The Signs and Symptoms of Dehydration!

It's once again summertime and this is the time of year when people tend to become dehydrated despite their best efforts to drink lots of liquids on a hot day.  You are especially vulnerable to dehydration while exercising, when it's humid and its hot out.

What to Watch For ...

Dehydration is a condition that occurs when the loss of body fluids, mostly water, exceeds the amount that is taken in. With dehydration, more water is moving out of our cells and then out of our bodies than the amount of water we take in through drinking.

When we lose too much water, our bodies may become out of balance or dehydrated. Severe dehydration can lead to death.

Symptoms of dehydration in adults are dizziness, heart palpitations, confusion, dry mouth, feeling thirsty, inability to sweat and fainting.

Decreased urine input or darker coloured urine can also indicate dehydration and that is your cue to drink more water.

Causes

Many conditions may cause rapid and continued fluid loss in the  humanbody and lead to dehydration.

Too much sun, heat exposure over-exercising too much can cause the condition but

illnesses, medications and chronic conditions can also cause dehydration. A fever can cause you to lose fluids you also lose fluids because of vomiting, diarrhea, and increased urination due to infection.

People with diabetes are prone to dehydration because they tend to overheat faster than other people, especially while exercising or just after eating.

If you are ill and not cared for properly, it might be easier for you to become dehydrated as you may not be able to have access to adequate amounts of liquids to keep you hydrated.

If you are mentally impaired in some way you may forget to drink enough liquids to stay hydrated. This can become common in people on prescribed opiates or in elderly individuals.

Having little or no access to safe drinking water is a common cause of dehydration for people all over the world and can be a problem for North Americans who are travellings. 

Significant injuries to skin, such as burns or mouth sores, or severe skin diseases or infections can cause dehydration, as water is lost through damaged skin.

Drinking too much alcohol is also a common culprit as it dehydrates your body. Drinking too much caffeine, green tea or cola drinks can also act as diuretics that can drain water out of your body.

To avoid dehydration you might want to avoid exercise and exposure to the sun during days of high heat or humidity.

Care and Treatment

Most cases of dehydration can be treated at home. The best remedy is to drink liquids. However when dehydrated it may be difficult for the body to accept water in large doses fast. It is best to sip small amounts of water frequently.

Avoid sports drinks or Gatorade as they typically have too much sugar (over 30 grams) and all kinds of chemical flavoring.  For instance, grape flavoured Gatorade has red 40 and Blue 1 in it to make it purple.)

You can make your own rehydration potion using 1 quart of any sugar-free liquid. This includes green tea, hrbal tea, coconut water or plain water.  To this you can add 1/4 teapoon Himilayan sea sault and 1/2 teaspoon calcium magnesium powder (or you can use the crushed tablets. For flavoring you can add 1/4 cup of any type of juice. Lemon or lime juice is a good choice.  If you like your rehydration potion sweeter, add honey, stevia or agave syrup to taste.

Emergen-C with water, a bit of a salt and little juice can also help you rehydrate quickly!

If the dehydration is due to heat exposure it helps to loosen the person’s clothing and spray or mist luke warm water on exposed skin surfaces to help with cooling by evaporation.

However, do not pack ice around a person who is dehydrated. This will make the person shiver and shivering causes the body temperature to increase rather than decrease.

Medical treatment is usual required if the person has been dehydrated for a couple of days and has a temperature of 104 degrees or higher. In a hospital you may be administered fluids by intravenous units.

Medications such as acetaminophen may be prescribed for the headache or fever that sometimes accompanies a condition of dehydration.

When dehydration is treated and the underlying cause identified, you will recover normally.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

What Exactly is BMI or Body Mass Index?

When you embark of lifestyle changes, you will hear your Healthy & Active counsellor, dietician or naturopath speaking about your BMI.

The Body Mass Index or BMI as it is known in it short form is a calculation that estimates whether or not you are at a healthy weight.  This is important as being overweight puts a strain on your heart and can lead to health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, varicose veins, sleep apnea, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

How Does It Work? 

Your BMI estimates how much you should weigh, based on your height. Here are the steps that are used to  calculate this formula:

• Multiply your weight in pounds by 703.
• Divide that answer by your height in inches.
• Divide that answer by your height in inches again.
• For example, a woman who weighs 270 pounds and is 68 inches tall has a BMI of 41.0.

The BMI is a set of standards known as the Body Mass Index Categories. The standards are stated as below.

BMI CATEGORY

• Below 18.5    Underweight
• 18.5 - 24.9     Healthy
• 25.0 - 29.9     Overweight
• 30.0 - 39.9     Obese
• Over 40          Morbidly obese

Most experts conclude that a BMI greater than 30 (obesity) is unhealthy. The greater it is the more likely you are to develop a health production.

BMI may become important when it comes time to apply for health insurance. You can be denied health insurance if you have a BMI over 30.

Results or Effects 

Calculating your BMI is usually an accurate way to determine whether or not you can lose weight. This is true unless you are very old, a child or a body builder.

The reason that the standard BMI calculations may not apply to body builders is because they usually have more muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. This throws the calculation off. Fitness experts and trainers have other ways of calculating body index mass for body builders.

The elderly are expected to have a BMI that is between 25 and 27 and not under 25. This is because being too thin is not a sign of health in the elderly. Having more BMI is an indication that their bones are not developing osteoporosis.

