Keep Hydrated To Save You In The Event Of A Stroke
In the past I’ve let you know how important it is to drink plenty of water (even if it means making a couple more trips to the bathroom each day). This is not as easy as it may seem. As we age, we don’t always feel thirsty when we need water. We also forget to do it. And finally, drinking water is kind of boring.
This all adds up to not drinking enough water for many of us. And that’s a shame because water helps your circulation, creates saliva, helps digest your food, helps maintain body temperature and moves nutrients around to where they should be. It can also lower your calorie intake and reduce your weight, energize your muscles, make your skin look better, help your kidneys function properly, and help your bowels function normally.
Well, now there’s another very important reason to drink more water. A new study is linking dehydration to greater damage from a stroke. The study determined that people who are not well-hydrated when they suffer a stroke are four times more likely to experience a worse outcome than people who have had more fluids. One possible reason is that blood tends to thicken when the blood contains less water, and thicker blood flows more slowly to where it is needed.
If you think you’re immune from a stroke, think again. Nearly 800,000 Americans have a stroke each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with nearly 130,000 of them dying from it.
They say that eight glasses of water a day is a healthy amount. Do you keep an eye on the amount of water you drink each day? If not, maybe this is a good time to start. Please let me know what you think about this.
THIS IS A GREAT ARTICLE. I LEARNED A LOT FROM IT. HAVING DYHRDATION IS SCARY, BEING LIGHTHEADED ETC. THANKS FOR THE INFO.
What is ultimately important is to maintain a correct balance between water hydration and electrolyte concentration. Often you hear people say that too much water can kill you also but what they are missing is that too much water relative to electrolyte concentration is what can harm you. Remember that there are two electrolytes: sodium and potassium. So all three of these things are critical. Water, sodium and potassium balance is what keeps you healthy.
During my service in the Navy, our Doc’s (Officer and Enlisted) used to say drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces everyday that you are in high intensity operations. Also important is to consume sodium and potassium to keep the electrolyte balance nominal. Muscle cramps are sometimes a good indicator of electrolyte imbalance. (Bananas are one source potassium).
We need liquid in our bodies to survive. You will die faster from lack of water than food. It would be great if everyone ate or could get fresh food that would provide liquid. So many people can’t or won’t bother (I don’t like vegetables, fruit ,they explain). Think of this, if a fluid gets it slows down and can stop moving( think lava) this works the same for blood. Water helps thin the blood naturally, thinner blood moves faster , less plague buildup, less potential problems including one kind of stroke.
i’m in my 6’s, and i can go 2 days on a gallon of water. i’m disabled and only get thirsty when i do things that real hard and stressfull, i sweat i drink plenty of water. i say i drink about 40OZ. of h20 a day.
A PS:
I do not drink soft drinks nor do I drink sports drinks.
Very seldom, in the winter, I will drink some hot tea.
For me it is coffee and water when I feel dry.
If you feel dry, you are already into dehydration and behind the power curve (so to speak). While in the Military, they taught us 1/2 your body weight in ounces everyday. Now that was being very active like being on patrols or etc. but the principle is to not ever feel dry.
I thin 8 glasses are far to much. That is about 64 ounces of water. Water=, to much of it, causes people to age faster. I know they say you can’t count coffee for your liquid intake but I drink 4-5 cups a day, sometimes more. I have gone a week or more without touching a glass of water. This last summer I went to play a round of golf and somewhere in the round I had one of those v-shaped paper cups full of water. The Next Week I played golf again and had one of those paper cups full of water. NONE in between.
I think, if you drink a lot of other liquids like coffee, you do not need a lot of water. I would say forcing 12 ounces a day would be enough…IF you get thirsty drink more.
The idea that your urine should be clear/colorless is just plain stupid. Ever seen an animal whose urine was clear?
Why is “COMMON SENSE” so unusual in our modern society? If your body cries out to you that it is hungry, you feed it! If it says “I’m thirsty” then for goodness sake give it some liquid refreshment — The best being some good clear, clean water. It sure as hell won’t hurt you!
I am less and less certain that any of the current research on health is at all valid in reality. The real killer today is in fact Modern Western Medicine itself, the protocols of which are derived from the so called “truths” that come out of research. 70 per cent of all research is now being done by the pharmaceutical industry who get the money at all costs including your life! Cardiovascular disease used to be the number one killer and still accounts for some 600,000 deaths each year but Last year more than 900,000 deaths were directly caused by Western Medicine itself. The IV protocols in hospitals that is built on “water research” is not as good as you might be led to believe. In fact, in my own case, I believe that the dangerous drugs I am now required to take are partly the outcome of what may have been OK for some, but for me, an excessive amount of fluids (water) applied to me in hospital.
Dear Frank,
Isn’t it queer that some fools dosn’t get it? Clean water is the very essence of life itself. It is number one on the five elements of survival for a reason!
As you know, “I’ve been there … done that,” many more times than I’d care to admit.
With humble honesty I can tell anyone who is smart enough to listen, “Safe drinking water, shelter, fire, food and security” are primal … and usually in that order.
God Save America,
Orrin
What a bogus load of crap. I really hate it when people quote a study or survey without listing the actual source as to its validity. How do we know that its not from the Cub Scouts of America or some quack corporation that wants to bask in the light of intelligence? This is the rough form of gossip that there is, “I heard it through the grapevine.” How many times have you heard that eggs were good for you only to hear that they are bad for you. Now eggs are in again as being good for you. You know what? just stick with your instinct. Listen to what your body tells you. Know where you can get water such as in vegetables. A few glasses of water a day wouldn’t hurt you either.
Why is water so critical to your well being? Water dehydrates your cells in your body. This allows your cells to move waste material from within your body and refresh your new cells. Your body is like a sponge. If it drys out you will fail to function properly, your body will not be able to repair itself properly. The Ph balance is affected. The waste material within your body builds up and you can die. You will not be able to cool your body because you will be unable to perspire/sweat. As you begin to over heat your inside temperature rises. Your blood over heats, your organs over heat, your blood pressure rises, your brain starts to cook. You go into a coma and then die. This is what happens when you are dehydrated.
I have seen people that have become heat victims and I have seen people that have had strokes. I am here to tell you that in both cases these people are placed on IVs so that their fluid volume doesn’t compromise their overall health. It is for this reason I proclaim that this so called study a bogus report. However, drinking water to maintain overall health is no bogus. It is a necessity that you can not avoid. If you eat fruits and vegetables you also gain the water, sugar water, for your body overall well being.
Don’t listen or believe in reports or surveys or studies unless you know for a fact where they come from – you will never know who is trying to pull the wool over your eyes. My question to you is do you believe everything your read in print? I don’t. I consider the source, check their data, then decide if their conclusion is in fact valid.
You said: ” Water dehydrates your cells in your body.”
I beg to differ. Water actually HYDRATES your cells.
Typo on my part, thanks for catching it. :-)