Why Dehydration is Making You Sick

Reasons on why hydration is vital and easy tips on how to rehydrate your body.

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Did you know that most people today are chronically dehydrated, without even knowing it? Drinking water does so much more than satisfy your thirst — it is VITAL for your health.

Chronic dehydration is a pervasive problem, even for people who may not feel thirsty. It can contribute to an endless amount of symptoms, including migraines, poor concentration, brain fog, fatigue, constipation, and more, and can also be a symptom of other underlying health issues.

Why are most of us so chronically dehydrated?

The human body consists of up to 70% water. Most of the body’s major systems need water to function and survive. You would be surprised about what being dehydrated does for your body.

First off, we need to understand what are the factors that hinder our body to be in its optimal state. We live in a world that is filled with toxins and poisons that we are exposed to on a daily basis. Pollution, toxic heavy metals, radiation, and processed foods can have a huge impact on your level of dehydration. Mix it with food, drink and lifestyle choice, and you have an ideal recipe for chronic dehydration.

And, if you’re struggling to get your daily intake of water a day, here are more reasons to drink more.

Why is being hydrated so important for our health?

You most likely have heard of the importance of staying hydrated, but do you know why hydration is so vitally important?

When we are dehydrated, we are most likely to develop thick blood. If a certain level of dehydration is reached, the blood gets thick, which leads to many health challenges.

If the blood is thick, it gets so much more difficult for the heart to pull up the clean and fresh blood from the liver. Not only that, it also might be challenging for the heart to provide the brain and all the organs with enough blood and oxygen. This continuous hard work can exhaust the heart and eventually lead to a potential heart failure.

How thick is your blood?

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You might ask yourself, how do we get thick blood in our bodies? While some people might be born with the condition of having thick blood, most of us develop it throughout our lifetime. The more dehydrated we are, the more thick the blood will be. There are many factors that contribute to development of thick blood. One of the most important reasons are the food choices that we make every day.

Ketogenic diet and other high-fat, high-protein diet trends

Ketogenic diet is THE diet that everyone is speaking about in the last years. Yet these high-fat diets don’t give your body the hydration it craves in order to function optimally.

If you prefer a high-protein diet, you are most probably still eating lots of fat in the form of animal protein. These food choices lead quickly to dehydration and development of thick blood in the body.

Of course, you can still enjoy the animal protein, yet it is important to decrease the intake in order to prevent severe chronic dehydration of the whole body, and all its negative effects.

What are potential negative effects of thick blood?

When someone has thick blood for a long time, he or she increases the probability of having serious health problems, like stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver problems, kidney issues, and more.

Not only that, someone who is chronically dehydrated is also at a higher risk of getting cancer, because there is far less oxygen circulating through the body. In addition, having thick blood makes it harder for the body to get rid of the poisons and toxins, which further contribute to the growth of cancer.

Even if you get on a detox diet or some other healthy regimen, including a healthy lifestyle and exercises, having thick blood will make it difficult for the body to get rid of all the toxins.

You might know a person who appears to be in the best shape, yet he or she might still have thick blood, which can lead to a heart attack or a stroke. You might have heard some cases of highly athletic individuals who suddenly passed away due to a heart attack or a stroke. The doctors diagnose it as an undiscovered heart defect, yet most of them overlook the fact that thick blood could have been a trigger for the sudden death.

On the other hand, a person who doesn’t look super fit, yet he or she is taking care of the body, by staying hydrated and keeping the blood thin, he or she won’t be as likely to have a heart attack, a stroke, or other health problems related to thick blood.

Pathogens & Dehydration

Chronic dehydration and thick blood provide a perfect environment for bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms to thrive and multiply.

Especially when we consume food that is cooked and is high in fat, that contributes to further dehydration and development of thick blood, which are the ideal for viruses and bacteria to grow and cause destruction in the body.

That is why it is highly important to hydrate properly when someone is suffering from any kind of viral or bacterial infection. This is done through the right food and liquid choices.

What keeps you dehydrated?

