By Rehan Iqbal
There can be no life on earth without water, making this one of the most undervalued, yet vital resource. Our good health depends on regular consumption of water, around 11 to 15 cups pre day, depending on your weight and size. Without water, we won’t be able to survive for more than 3 days.
If you feel sick after drinking water, it’s only natural to be concerned. Since your health depends on the stuff, you don’t want nausea to prevent you from consuming this most basic of survival mechanisms. Hopefully this article will put your mind at ease, as I’ll be explaining the common causes of nausea after drinking water.
Why Do We Feel Nauseous?
Nausea is caused by spasms or contractions of the stomach. It often leads to vomiting which purges potentially hazardous stomach contents. When we feel nauseous, our body is telling us to stop consuming something that could cause us harm.
Often, we are unaware of what is causing the nausea and are unable to control it. Bacterial infections in the stomach happen without our knowledge. However, if you regularly feel sick after drinking water, you are aware of the cause. At least, you have a very obvious clue as to what is causing the reaction. Though, this is only the beginning of the puzzle as nausea after drinking water can be a result of several factors.
While my aim is to offer the best information, this is not a medical advisory article. We are merely investigating the common reasons why people feel sick after drinking water. You may find the answer the to your questions here, which would be really great. However, if you continue to feel nauseous when you drink water, after eliminating all the most obvious causes, you should consult a doctor without delay.
Before you go into a panic, take a look at the most obvious reasons why you’re feeling sick from drinking water. The cause of the problem could be something really simple and easy to remedy.
Reasons for Nausea After Drinking Water
There is one certainty to this debate, if drinking water makes you feel sick or dizzy, you need to get to the crux of the matter. In this discussion, I’m pretty sure you’ll find the cause of your water dilemma. This will help you find a solution and put your mind at ease.
Full Stomach
This may seem like an oversimplified diagnosis. On the contrary, a bloated or full stomach is the most common reason why people feel sick after drinking water. It’s simply a matter of the stomach holding more contents than it is able to. Your body wants to reject anything that continues to fill the stomach.
After a rich meal, you’re more likely to feel sick. A meal stacked with carbohydrates will also be more likely to make you feel sick after drinking water. Carbs absorb water and expand. If your stomach is already too full, this only makes the situation worse.
It is always better to wait a while after a meal before drinking water.
Empty Stomach
Things may start to become a little confusing with this one. What is it – should we avoid drinking water on an empty stomach or a full stomach? The answer is both. If you drink water when your stomach is empty, you may have difficulties processing all that water. The stomach is not able to process large amounts of water when it is empty.
Only drink small amounts of water on an empty stomach and not too fast.
PH Imbalance
If you suffer from acid reflux or indigestion, it means that there is too much acid in the stomach. In other words the stomach PH is too low. If you drink water while the stomach PH is too low, it can cause nausea. The situation will be exasperated if drink very fast.
If you suffer from digestive disorders, it’s always better to drink water slowly, preferably not directly after eating a large meal. Drinking alkaline water is better for people with digestive disorders like acid reflux. You could add some baking soda to your water, though it doesn’t have a very pleasant taste. Another solution would be to invest in alkaline water machine. These devices increase the PH of the water to make it alkaline.
Contaminated Water
Water contamination is ominously common. Drinking contaminated water can have many adverse effects on your health. Nausea is but of these troubling conditions.
We’ll be taking a look at the water contaminants that specifically cause nausea. There are many other toxic chemicals that can be found in water, but these are not relevant to this conversation.
Many of these contaminants are most prevalent in well water. Because city water is treated, we assume that it is totally safe to drink. Unfortunately, this is not always true. Even municipal water supplies can be affected by any of the contaminants listed below.
Agricultural Chemicals
Herbicides and pesticides are used extensively by farmers. They are also commonly used in suburban gardens. These harmful toxins leech into the ground, ultimately contaminating the ground water reserves. When it rains, agricultural chemicals are washed into surface water, like rivers, lakes, and ponds.
The most common health effects from herbicide or pesticide exposure through contaminated water are nausea and convulsions. More sever reactions, like chemical burns, cannot result from drinking contaminated water as the concentrations of the toxic chemicals are relatively low.
