Dehydrated? This is What Might Be Causing It ...

One of the common symptoms that leads someone to be diagnosed with diabetes is frequent urination. This is because the body tries to remove the glucose by making you pee more. And of course, the more you pee, the more water you're losing. So if you are diabetic, you are at risk of dehydration.

Low carb diets are all the rage these days, but may not be very good news for your hydration levels. The problem is that your body stores carbohydrates with fluids. So if you're not eating many carbs, you may not be taking in enough fluids. It can also make you produce too many ketones, thus dehydrating you further.

Surprisingly enough, the cold weather can actually cause you to become dehydrated. We're used to carrying a water bottle in the summer, but don't think it's necessary in winter. But our body conserves heat by concentrating blood around the center (and therefore vital organs), and this stops us feeling as thirsty. So we can think we need less water than we do, and end up not drinking enough.

One of the surprising reasons that can cause dehydration is your period. There are two reasons why. Firstly, your hormone levels (oestrogen and progesterone) are all over the place, and affect your hydration. Secondly, if you have heavy periods you're losing more fluid. Up your water intake, and see your doctor if your periods are very heavy.

Do you usually fail to eat enough fruit and vegetables? This could be contributing to or causing you to be dehydrated. It's easy to forget that we get some of our water from food. Fruit and vegetables have a high water content, so if you're not eating several servings a day, you could be missing out on quite a bit of fluid - especially if you're not drinking plenty of water.

Stress can be responsible for making you feel quite rough, because your adrenal glands get busy producing stress hormones. And this could also be causing your dehydration, because constant pressure on your adrenal glands means they produce less aldosterone (this hormone helps regulate your fluid levels).

Do you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome? It's quite common, and sufferers end up rushing to the bathroom with frequent diarrhea. As if this wasn't unpleasant enough on its own, a side effect may be that you end up dehydrated because you're losing so much water. Sufferers may also try elimination diets, which could mean that they're not eating enough foods containing fluid.

It's surprising how many things can cause us to become dehydrated. Even your dietary supplements could be the culprit. It's vital to be taking in enough fluid, in order to keep the body functioning properly. We lose fluid through urination, sweating and exercise, so that fluid has to be replaced. Do you find it hard to drink enough water?