Dehydration is one of the problems that can lead to prostatitis. Dehydration is the loss of water and electrolytes that are necessary for the body to function normally. You can become dehydrated when your body loses more fluids than you consume. When you become dehydrated, you tend to hold urine in the bladder for a long period of time, raising the risk for bladder infection. One cause of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is bladder infections.
How do you become dehydrated? Your body constantly loses water through urine, feces, sweat, and breath, and the more you weigh, the more water is lost. Mild dehydration, which is defined as water loss that equals about 1% of body weight, can cause symptoms such as headache, dulled thinking, lightheadedness, muscle cramps, and fatigue. A sense of thirst will usually prompts you to drink when your water loss reaches about 2% of your body weight.
Even though it seems pretty simple that staying hydrated can help prevent prostatitis, many people don’t realize they are mildly and chronically dehydrated. Certain foods and beverages can cause dehydration or even make prostatitis symptoms worse. Avoid or limit beverages that cause excessive urination, such as caffeinated beverages or drinks with artificial sweeteners, and alcoholic beverages. Using medications like diuretics also causes excessive loss of water and can result in dehydration.
To decide how much water you should consume to avoid dehydration, a general rule of thumb is to take your weight in pounds, divided by 2, and the result is the amount of water in ounces you should drink each day. Let’s say you are 180 pounds. That means you should get 90 ounces of water daily. If you are exercising vigorously and if it is hot or dry, then you will need to drink more water than usual.
You can also get a lot of water from your diet. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables you may get about half your water from these foods. Natural prostatitis treatments such as making dietary changes and following Dr. Geo’s NPAT prostatitis health program can help you prevent dehydration and support better prostate health.
Water has more benefits than simply keeping you hydrated. It helps eliminate toxins from the body, including the byproducts of metabolism as well as the toxins the body takes in from the environment. Only drink water that is pure and free from chemicals. Use BPA-free containers because BPA (Bisphenol A) is a toxin that can seep from plastic into your water. You can read more about BPA in relation to chemicals and food additives.