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Dehydrating Drinks

Did you have your coffee in the morning?
Did you grab a soft drink in the afternoon to have an energy boost?
What about a glass of wine in the evening that you have with your dinner?
This type of lifestyle has become standard in our everyday life.

Unfortunately, living this way for a long period of time can lead to severe dehydration and bring other related health issues with it. If you think you can beat the dehydration by drinking some water in between the morning cappuccino and afternoon soda, your body will most probably still suffer from dehydration.

Unfortunately, this pattern over time can set someone up for severe dehydration and a host of related health problems. Even if you choose to drink some water between your soy latte and nightly espresso, your body is likely to still suffer from dehydration.

Even if you opt for just one small espresso in the morning, and have only water for the rest of the day, the chances are high that you still might be dehydrated and tend to develop thick blood.

If you enjoy your delicious coffee in the morning, please keep doing it. Simply be especially mindful to look out for hydration from other drinks and foods that you are going to consume for the rest of the day. The goal here is to keep your blood thin so that it can function smoothly and effortlessly.

Salt

We are bombarded with salt in our diet. Sadly, salt is found everywhere, from packaged food to a delicious meal in a restaurant. Unfortunately, it is not the salt that our body needs to run smoothly. In fact it may actually hinder you from staying hydrated.

Interestingly, the highly bioavailable form of sodium is found in mineral-salt rich veggies like spinach and celery. Different from the processed table salt, these vegetables give your body the type of sodium that does not dehydrate your cells.

Choosing celery and other vegetables high in sodium is an amazing way to fill your diet with the vital mineral salts that help you stay hydrated.

Cooked Food

One of the important factors that contributes to being dehydrated is a diet that consists of cooked food only.

The food that is cooked causes your body to draw liquid from other cells and organs, so that it can be broken down. Of course, that doesn’t imply that cooked food is unhealthy, but being aware of it and choosing the right balance of cooked food with raw vegetables and fruits will help you increase your levels of hydration in your body with ease.

If you are used to only eating cooked food, you can start with a simple lemon water into your daily routine, so that your body gets some hydration. Next time go for a healthier food choice that is available for you, and in no time you will have created a healthy habit that helps you stay hydrated.

Try to figure out the ratio of raw to cooked foods that feels right for you and your body. If you aren’t up for bringing any raw foods into your diet at this time, at least try to make the healthiest food choices you can and consider bringing lemon water into your daily routine as a way to provide your body with some hydration.

In general, incorporating fresh, raw juices into your diet can be beneficial, but if you drink bone broth, bringing in daily juices is critical. Try adding celery juice, cucumber juice, or a green juice into your diet once or twice a day. Lemon water and/or a hydrating morning smoothie can be beneficial as well.

How dehydration can affect your health: Panic, Anxiety, & Depression

So many people go through life with chronic dehydration, without realizing what type of negative consequences it has on their health.

If you experience some type of anxiety or panic attack, or even depression, it is vital that you are hydrated. When the body is dehydrated and you have thick blood, these symptoms can get worse. Whenever you are under any stress, it is important to hydrate well, to oppose any negative effects associated with neurological symptoms.

Try to avoid dehydrated drinks, like coffee, green tea, matcha etc, and opt for more hydrating beverages, like lemon water. Staying hydrated will help heal all types of anxiety issues.

Gallstones

If you don’t address chronic dehydration for a long period of time, there is a high risk of developing gallstones. Modern diet trends, consisting of high protein and high-fat meals, and lack of fruits, can also lead to gallstones.

The worst part is that you might not even be aware of having gallstones until you reach an acute state where the only treatment seems to be the removal of the gallbladder.

To avoid this from happening, incorporate more fresh fruits into your diet. Fresh fruits and veggies can help break down and dissolve gallstones that were formed because of high-protein diets. Of course, you can still enjoy a protein diet, but make sure to increase some fruits and vegetables in your routine.

If you already are experiencing some issues with gallstones that cause you pain or other suffering, try to eliminate all animal protein for some time until you feel better.

