Understanding Thirst
Understanding Thirst - Part One Why do we drink water? I am going to give you an explanation of what thirst really is but it is up to you to take this information and turn it into something useful and become a better you. Why do we drink water. Because we are thirsty, right? But what is thirst? The sensation that we call thirst is assuredly a brain stem built-in survival mechanism. Thirst exists to avoid dehydration. The sensation of thirst is proportionate to the level of dehydration; however, many people have neglected their thirst mechanism for so long that it is now compromised. In fact, studies have shown that it can become confused with hunger. Many people think they are hungry but are in fact are dehydrated. The sensation of thirst is often described as a feeling of dryness in the mouth and tongue and a constricting sensation in the throat. Even though thirst almost always manifests in the same way, it can be differentiated into two types: extra cellular , or hypovolemic, thirst and intra cellular , or osmotic, thirst. Extra cellular thirst is the more severe form. Extra cellular thirst manifests in two ways: when the volume of blood and extra cellular fluid (the fluid that all cells "bathe" in) becomes too low and when there has been a large quantity of salt lost. These two phenomenon cause extra cellular thirst. Salt is critical for proper hydration balance. Salt is primarily found in the blood and extra cellular fluids. Very little salt, specifically sodium, is found inside cells. The role of salt in the body is to retain water. One gram of salt retains eleven grams of water. Salt maintains a normal level of hydration to the cellular bathe that all cells exist in. Otherwise this fluid may shrink too fast and endanger the survival of the cells. Salt is critical in the body's defense against dehydration. Salt only leaves the body under extreme conditions, such as, vomiting, persistent diarrhea and excessive sweating. The more salt the body loses, the less water it can retain which in turn causes more water loss. When the body loses both salt and water, the situation becomes complicated. At this point both water and salt must be consumed. If water is drunk without salt, the existing extra cellular fluid’s salt concentration is lowered thus causing even more water loss. Both must be taken, water to increase the volume and salt to retain the water ingested. Understanding this critical relationship between salt and water could save a life. When someone has suffered severe heatstroke or sunstroke, it is very important to give them water with a little salt in it. If water alone is given, the condition can be made worse and even life threatening. In this scenario the water with a little salt added is to be drunk slowly and in small sips. It has been my clinical experience that when people tell me that when they drink any water, they have to urinate within minutes, that this is probably because they need salt and/or alkaline minerals to balance the extra cellular fluids. Understanding Thirst Next time we will look at the more common form of thirst called intracellular or osmotic thirst. This is when the inside of the cells have lost hydric balance. Until then remember to pay attention to your thirst mechanism and drink the best water that is available to you. We at Life Ionizers™ believe that the best water available is alkaline, ionized, micro clustered water.
Understanding Thirst - Part TwoIn the first article, Understanding Thirst we discussed extracellular, or hypovolemic, thirst. Now we are going to discuss the more common and non-life threatening form of thirst. Common thirst is called intracellular, or osmotic, thirst. As opposed to extracellular thirst, which is driven by a marked volume loss of blood or extracellular fluid and/or excessive salt loss, intracellular (or osmotic) thirst results from hydric deficiency inside the cells. Cells generally conserve intracellular water unless the body demands that it releases water to the extracellular fluid. When there is too high of a concentration of solids in the blood or extracellular fluids, the body causes the cells to give up their water through osmosis. Too high of a concentration of particulate matter in these fluids most often occurs through diet. Once food is digested, it eventually reaches the blood and almost immediately afterward the extracellular fluid. It is easy to see that a large meal or chronic over-eating can produce a very concentrated extracellular fluid, which then in turn demands that the cells give up their water through osmotic pressure. The concentration of the resultant extracellular fluids is dependent on the quantity of food and the salt content of the ingested food. This process triggers the thirst mechanism so that we drink fluids and rehydrate the cells. In view of the above information, it is not difficult to contemplate that most if not all obese people are horribly dehydrated. Furthermore, intracellular thirst can express itself late at night as a result of eating a heavy meal earlier that evening. And when a person is properly hydrated you should not wake-up thirsty. If you do, you are either chronically dehydrated and/or your detoxification pathways are operating at a sub-normal level and are not purifying the blood, creating a concentrated extracellular fluid. Remember to be well hydrated before you begin eating a meal because it is not recommended that you drink fluids during a meal. Drinking fluids while eating or immediately after eating will disturb the digestive process due to dilution of the digestives enzymes. Drink fluids 20-30 minutes before you eat. It is now generally accepted that the most likely reason that a person's detoxification pathways would be compromised is due to chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis. This acidosis is most likely a result of poor diet and drinking acidic fluids like soda. Understanding Thirst We at LIFE Ionizers™ recommend that you hydrate with water all day long, drinking a minimum of 2.5 liters per day. Furthermore, we recommend that you drink the best water available, which in our opinion is ionized, alkaline and micro-clustered water. When drinking alkaline water, you can address both dehydration and metabolic acidosis all at once.
Have A Question Or Want To Comment?If you have a question on this subject and would like more information about it? I would like to help you. Or if you have something you would like to add to this subject and would like to share it with us, I would appreciate your input. The human race is about helping one another. Help me help you. Back To Alkaline Water from Understanding Thirst
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