day long. I have a glass bottle of pure water sitting on my desk all the time and I am sipping it whenever I am at my desk. But here I was, in the emergency room, dehydrated.

BASIC HYDRATION

While trying to find out how many ounces of saline (water and salt) is in an IV bag, I came across this article that begins “a lot of question about hydration can be found through the IV protocol that is followed by hospitals.” Indeed, if you are admitted to an emergency room or hospital for just about any reason, the FIRST “treatment” you are given is an IV. That’s how important hydration is.

I’m just going to quote the article here (I’ve added my own bold and underline for your convenience):

The purpose of an I.V. is to supply extra water to a dehydrated patient and/or to assure that the daily water and salt needs or “maintenance needs” are met for patients unable to take them by mouth. Naturally, there are circumstances through which the patient would not be physically able to drink water but; for the sake of staff convenience AND to enhance the billable goods, the I.V. protocol is followed for almost everybody. I’m quite sure that the fact that most Americans are chronically dehydrated makes an automatic I.V. make a whole lot of sense.

Although the amount of I.V. fluids infused depends largely on size and the needs of the patient, it is typically between 1.5 and 3 liters (50-100 ounces) a day for the average adult.That’s 6.24 – 12.5 cups of water per day! Rest assured, the medical professionals KNOW that we need 50-100 ounces of water just to hydrate in a

sedentary state.

Funny how physicians fail to emphasize the need for lots of water OUTSIDE of the walls of the hospital. When was the last time you drank 50-100 ounces of water? If you need 50-100 ounces of water just to sustain hydration in a SEDENTARY state, imagine how much more water the body needs when it’s actually moving around while you’re living life!

Many patients “lose” their symptoms when they’re (finally) hydrated using I.V. fluids! Hmm…

Health authorities usually recommend eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, which is 64 ounces or a half gallon. Barely enough to stay hydrated for a sedentary lifestyle. My doctor told me divide my weight by 2 and drink that number of ounces (for me that’s more than a half gallon but still only enough for sedentary hydration).

So drink more water! And be sure to drink [clean purified water]=lnk-to-pureeffect-on-dberaslist so you are adding hydration to your body without adding toxic chemicals.

My doctor told me a little trick. She said that your urine should be the color of “lemon water”—very light yellow. The darker the yellow of your urine, the more dehydrated you are. So just keep an eye on this and drink water accordingly.
In rare cases, too much water can be harmful. Hyponatremia occurs when your body takes in too much water, diluting vital salt levels in the blood. But you would have to greatly exceed the amount of replacement water your body needs for this to occur.

I find it helps to MEASURE out the water so you know how much you drank.

This is a basic, basic, basic necessity for health. I can’t emphasize it enough!

IS YOUR BODY DEHYDRATED?

This is a slightly edited version of a post I wrote for my Toxic Free Body blog, which is no longer live. The entire blog is available as an ebook at Toxic Free Body.

When I used to live in Florida, the daily temperature was about 88 during the day and the low 82 at night…plus it was humid…so itit was pretty much hot hot hot and sweaty day and night.

And when you go indoors, the air conditioner was dehumidifying the air, pulling even more water out of your body.

Clearly, if you aren’t drinking enough water to replenish, your body is getting dehydrated.

Bodies have a high percentage of water as an essential element of life. Where our bodies can survive two to three weeks withou food, they survive only two to three days without water.

Detoxification is occuring 24/7 in our bodies and we need to assist that process by supplying our body with adequate water to do the job. There is an old adage in natural health care: “The solution to pollution is dilution!”

When the body is dehyrdrated it tends to hold on to toxic chemicals rather than releasing them and toxics become imbedded more easily. Out in nature we can see that a flowing river is better that a stagnant pond if you want a boat to move from one point to another, Drinking adequate amount of fresh water helps the river of your bloodstream to keep moving.

Your intestinal system needs a tremndous amount of water to digest food and keep the process of elimination moving. Water helps our elimination systems work and can reduce constipation to keep the bowels moving properly. While you are constipated, wastes filled with toxic chemicals are sitting in your intestines. Toxic chemicals in those wastes are reabsorbed into your body through intestinal walls. instead of being eliminated from your body as they should. Lack of water only makes constipation worse.

Beyond this, almost any symptom you can name can be associated with dehydration! Headaches, muscle ache or pain, muscle cramps, blood pressure problems, fatigue, anxiety, and the list goes on and on! There is a great book called Your Body’s Many Cries for Water: You are Not Sick, You are Thirsty! that thoroughly discusses the importance of hydration for health and the symptoms that can result from dehydration.

Excuse me for a moment, I’m going to go drink a glass of water!

Ahhhhhhh! That’s better!

During the summer months in particular, it’s important to drink plenty of water.

Here are some tips to help your body absorb and utilize the water you drink.

1. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink water. By the time you feel thirsty, your body has lost more than 1 percent of it’s water. It’s better to drink water regularly throughout the day to replenish vital stores. Carry bottles of water with you. Glass bottles, please! No plastics. Keep a bottle of water sitting on your desk.

2. Maintain adequate electrolytes. Adequate salt and potassiium are critical to proper hydration and many can benefit especially in hot weather. A low salt diet may be necessary for some health conditions but the proper balance of minerals is necessary for proper health. I have seen many people who have turned their health around with proper mineral intake. If you are drinking a lot of water, you need to supplement sodium and potassium.

3. Eat lots of fresh, raw, green vegetables and fresh fruits. Salad is the perfect food for summer! Leafy greens contain lots of water and have all the necessary nutrients needed to assimilate that water. Fresh juicy fruits are another good source of both water and nutrients.

MORE RESOURCES
MYERS DETOX: Dehydration Causes Pain and Disease
TOXIC FREE TALK RADIO: Are You Drinking Enough Water For The Sweaty Days Of Summer?
 

 

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