Thursday, January 27, 2011

What the lack of water might do to your body and did do to mine…

I have to warn you that none of what I’m about to tell you is pretty.. but it does go to show what the lack of water will do to your body. If you have any of these symptoms on a daily basis it could easily be because your body is struggling. What people seem to forget is that our bodies consist of 80% water and when we fail to introduce more water into our systems our body takes it from elsewhere to complete the necessary functions.

Since I stopped drinking water I have noticed several things. My coordination has been compromised. I believe this has happened because my joints, and this includes the joints in my fingers, have been dehydrated so movement isn’t as fluid as it should be. My fingers aren’t moving as well as they should be causing me to have more typing errors. My elbows hurt more than usual and my shoulders tire easily. My neck feels like it needs to be popped but nothing happens when I try and pop it. My knees have been clicking when I stand and my ankles and toes keep popping. It sounds like I’m cracking my knuckles when I take a step.

The area that seems to be the most bothered by the lack of water is my back. Today I had trouble getting out of bed and even now (nearly midnight) I’m still having to shift my position over and over again to try and reduce the amount of pain I feel in my lumbar region.

Internally a few things have been happening. I’ve experienced more heartburn than I usually do and (beware those with a delicate constitution) I am dreadfully constipated. I feel like I have to go but nothing is happening. Things are.. compacted. I’m not digesting as well as I should be and I do have minor abdominal pains as my body struggles to work through the food in my intestinal system.

This is all because my body is lacking the natural lubrication of water. I’m starting back with all my water first thing in the morning. I know that once I have water back in my system I’ll be annoyed by the fact that I will have to keep using the bathroom. I used to wonder why I would urinate so much when I drank water, but a doctor told me that while your body needs water when it’s first being reintroduced to it a lot of the water escapes. We aren’t like sponges, unfortunately, and it takes replenished cells to be strong enough to collect and pass along the water we drink.

If you aren’t a water drinker, you really should start drinking water. You’ll notice the same things I did/do.. the first few days (up to a week) about an hour after you drink water you’ll have to go to the bathroom and by the end of that second day you’ll notice your urine is nearly clear. This is how it should be. You actually shouldn’t be having yellow urine.. it should be nearly clear. This means the nutrients that were once coloring your urine are being properly absorbed again. You’ll find that after a week you won’t be having to go to the bathroom so frequently after you drink water.. your body will be absorbing more of it.

When your body gets the water it needs you will have a reduction of some of the issues I’ve mentioned or they will completely go away. Of course, if you are still having constipation after you start drinking plenty of water that is a major clue that you are missing some important parts of your diet. You will need to take the time to work with your diet to find the foods that give you the best results.

This all comes back to you knowing your body better than anyone else. If you learn things about your body then you will be able to make good decisions to keep it working well. I know that water helps reduce my joint pain and reduce the occurrences of my back pain.. and it stops me from being constipated. I can mark that on my list of things I can control about how my body works.

Water.. is life. And to me it means less pain and a better digestive function.

Pounds lost: 17.1 (371.9)
Daily insight: Craving water more than I ever craved the evil Pepsi. :)
Ounces of water consumed: 0
Steps in the right direction: 79

2 comments:

  1. I am a mainly a water drinker and read once that we should start with a base of 64oz a day and for every 5lbs we are overweight add another ounce. I have to drink a TON and unfortunately I don't get over the base of 64oz which I can feel isn't enough.

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  2. Hi Steph!
    I hadn't heard about adding an ounce for every 5lbs you're overweight, but that sounds like a great idea. I know that the first time I attempted to lose weight I was drinking 96 ounces a day and my doctor warned me not to drink that much every single day because too much water could actually be hard for your body to handle. I told him that I was drinking that much because I had some seriously hard work outs going on and he said that as long as I was sweating a lot of it out then it should be ok.

    There's always such a fine balance between what's good for you and what can do harm. It's all about finding and keeping the balance.

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