Significant heat, physical activity in the sun, physical professional activity, the situations that can cause you to become dehydrated are numerous. When your body has lost between 1% and 2% of its total water content, it signals its needs to you by making you feel thirsty. Using thirst as the basis for knowing how much water to drink is a good way to ensure that your personal daily needs are met.
Unfortunately, before the thirst mechanism kicks in, you may already be a little dehydrated. Most studies show that around 2/3 of people are regularly dehydrated and should drink more water. This is especially true as we age.
It may therefore be wise to learn to recognize some of the subtle signals that your body sends you, telling you that it needs more water.
Here are the symptoms of dehydration:
– Dark, concentrated urine, or infrequent urination
– Confusion, fatigue or mood swings
– Headache
– Hungry when you have eaten recently
– Lack of perspiration during sport
– Lack of energy
– Dry mouth or eyes, or dry, dull skin
– Muscle cramps or spasms
Water and nothing else
If you are used to consuming a soda type drink daily or to quench your thirst, you are on the wrong track. Drinking a soda or an energy drink amounts to consuming at one time more than the entire recommended sugar intake for a day. An energy drink or soda containing 29 grams of sugar is almost TWICE the recommended daily allowance of fructose for people with insulin resistance, and is 4 grams over the limit for people without insulin resistance!
With your liver having to process all that sugar, overconsumption puts you at risk of developing chronic metabolic disease and insulin resistance. If left unchecked, insulin resistance can progress to metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. The metabolism of fructose by your liver also creates many waste products and toxins, including large amounts of acid uric acid, which raises blood pressure and promotes the occurrence of gout.
[HighProtein-Foods.com]
