05 Sep Can Caffeine and Alcohol Dehydrate You?
People living in high paced environments like Los Angeles thrive on two things, caffeine, and alcohol. They fuel work and play but unfortunately, these two chemicals have an adverse effect on our physiology. Aside from their addictive quality they can deplete our energy and leave us feeling listless and burnt out after the enjoyable elements of the experience have long passed. One of the supposed symptoms of consuming caffeine and alcohol is a sense of dehydration. Dehydration is an imbalance in a number of fluids needed and the fluids imbibed. You might feel weak, sick, lazy and dizzy as a result. All these symptoms are related in some way to the consumption of caffeine and alcohol, but what are the effects and causes of this link to dehydration?
Caffeine, Alcohol, and Diuresis
Both caffeine and alcohol are what are known as diuretics, or substance is known to increase the amount of urine the body produces. As a diuretic 50 grams of alcohol can result in the elimination of as high as 1 quart of liquid in the form of urine. That fluid and plenty of water are not absorbed into the body because alcohol blocks the process. This is done by blocking the hormone called ADH, a field where alcohol excels, caffeine, for its part is another diuretic that severely inhibits the effectiveness of ADH, resulting in dehydration.
Caffeine, Alcohol, And Vomiting
Upset stomachs are pretty common in the world and the fact is that as much as people hate to admit it caffeine and alcohol are usually responsible for things like feeling nauseous and of course having to vomit. These conditions, due to their massive burning or expulsion of fluids, leads to dehydration. In fact repeatedly dealing with vomiting caused by alcohol for protracted amounts of time leads to extreme amounts of urination and of course dehydration. The same can happen when drinking copious amounts of coffee which can, surprisingly, cause vomiting, especially if a person happens to consume around 500 milligrams a day, basically four to seven cups a day. The problems happen when people who drink alcohol in excess and become sick, often leading to violent dehydration based vomiting, are told to drink coffee to feel better and to sober up. This only leads to a compounded problem however and they feel worse than before, just more alert and aware of their agony. If you should feel that all of the coffee and alcohol is having a detrimental effect on your health or has been drying you out, then you should immediately reduce the amount of coffee you are drinking or try IV Hydration therapy.
Caffeine, Alcohol And Urinary Frequency
You can measure the severity of your alcohol or caffeine induced dehydration by charting the frequency of urine one can produce. If a person feels the urge to urinate frequently they might be consuming too many of these diuretics and massively dehydrating their bodies. If left unchecked a person could develop things like kidney disease or in most cases exasperate this condition if they urinate more than 8 times a day. Caffeine irritates a person’s urinary tract and causes things like pronounced spasms in the bladder resulting in unexpected bout s of urination. Alcohol, which reduces the body’s effectiveness of inhibiting water conservation, can also result in frequent urges to urinate. Frequent urination contributes to the dehydration caused by consuming caffeine alcohol in significant amounts; meaning people should choose to moderate consumption of both liquids. Consequently, the consumption of caffeine and alcohol should always be monitored for the sake of the body and the mind.