What Happens to Your Body When You Become Dehydrated?

Dehydration in its simplest terms is defined as an excessive loss of body fluid. For any of you sports athletes out there, you all know the detriment dehydration can do to your body. But what exactly is going on with your body, physiologically, when you become dehydrated?

There are three main types of dehydration. Hypotonic, the loss of electrolytes. Hypertonic, the loss of water. And isotonic, the loss of both electrolytes and water. The most common type seen in humans is isotonic dehydration.

Bascially, your body is not getting the amount of water and electroytes it needs for proper functioning. And when this happens, your body literally begins to shut down. If not remedied, this can lead to neurological complications like seizures and eventually death. Yikes.

Symptoms of dehydration start to occur before you may even realize you are dehydrated. You may experience headaches, muscle cramping, dizziness or fainting. Other symptoms include dryness of your skin, an elevated heart rate, loss of appetite and constipation. Most people will start to realize once they get to this point that they are dehydrated. They usually will just start to feel thirsty before it even gets to this point. Sometimes though, people will experience headaches and muscle cramping, before realizing that they are thirsty. A lot of times, if you find yourself not feeling right, drinking water will always help.

It is best to always drink as much water as you can throughout the day and avoid substances like caffeine, alcohol and too much sodium.

Improve Memory and Intelligence with Electrolytes

You work your heart and muscles to improve their condition and tone. You want to have a low resting heart rate and slow deep breathing, all the time. Exercise helps everyone definitely. There is nothing better you can do to depression than regular exercise. But it is also very desirable to directly train the nervous system to function efficiently and effectively. Anyone can become healthier.

When you need to exercise your brain it does not mean soduku and crossword puzzles. For almost all, the stimulation is not the big issue. The problem is insufficient capacity for relaxing the nervous system. Not mean the kind of relaxation you get after physical exhaustion or a few shots of tequila. The formation of the relaxation response.

The methods I describe below are permanent benefits for a wide range of issues. Many involve biological monitoring and biofeedback. Biofeedback interactive media training with a view of their physiological responses. It's like an exercise with mirror inside body. The ability of a nerve to fire depends on the presence of electrolytes - minerals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium chloride and dissolved in water. They are called electrolytes to signify their role in the conduction of electricity in the human body. If you have very little sodium and potassium in your diet, the imbalance can slow down the ability to drive signals from neurons.

Electrolytes Help Cure Headaches

The first thing you have to identify is what triggered your headache, and then you will be able to find the best headache medication for it. Common causes of headaches include stress, dehydration, and tension.

Stress, being unavoidable factor in the modern life, is the number one cause of headaches. The remedies for these types of headaches include finding a solution to the problem, taking headache medication found in the drug store and trying to relax by a long bath followed by a good night's sleep. Exercise and massage can also successfully relieve stress.


Dehydration is another common cause of headaches, which can transform into migraines if not treated right away with plenty of liquids as the first and foremost step. Depending on the level of dehydration you may have water or electrolytes enriched drinks such as Vitalyte. Headache medicine when dehydrated should only be administered with plenty of liquids and something to eat as you may also feel nausea if you take the medication on an empty stomach.

There are also tension headaches and migraines that can happen on a regular basis because of a medical condition you may have and for which you are taking medications already; in that case you need to consult a doctor for headache medication that does not interfere with the drugs you are taking and will not worsen your present health state.

Drinking and Electrolytes

This isn't intended to be medical advice as you should know your own body and know your own limits. With that being said, here are some helpful suggestions for ways to aid you in the future:

- Drink a small bottle of water in between each alcoholic beverage while you're out. This works two-fold: Slows down your intake and dilutes what is already in your system.

- Take two tylenol tablets before going to sleep. But, use this cure sparingly as it can result in kidney damage when taken in heavy doses over long periods.

- Take a high strength B-vitamin supplement. The vitamin will involve a little more planning as it should be taken beforeyou go to sleep but taken immediately when you wake can also help as well. It works because B-vitamins are essential in assisting the carbohydrate (alcohol) metabolizing process and in expanding blood vessels. That should help regenerate your energy level.

- Before going to sleep or when you wake up, down a drink containing electrolytes. Electrolytes will replenish what the kidneys have excreted during drinking which will made you feel much better. Vitalyte is the most ideal drink, but don't forget about the drink made for children - Pedialyte. some people think it's even more effective than standard sports drinks.

Stop Night Cramps! Drink More Electrolytes!

Everyone experiences muscle cramps from time to time due to intense pain and an inability to use the affected leg muscles. It can occur at the front of the thigh (quadriceps), back of the thigh (hamstrings) and the lower legs or calves (gastrocnemius). A cramp can last from a few seconds to 15 minutes or longer, and can possibly recur several times before it goes away. But have you ever experienced waking up in the middle of the night with a sudden painful cramp in your leg? Is it so painful that it can even make you cry? This condition is referred to as night leg cramps. Night leg cramps are contractions of the leg muscles, usually in the back of the lower leg or calf. They usually occur just as you're about to fall asleep, or when you are about to wake up.


When this happens, the leg muscles remain painfully tight and contracted. Experts say that the exact cause of night leg cramps is unknown but they believe that it may be due to the body's abnormal processing of electrolytes. Electrolytes such as salt and minerals are essential elements and chemical substances that your body needs for basic muscle functions. Other factors include inadequate stretching and muscle fatigue. Electrolytes stop leg cramps.

Calcium deficiency is also one of the common causes of leg cramps at night especially among women. If you are post-menopausal, trying to lose weight, or don't consume enough calcium, you are susceptible to night leg cramps. To alleviate leg cramps, experts advise the increase calcium consumption. This can also prevent other problems associated with calcium deficiency like osteoporosis. When taken regularly, calcium supplements may help relieve the pain caused by leg cramps.

Replace Electrolytes to Cure Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating foods that have harmful organisms in them. These harmful germs can include bacteria, parasites, and viruses. They are mostly found in raw meat, chicken, fish, and eggs, but can spread to any type of food. They can also grow on food that is left out on counters or outdoors or is stored too long before you eat it.

When you eat or drink something that is contaminated with toxic bacteria, you may experience diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting within 24-48 hours. Typically these symptoms go away in a day or two. In most cases, the condition is not serious and will get better once your immune system gets the better of the infection.

Drink plenty of water. If you're suffering from vomiting or diarrhea, you're losing a lot of fluid. You'll need to replace this to avoid dehydration. Plain tap water should be enough - you can dechlorinate it by leaving your glass for an hour, the chlorine will evaporate.

The food is prepared. When someone who has germs on his or her hands touches the food, or if the food touches other food that has germs on it, the germs can spread. For example, if you use the same cutting board for chopping vegetables and preparing raw meat, germs from the raw meat can get on the vegetables.

Replace electrolytes. If you're losing a lot of nutrients through dehydration, you can buy an electrolyte solution from a pharmacy to replace them. This should improve recovery time.

Always wash your hands before and after preparing foods. Never serve cooked meat on the same plate or tray that you had it on when raw - make sure the resident BBQ expert is given a clean plate to place the finished product on. Also thoroughly clean knives and cutting boards.