The BMI is not an appropriate tool to use estimate a child’s fitness. To make a correct assessment of a child’s BMI there are numerous factors to consider. That is why it is best to have a doctor decide whether or not your child has a health body mass index.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

You Can't Buy A Healthy Weight, You Have to Own It!

It is time to accept the idea that losing weight is not something that can be bought or sold. It is not a commodity.

The key is to adjust your lifestyle. It means eating a largely plant-based diet based on whole foods coupled with  daily exercises. There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to obesity.  Once you are diagnosed with it chronic disease it can set in to stay despite pharmacology, meditation or other attempts to cure yourself.  No amount of positive thinking can alkalinize acidic tissues. You need to change your diet!

Sickness, Obesity and The North American Lifestyle

Think of the people that you know who are fat. Do you know someone who eats fried meats, junk foods and things like French fries and candy bars? Are they sick all of the time?  What is his or her weight like?

Now think of people that you know who maintain a healthy weight.  Do they eat a lot of refined food, meat and sugar?  You have probably noticed that they are mostly abstainers from these toxic foods.

Now turn your attention to traditional cultures from around the globe.  Think of the traditional Asian body and recall how svelte of an archetype it is.  In China Japan and India people have been eating a mostly plant based diet for thousands of years.  It is only recently that these race types have been less than slender thanks to the invasion of our toxic products into their culture.

After you are done picturing the body shape of the average Asian then picture what your average American looks like.  Then picture him eating snacks at a baseball game. The beer full of calories and the hotdog full of fat and nitrates stuffed inside a white fluffy high carb bun is what immediately comes to mind. Hardly health food.

Sadly the overweight American has become the stereotype of North America.  Even if the American happens to be Latino, Asian or from some other descent they tend to be bloated with the toxins and calories that are in our addictive junk foods and meat products once they locate onto our Western soils.

Vegans Tend to Be the Healthiest Humans

So just what are the statistics hewn it comes to vegans? How much healthier are they than us?  Research studies show that vegetarians and vegans are anywhere from five to thirty pounds skinnier than their fellow citizens. 

You don’t have to trust the research. You can trust your own eyes. In fact, ask yourself – when was the last time you saw a really fat vegan?

So just how much weight can you immediately lose if you become a vega?.  During a sturdy at the Pritikin center, 4,500 patients who went through a program of eating as much as they wanted of low fat, plant based whole food lost 5.5% of their body weight.  They also lost an average of seventeen pounds!

Other intervention studies on vegetarian diets have show similar results including two to five pounds lost after twelve days, sixteen pounds lost over twelve weeks and twenty-four pounds lost after one year.

Consuming a low whole foods plant based diet will help you to lose weight and the best news is that the more you weight the quicker you will lose it once you switch to a vegan based diet.  People were able to keep the weight off over the long term better as well, which of course also improved their overall health.

Of course, do not become vegan if this is not part of your Healthy & Active plan, but for most individual eating more in the Paleo style with less startches and no junk food, sugar and fat keeps them at their optimum fitness level.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.

Ten Gadgets You Must Have In The Kitchen

If you are going to have a happy and active lifestyle, it helps to have the latest gadgets around to help shorten the preparation time for cooking in a leaner, meaner fashion, or even eating completely raw.  Here are some suggestions for gadgets that can make your life a little bit simpler in the kitchen.

1. Hand blender  - These are single hand-held units that can be used to swirl anything together in a jiffy. They are perfect for making quick batters, soups, shakes and smoothie
2. Magic Bullet – This gadget mixes, blends, chops, grinds and masticates with the press of a button. It makes raw soups and vegan ice creams in minutes
3. Juicer – A high quality juicer is great for making yourself healthy nutrient-packed cocktails but it is also wonderful for making vegan sauces out of such healthy ingredients as raw turmeric, raw basil and raw garlic. 
4. Mandolin Slicer – This is a metal slide with slits that can help you quickly slice or julienne

   

   A manual mandolin slicer.

   vegetables into any sliced thickness or shape you want; they are particularly handy for slicing root vegetables. 
5. Food Processor – These units are bulkier than a mandolin or Magic Bullet but they are very useful if you have to create a large vegan lasagna and making raw cookies and cakes, sauces, soups and dressings.
6.  Dehydrator – Many raw foods can be spiced preserved and consumed later after being dried in a dehydrator for a few days.  This is a great way to ensure that you always have a vegan snack on hand.
7.  Yonana – This gadget takes any frozen fruit or frozen liquid and turns it into a dessert that is the consistency of soft ice cream
8. Spring Form Pans  -- When you are making raw vegan cheesecakes and raw casseroles a spring form pan is useful for stacking and compacting food until it is ready to eat 
9. Jars for vegan treats – It is classic for vegan desserts to now be served up in parfaits in jars and some raw salads and casseroles can also be served this way as well.
10.  Infuser teapot – An infuser teapot allows you to enjoy nutritious liquids made loose leafed teas and herbs; they are ideal for making flavorful herbal ice tea

There are a variety of these gadgets for sale on the market. The most important thing to remember is that a well-designed gadget tends to be safer than then one that has a guard for your fingers, although you should definitely look for the safety guard feature when buying a manual vegetable slicer.


For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.