Ways to stay hydrated: High-Quality Water

Chances are that you are not drinking enough water. Instead of going for some plane water, make sure it is high-quality water. Even if the water has small traces of chlorine, it might be very dehydrating.

Of course, water is highly essential for human health. But there is more that you can do to help hydrate your body. In fact, you can uplevel your hydration with many foods and other drinks. Implement these following ideas into your daily life to increase your hydration and most importantly, support your health.

1. Cucumber juice

Cucumbers are an amazing remedy for chronic dehydration! They help thin out the blood, thus supporting all the organs to run smoothly and effortlessly. Not only that, they have an anti-aging effect that helps hydrate you at the deepest cellular level imaginable.

Fresh cucumber juice cleanses and detoxes the entire body from within, as well as helping with digestive issues, like gastritis, heartburn, and indigestion. On top of all of that, the high silica load in cucumbers contributes to healthy hair and strong nails, making them a powerful beauty food.

If your day is filled with many dehydrating foods and drinks, opt for a glass of fresh cucumber juice to counteract the negative effects.

2. Lemon Water

Lemon water is an amazing way to hydrate your body!
Did you know that the tap water or the water from a bottle has lost all its living structure and its vitality? When you add some fresh lemon juice to it, you literally invigorate, energize the water and give it life.
The water-lemon mix can travel more deeply into your cells. Thus, your body will receive the vital nutrients and minerals to help you feel your best.

To reap the benefits of lemon water, do your best to incorporate it into your daily life. Squeeze some lemon into a glass of water and enjoy! To boost your hydration, add some lemon juice also into your teas or salads.

3. Coconut Water

Coconut is a miracle among beverages.
Did you know that coconut water has the same level of electrolytic balance that we have in our blood? Its ratio of electrolyte is identical to human blood plasma. Thus, drinking coconut water is literally giving you a blood transfusion to balance out all electrolytes and minerals, making it an ideal drink for athletes and everyone who lives an active and busy life.

Coconut water, even if it is pasteurized, has the power to hydrate the body on a deeper, cellular level. It also has the ability to help balance out blood pH levels, support the kidneys by detoxifying poisons from the blood and boost the immune system.

4. Fresh, raw vegetables

By adding fresh, raw veggies into your daily routine will help you stay hydrated. And the best part is that it doesn’t even need to be much. By including some cucumbers in your salad, eating some raw zucchini pasta or bringing in more fresh tomatoes or bell peppers into your daily diet routine, is all you need to start a healthy way of hydrated living.

5. Fruit

Fresh fruits are ultra-hydrating for the body! They have an incredibly healing effect on our bodies. Among all the benefits that fruit has, hydration is one of them. It not only prevents dis-eases, but it also slows down aging, kills off pathogens, and heals every cell in our bodies.

Simply amp up the amount of fruits in your diet and see and FEEL the positive effects of your newly established habit.

Conclusion

If you want to stay hydrated, you don’t need to drown yourself in water. Simply, by adding some more fresh fruits and vegetables into your routine, or having more fresh juices and smoothies, can tremendously uplevel your hydration status.

Being hydrated is HIGHLY important for electrolyte balance and for thinning out the blood. It can help ease anxiety, panic attacks and even depression, as well as help your body to detox all the toxins and the poisons that we are exposed to continuously.

If you think you suffer from chronic dehydration, please know that you can reverse this. The best thing about it is that you can start with the smallest steps today. You can heal from chronic dehydration and reverse all the negative effects associated with it.

Something as simple as a glass with lemon water is an amazing start to your new, healthy routine. Simply ask yourself if there is something that you can include in your daily diet routine to help thin out your blood and raise your level of hydration.

Of course, it might take some time to heal fully, but with the right intention and the right attitude, you are already halfway there. One step of healthy choice at a time will bring you so much closer to good health. Even by starting today, you will feel all the positive effects of the living water in your cells. You will feel energized, motivated, joyful, and “alive” in your body.

Enjoy this amazing process of helping your body heal from within. Noone can do it for you, but you. You CAN heal yourself from within. All you need is the decision to do it.