Dehydration in humans, even mild dehydration, has been increasingly seen as causing or worsening various conditions, from asthma to heart disease, hypertension to infections and many more.
Why is dehydration linked to many conditions?
Because dehydration occurs on several levels including cellular. When you are dehydrated, the very cells that populate every organ & system of your body, are dehydrated. So, every system & organ can be affected by cells that function less effectively potentially leading to all kinds of disorders.
How widespread is the problem of dehydration?
Research suggests that 70 - 80% of us walk around in a state of mild to moderate dehydration. This problem seems to worsen as we age. It is also widening due to the wide availability of drinks that do not hydrate as well as water & foods that contain more chemicals, sugar & contaminants than in previous centuries.
Effects of dehydration haven't been adequately studied except for its effect on reduced work ability & reduced performance during exercise sessions.
This is one area where we can provide exact, scientific facts.
There have been many experiments conducted on how dehydration effects our ability (capacity) to do work.
Here is what the research shows: For every 1% of water weight that we lose, our capacity to do work or exercise goes down 10%. So, if we lose 3% of our water weight, our capacity goes down by about a third.
Example: A person weighs 160 pounds and he is 75% water. So he has, or is, 120 pounds water. If he loses just 1.2 pounds of water his ability in whatever physical activity he's engaging in, gets 10% worse.
The effect continues at the same rate. So 2% water loss = 20% loss of capacity and so on.
This finding shows us how just a little water loss or dehydration, easily done in a moderate exercise session, leads to a great loss in ability to work or perform.
So, is it reasonable to assume that even a little dehydration greatly effects how well all of our organs and systems and cells perform their duties 24/7?
While we can't be perfectly hydrated, we should be aware of the effects of dehydration & the many causes of dehydration.
Following is our super list of the causes of dehydration. Keep them in mind the next time you are feeling badly for no apparent reason.
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