Preventing Dehydration

Preventing Dehydration
There are numerous effective ways for preventing dehydration; a condition wherein the body does not have enough fluid to carry out its normal functions. Read on to know what are these ways and means to prevent dehydration.

The body, to continue with its normal functions day in and day out, requires certain amount of water and other fluids. When a person loses more fluid than what he takes in, the amount of bodily fluid dwindles and gives rise to bouts of dehydration symptoms. Moreover, if the lost fluids are not replenished in time, recuperation may be severe. People suffer from dehydration due to illnesses such as severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and even excessive perspiration.

Dehydration during hot weather is also a common scenario among those who ignore the need to drink more water than normal. Even people, during workouts, who fail to take adequate intake of water, suffer from dehydration. Although, people from any age group may become dehydrated, older adults, young children and those with a compromised immune system tend to be more prone to be affected by this condition. When it is too late for dehydration prevention, treatment becomes an obvious choice to make. Cases which are mild or moderate, can be taken care of by increasing the intake of liquid foods. However, this is not good enough to treat a case of severe dehydration, which requires immediate medical treatment. So, what is considered wise and safe is to follow some basic steps for preventing dehydration.

Preventing Dehydration In the Elderly, Children and Adults

To repeat what I mentioned above, dehydration is a state which the body reaches, upon losing substantial amount of water and other fluids. So, this makes it obvious that preventing dehydration means to keep up with the body's demand of fluids. This you can do by consuming fluids and foods such as fruits and vegetables, which are a good source of water. Never wait for your thirst to make you feel the need to drink water or other fluids, especially in warm weather and while exercising. In fact, it is considered a healthy practice to drink water even when you are not thirsty or more than until your thirst no more. Around 8 - 10 glasses of water is what is the minimum requirement which must be met daily. Preventing dehydration becomes more important under certain circumstances such as those of illnesses, workouts and environment.

If you are suffering from any kind of ailment, oral rehydration solution is considered to be the best method to prevent dehydration. Coming to exercise, start off with hydrating yourself a day before any strenuous exercise. If you are going to take part in marathon and other similar endurance sports, gulping 2 cups of water is good enough to prevent dehydration. The same goes for shorter bouts of exercise. Do not forget to replenish fluids at regular intervals during workouts and more importantly after you are done. An important point to take a note of is about drinking more fluids than you lose through sweating. So, do not overdo the need to drink water as it may cause bloating and discomfort and other fatal condition such as hyponatremia (abnormally low level of sodium in the blood).

Now we come to the point where we would discuss about preventing dehydration according to changing weather or environment. Perspiration occurs more in hot and humid weather, as the body temperature goes high. So, in this case you need to drink additional water to replace the lost fluids and prevent dehydration. Having said that, most people might suppose that dehydration is not associated with winter. But, it does. Wearing insulated clothing also results in a substantial loss of bodily fluids through sweating. To add to this, an indoor which is heated may cause the skin to lose moisture, thereby increasing the demand to replenish fluids. So, even in winters, you require to drink additional water.

To conclude, one easy way for preventing dehydration in children and adults, is to keep up with the '8x8 rule'. Meaning, one should drink 8 ounces of water daily. Although, this method is not supported by scientific evidence, it is considered as an easy rule to remember for most people.http://awarenessofdiseases.blogspot.com/
source:wikipedia