Are you thirsty?

If you answered yes to this question, I would proceed to ask you what you would like to drink? The answer to this question varies from person to person depending on how they view the importance of what they drink. You may answer this question by saying water, but unfortunately, for a large portion of our American society, the answer would be complicated with sugar, excess calories, and dehydrating properties. Sodas, lattes, juices, sweet teas...all of these have ridden our population with the idea that these will properly quench your thirst.
When you experience thirst, your body is telling you that you need replenishment. How much of our bodies are made up of Pepsi? How about caramel macchiatos? Apple juice? How about tequila?
Of course none of these drinks are naturally occurring in our bodies, and as you may have guessed, I am trying to get you to understand that your first choice should always be water.Water makes up 70 to 75% of our bodies, and needs to be replenished continuously in order to help the body function properly. Even though the above drinks have water in them, they are not adequate substitutes for plain water. Coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks have diuretic effects which causes the consumer to lose more water than they are taking in. If a drink contains caffeine, you will further be promoting your dehydration.
Everyone is always searching for easy fixes to their health. Fad diets, extreme workouts, and plastic surgeries are highly accepted today. However, the easiest, cheapest, and most reasonable thing you can do for your health today is to fill up a water bottle and drink it!
If you suffer from any of the following disorders, you may be experiencing chronic dehydration:

• Heartburn
• Dypepsia
• Rheumatoid Pain
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Migraine
• Leg pain when walking
• Fibromyalgia
• Colitis
• Angina
• Morning sickness
• Hangovers (1)

Of course the number one indicator of dehydration is THIRST!

Listen to your body, and remember to fill it up with what it needs.

Suggested reading for the month: "Your Body's Many Cries for Water" by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.

Works Cited:

(1) Grazia, Albert M.S. Importance of WATER: Chronic Dehydration Often Neglected in Many Diseases. November 11th, 2009.