Minutus

Re: dehydration
It is important when drinking fluids to make sure they are getting electrolytes too.
Mild Dehydration
The symptoms of mild dehydration are as follows:
Dry lips and mouth
Thirst
Inside of mouth slightly dry
Low urine output; concentrated urine appears dark yellow

Moderate Dehydration
The signs of moderate dehydration include:
Thirst
Very dry mouth
Sunken eyes
Sunken fontanelles (the soft spots on an infant’s head)
Tenting (pinch and lift skin lightly, if it doesn’t bounce back readily)
Low or no urine output
Not producing tears
At these signs, children under the age of 12 is very dangerous
Severe Dehydration
Signs of severe dehydration include:
All signs of moderate dehydration
Rapid and weak pulse
Cold hands and feet
Rapid breathing
Blue lips
Lethargic, comatose, seizures
Severe dehydration requires immediate hospitalization.

Best,
Lynn
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Imagine Peace
http://www.homeopathicsolutions.blogspot.com/

Hi Lynn,

In developing countries I read somewhere way back that babies died mainly from dehydration after diarrhea.

Is there a natural source of electrolytes? Say you did not have a store nearby. What would you use? Electrolytes are commonly found in fruit juices , coconut water , sports drinks , milk, and many fruits and vegetables (whole or in juice form) (e.g. potatoes , avocados ). Would these sources be enough?
Use Natural, UNREFINED salt! Such as Celtic Sea Salt, pink Himalayan salt, Redmond Real salt. As long as it says UNREFINED it should be ok. Real Salt is VERY RARELY PURE WHITE!!! Natural salt has the necessary Sodium that we NEED, PLUS almost ALL of the other minerals in the CORRECT PROPORTIONS! Real natural salt will NOT cause heart disease! We NEED at least one full teaspoon of natural salt per day, taken in small doses throughout the day.
A simple electrolyte drink can be home-made by using the correct proportions of water, sugar, salt, salt substitute for potassium, and baking soda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte

These receipes look weak to me. http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/ ... ink.html#b
I remember being in a dry desert area. I was drinking and eating but definitely, natural sources of electrolytes were not enough for anyone. There were hundreds of people and they supplied barrels of homemade electrolye liquid for everyone. It did not taste good, but without it you would soon feel dizzy. That is the situation without a fever. It would be much worse with a fever and no electrolytes.
Best,
Ellen

Yep, fruits for potassium, and salt for sodium. I'm not sure what the role of the sugar is (not an electrolyte as such), but I would see NO need for any refined sugar; just what comes naturally with the fruit.

Best fruits would be the very "yin" ones, e.g. banana, watermelon, other melons, orange, lemon.

And salt. Like you I would favor the non-refined ones, but ANY plain ol' (sodium)table salt will work in a pinch. Combination of sodium chloride and potassium chloride might work too, but surely fruit is so much better for the potassium…?

I have read that at the *start* of heavy sweating, one loses mostly sodium (athletes use salt tablets as an easy replacement), but as the sweating continues, the loss becomes mostly potassium. So we need both.

Some foods have a significant natural sodium content (celery and ???), but I would have to try to get by without any salt!

Shannon