Some common questions regarding the link between hydration and wellness.

In the second of this series of articles we will answer some common questions regarding the link between hydration and wellness.

 

What are the symptoms of dehydration?

The reason dehydration is such a difficult issue to manage is that the symptoms are not particularly obvious until the level of dehydration is quite extreme.  If you encounter someone who is significantly dehydrated in an acute way – perhaps they are exercising hard at high temperatures or they simply have had no fluid intake for a period of time –

·           They will be tired.

·           They will be lethargic.

·           They will often be confused.

But this is an extreme end state level of dehydration.  That is not where people are the most of the time.

Most of us are at a point when we are only fractionally dehydrated.  The symptoms of that are much harder to pick.

There are whole series of tests that people can use can use to identify the advancing stages of dehydration.  These include picking up a small amount of skin on the back of your hand between the thumb and forefinger and seeing how quickly it returns when you let go. It is not a particularly accurate way of measuring dehydration and certainly depends a lot on factors like the age of the person.  But it is a way that you can self-monitor to some degree.  Observing urine volume and colour and frequency of urination is another approach.  Darkly colored urine, infrequent need to empty your bladder and small urine volumes suggest a level of dehydration.  Overall this is about the limit in terms of being able to measure these things by symptomatology.

We have scientific techniques for measuring the relative state of dehydration such as bioimpedance body composition testing. Obviously, they are not available to most people.

The simplest way to address the issue is to make sure you take steps to maintain an optimal level of hydration at all times and never allow these signs and symptoms to creep into your experience. I acknowledge this is somewhat avoiding the question but it is the reality for most of us and it is the best way to approach the issue.

 

Why is it that as we age our bodies become more and more dehydrated, or at least it seems that is the case?

It may well be that we are looking at the question the wrong way around. Maybe our bodies age because they become more and more dehydrated.  Perhaps if we are able to maintain the optimal level of hydration in the cells that is needed by the body many of the age related processes of degeneration would actually be slowed.

It is certainly true that increasing dehydration and aging go hand in hand but perhaps we should be looking at that question from the point of view of making sure that we stay hydrated and in doing so that process will actually be slowed.  It’s clear that we can’t stop it completely because many other factors are at play here. 

This is not to suggest that dehydration is the only factor that can cause the aging process but certainly it is a significant one and if we can manage it, then we can gain some significant anti-aging benefits.

Why is it that a well hydrated body is so essential to being able to eliminate toxins in the body?

The analogy that is appropriate here is to think about the ebb and flow of the tide.  The water that is available in the body is the most significant amount of matter that is able to move in and out of cells.  It is in fact the mechanism by which all nutrients are brought into cells and also all toxins are taken out of cells.

If the mass, or volume, of water that is moving in and out of cells is low then the ability for nutrients to be taken into the cells is reduced and the ability of toxins to be removed by the cells is reduced.  So, simply increasing the available volume of fluids that can move in and out cells will both improve the uptake of nutrients and also the clearance of toxins. It is very important for the body to be well hydrated to facilitate the clearance of toxins.

 

Bio:

 

Dr Jaroslav Boublik B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D. (Med), MRACI, C.Chem. AACNEM

Jaroslav has spent almost 30 years in medical research with 15 years in drug development and then 15 years in nutritional medicine.  He consults to the nutrition industry as a formulator, researcher, presenter and educator.  His primary research interest is water and hydration and he is the co-developer of The Aqua Formulas.