Most of these chemicals will make you sick if they contaminate the water you drink unless they are removed with the correct filters, herbicides and pesticides are a serious health risk.
MTBE
Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) is used to manufacture unleaded gas. Many parts of the US (particularly urban areas) have MTBE contamination in the local water supply. Like most industrial and agricultural water contaminants, MBT finds its way into both ground and surface water supplies.
Drinking MTBE contaminated water can cause any of the following symptoms.
Algae
Algae in water is increasing which is alarming because many types of algae are extremely dangerous for our health. When certain chemicals mix with water in warm weather, algae starts to grow. Algae is the one of the oldest and most common forms of life on the planet and not all algae is harmful to humans. Though, there are many that are dangerous if consumed.
When water is contaminated with toxic algae, the effects can range from mild to severe, even life threatening with certain types of algae.
Health issues from drinking algae contaminated water:
Bacteria and Parasites
There are many pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) that thrive in water. E-coli is fairly common in water sources throughout the US and other countries. Parasites, like cryptosporidium and giardia are also quite common.
Consuming water with pathogens can cause serious health disorders, sometimes even death. Infants, young children, and elderly people are particularly vulnerable to illness cause by bacteria and parasites.
Common health conditions that result from drinking water containing pathogens:
Heavy Metals
Heavy metals end up in water through runoff and seepage into ground water sources. These metals can be found naturally but industry, chemical plants, mining, and municipal waste disposal are responsible for an increase in dangerous heavy metals in our water supplies. Even very small amounts of some heavy metals can be extremely toxic if consumed.
Toxic heavy metals found in municipal and well water include:
Health conditions resulting from the consumption of water contaminated with heavy metals can be severe. Typical health problems associated with heavy metals in drinking water:
The Solution
It is quite obvious that water contamination is a serious problem. The risks are much more severe than merely feeling sick after drinking a few glasses of water. The contaminants discussed in this article are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We’ve only looked at water contaminants that cause nausea. Even these, have numerous additional health risks. There are many others that can have even more serious implications for your health.
Having identified some of the risks associated with drinking contaminated water the big questions is how can you prevent yourself from getting sick from drinking water?
If the water in your home is making you feel sick, tastes bad, or isn’t crystal clear, you may want to have it tested. A laboratory water test will reveal exactly what is in the water you drink. There may be contaminants that you never thought of or knew existed. With this knowledge, you can set about finding a solution to the problem.
You may feel that buying bottled water is a good alternative to drinking tap water. This is certainly a viable option. However, buying gallons of bottled water is going to be quite costly in the long run. you also end up dumping loads of plastic bottles into the trash which is obviously not a good thing.
Surely there has to be a better, more cost-effective way of ensuring that your drinking water won’t make you sick.
The best solution is to use a filter to purify your drinking water. Over the years, it will pretty much pay for itself and then some, when compared to constantly buying bottled water.
Apart from preventing illness and nausea, water filters have numerous other benefits. Water looks and tastes better. Hard water is more than just a health risk, it can damage the water pipes and appliances in your home. Many water filtration systems include water softeners that remove hard metals and minerals from the water.
In the end, whether you live in the city or a rural area relaying on well water, a water filter is the best solution for any type of water contamination. City water often contains high levels of chlorine and fluoride. This is both unhealthy and does not taste too great. Activated carbon filters take care of pesky contaminants like chlorine and many others.
The risks of pathogens, metals and chemicals are even greater if you drink well water, as this water is not tested regularly and is not treated like municipal water is. Though, these are also found in city water supplies. UV and silver water filters will destroy bacteria, viruses, and parasites, giving you complete peace of mind that the water in your home won’t make you or your family sick.
If you get sick after drinking water or simply want to ensure that your family drinks pure healthy water, explore your options. An inexpensive water filter pitcher is an easy option and may be all you need.
For more comprehensive water purification, a reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration system is generally considered to be the best and most effective method of supplying pure healthy water to your home. The options for whole house water filtration are expensive, with many different stages of filtration that can be tailored to meet your needs.
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