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The Dangers of Dehydration (Part I)

Monday, June 16, 2008 by: Andreas Moritz (see all articles by this author)

(NaturalNews) The human body is composed of 75 percent water and 25 percent solid matter. To provide nourishment, eliminate waste and conduct all the trillions of activities in the body, we need water. Most modern societies, however, no longer stress the importance of drinking water as the most important "nutrient" among nutrients. Entire population groups are substituting water with tea, coffee, alcohol and other manufactured beverages. Many people don't realize that the natural thirst signal of the body is a sign that it requires pure, plain drinking water. Instead, they opt for other beverages in the belief that this will satisfy the body's water requirements. This is a false belief.

Common Beverage Substitutions Lead to Dehydration

It is true that beverages such as tea, coffee, wine, beer, soft drinks, sports drinks and juices contain water, but they also contain caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners or other chemicals that act as strong dehydrators. The more of these beverages you consume, the more dehydrated your body becomes because the effects they create in the body are exactly opposite the ones that are produced by water. Beverages containing caffeine, for example, trigger stress responses that at first have strong diuretic effects, leading to increased urination. Beverages with added sugar drastically raise blood sugar levels. Any beverage that provokes such a response coerces the body to give up large quantities of water. Regular consumption of such beverages results in chronic dehydration, which plays a part in every toxicity crisis (the body's effort to rid itself of accumulated toxins).

Do You Really Need Eight Glasses of Water a Day?

A review of studies dealing with the healthy benefits of drinking lots of water concluded that, while athletes and people in hot, dry climates do better with increased fluid intake, for average healthy people, more water does not mean better health.

There is little evidence for or against any of the supposed benefits of extra water, such as increased toxin excretion, improved skin tone, lessened hunger, and reduced headache frequency.

Sources:
eFluxMedia.com April 3, 2008
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology April 2, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments: Every day your body loses water through urine and sweat, and this fluid needs to be replenished. Fortunately, your body is already equipped with a virtually foolproof mechanism that tells you when you need to replenish your water supply -- it’s called thirst!

Read on to find out Why You Need Water.