If we believe what we see on TV and in ads, we’d think headaches, back pain and lack of muscle strength are part of life. These can be symptoms of dehydration. Stressors, of all kinds, can also be a contributing factor. You can treat the symptom or find the cause.
Hypoglycemia, according to research, is the number one cause of headaches. When refined sugars are ingested, as is the case when sodas or other high sugar drinks are substituted for water, the blood sugar rises quickly. Insulin from the pancreas works to lower blood sugar levels to normal, but if it drops too far the adrenal glands pump cortisol into the system, which causes blood sugar to rise again, contributes to the storage of fat and increases stress levels.
If the adrenal glands are depleted (hypoadrenia), they’re unable to bring blood sugar back to normal. The tissues that can’t store glucose, the brain, skin, nerves and retina of the eyes, begin to experience problems. If you have a fast metabolism like I do and skip a meal or go too long between meals, you probably get a headache, just like I do. Headaches, blurred vision and itchy skin are all indicators of dehydration. Stress adds to the problems and being outdoors on hot days adds stress to your life.
A lot of my work recently has outdoors in the sun. I don’t usually get hungry by clock time and skipped a few meals or set them back beyond what’s reasonable for me. The biggest problem with my outdoor projects is I put off drinking enough water because I always think I’ll be done long before I am.
Combining dehydration with hypoglycemia, I not only had a headache that creeps up my neck and into my temples, I have lower back pain from my kidneys not being able to properly do their job due to a lack of water. Most drinks, other than water, act as a diuretic, causing an even greater loss of fluids through urination. I don’t drink sodas so that’s not a problem for me, but not drinking enough water is.
My latest project has seemed to take on a life of its own and doesn’t want to be finished. I wanted to get to a point where I could stop without being in the middle of something. Remembering to go back and finish the rest of a process is less than optimum when the other choice is to press on and get it done. Sometimes, when things don’t want to fit or cooperate, that causes a time problem for me.
Muscle tension is another contributing factor to headaches and most of what I’ve been doing on my outdoor project is what I call “grunt work.” Mixing and pouring concrete over the top of four foot high forms falls into the grunt work category.
Since I’ve lived in the desert for years, done research and written about health since the early 80’s and done a lot of heavy duty athletics, I should have known.
Copyright 2007 Larry R. Miller .
