Chronic Dehydration                                              By Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, D.C., N.D.
The most essential ingredient to human life is water! Most people would die within a month without food, as long as they had water. Without water, the body will only survive for 10 days. Water makes up 75% of the body, 90% of the blood, and 85% of the brain. Most people are deficient in this essential life-endowing component. The cola industry has spent millions convincing people that they need pop over water. Sadly, due to their marketing efforts, the number one beverage consumed in the world today is amazingly not water, but Coke. You need to drink pure water by itself. People may drink water in beverages, such as tea, coffee or pop, but this is not the same as drinking water. When you clean off the outside of your body, you shower or bathe in water, not pop, tea or coffee. Drink water to clean the inside of your body. How much water do you really need? Ideally to keep your body healthy on the inside, you need to consume one half your body weight in ounces. If you weighed 100 pounds, this would mean that you should drink 50 ounces of water. Simply stated, most people should minimally be drinking between two and three liters of water per day. When outside in the summer heat, you need to consume even more water to prevent chronic dehydration. Chronic dehydration is a long standing condition in which there is not enough water on the inside of your body cells. It causes or contributes to virtually any health problem you may have. If you have any persistent health problem, you can be sure that your cells have been mildly or moderately dehydrated for a long time. Your body has many warning signs that it is dehydrated. However, we have been conditioned to cover up these indicators with either food or drugs. A craving for sweets is an indication of dehydration, but most people consume sugar not water.  Allergies and depression can also be indicators of dehydration, but most people take medications for these conditions. Even stomach distress can be an indicator of a water deficiency, yet people have been conditioned to use antacids. Even if you drink a lot of water, you can still be dehydrated. Water that you drink must get inside your cells for your body to be hydrated. If you do not have sufficient water inside your cells, you are dehydrated. Dehydration symptoms include: loss of energy, fatigue, feeling stressed, stubborn weight gain, obesity, depression, anxiety, asthma, allergies, headaches, body pain, immunity problems, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, premature aging, memory loss, difficulty sleeping, hormone imbalances and more. If a healthy body is about 75% water, what happens when you eat food that contains less than 75% water? Your body must use its own water reserves to process it. This can also contribute to dehydration. Less water in the cells of the body directly lowers energy. For every 1% decrease of water inside your cells, cellular energy production is reduced by 10%. This causes fatigue. The repeated use of stimulants over burdens your body’s natural balancing mechanisms and eventually causes dehydration. Too much caffeine, sugar, tobacco, medications or drugs can have dehydrating consequences. Another cause of dehydration is the consumption of trans fats. Trans fats make stiff, rigid cell walls that cause hardening of the arteries and additional cellular dehydration. The amount of saliva that your mouth produces does not determine how well your body is hydrated. Saliva is produced even in chronic dehydration, because it is a digestive enzyme. If you wait until you have a dry mouth, your body is very dehydrated. A dry mouth is a late sign of thirst. Thirst or the need for water on the cellular level is an indication of chronic dehydration. Experts estimate over 75% of Americans over the age of 40 are chronically dehydrated.  Dehydration persists because of excessive stress. Everywhere you look we are bombarded with toxins. The air, food, water and even most of the lotion and cosmetics we put on our skin contain toxins. There are over 14,000 man-made chemicals in our food supply alone. Our bodies were simply not designed for such quantities of toxins. Toxins burn precious vitamins, minerals and water in your body. The cells use water to dilute and neutralize toxins. The body then gets rid of toxins through water-based elimination channels, such as the liver, kidneys, skin, lymphatic system and your colon. When these channels are clogged, toxins remain in the body too long, leading to localized dehydration and stress. To fix dehydration, you must drink pure water daily. Ideally water should come from a natural source (spring water). It should be free from impurities with a high quantity of minerals and stored energy. The pH of your drinking water should be in a neutral range (6.5 to 7.2). If you chose to consume distilled or reverse osmosis water, you will need to add minerals back into the water to prevent more dehydration. Help your body become healthier by drinking more water today. To learn more about the importance of water, read "The Body's Many Cries for Water", written in 1994 by Batmanghelidj, MD. Disclaimer: The recommendations in this article are not to be taken as medical advice. Please consult a qualified health care practitioner to obtain your dehydration assessment, and for specific recommendations on your personal health issues. Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, D.C., N.D. is a unique Chiropractic Holistic Wellness Consultant in Livonia, Michigan. She has been in private practice for over 23 years, with specialized training in stress reduction, gentle chiropractic, nutrition, weight loss, dehydration therapy, natural hormone evaluation and therapy, detoxification, wellness care, homeopathy, and acupuncture.  Dr. Carol Ann Fischer believes that everyone deserves the chance to see if they can get help to become healthier. Her goal is to help people to live happy, healthy and stress free. Visit the Workshops and Events section on our home page for more information on Dr. Fischer’s free public workshops on natural hormone balancing, weight loss, diet, and wellness or contact her by email at tlc4health@sbcglobal.net. To speak to Dr. Fischer, phone 734-664-0339.