Deydration - could it cause dandruff and other dire consequences?

I went to see a doctor about an aching leg muscle. The doctor asked how often I drnak water, how often I went to the toilet to urinate and what was the colour of my urine. He suggested drinking more water.

As a result, all my family started drinking more water and various longterm aches and pains disappeared.

I recently read an article about health which explained what happens clearly. Your whole body needs water. If you are short of water, blood and water are first directed to your brain, afterwards to other parts of the body such as your limbs.

Lack of water - what do you imagine might be the consequences?

Dark urine.
Less moist excreta and theefore constipation.
Aching muscles.
Dry skin.
Dandruff.

Whatever your health problems, keep an eye on adeuqate uptake of water.

Your family, friends, colleagues, staff, are likely to be irritatble and not alert if they lack essentials and basics such as sleep or water.

The cure is very simple. Drink more water.

Where can you find water?

Carry a water bottle and refill it when you see a water fountain. In the USA they are often on every floor of a hotel. You might also find them in public buildings such as hospitals and shopping malls and airports.

Is it safe to drink tap water? In the UK I use only taps marked drinking water. Taps in bathrooms in homes may come from water tanks on the roof of the house. This is not fresh water but stored water. Not only is it lacking in the bubbles which make tap water more freshing. The tank, despite the lid, might contain dead birds or insects or pieces of rusting metal.

In Singapore tap water is afe to drink. In India and Indonesia it is not safe to drink the water. In some countries local people can drink the water becuase they are immune to local bugs. But foreigners might suffer adverse effects.

If in doubt, buy a big bottle of water from a supermarket. Take the whole bottle with you or decant it into smaller bottles to carry around. Refill it from a safe source when you get the opportunity.

Overseas, I suffered from a stye, which the doctor said was a blocked pore at the base of an eyelash. I was thinking about this and wondered if I should be keeping myself hydrated so that all the fluids in my body were kept flowing.

In many countries water is free or cheap.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.  

Water, water, drinking water in Cambodia, London, Singapore, America

Problem
Is the water safe to drink?

Answers

America
Water, water everywhere. Fountains in shopping malls, on every level or every other level of hotels. I suppose that's why Americans are always so alert. They also don't drink at lunch time. Certainly not at the conventions I have been to.

Cambodia
In Siem Reap (the second city and most visited tourist city because of the probity to Ankor Wat) you are told not to drink the water.

In our hotel we were given small bottles of water for tooth cleaning. I thought, if I'm not supposed to use this for tooth cleaning, do I really want to wash my hands in it? I would clean my teeth, rinse my mouth with bottled water, tip a capful over my hands. What about my face? What about washing underclothes? What about my hands in clothes washing water? What about washing a hat, a blouse, a dress, a slip, a pair of socks?

Presumably washing grapes and apples means using bottled water. And lettuce and tomatoes.

A business man going to Cambodia to the capital next week asks me if it's easy to find bottled water. Yes. Hotels have it on the restaurant tables and in bathrooms attached to bedrooms (although not in the wash rooms / rest rooms. Carry your own. Easy to get water? Yes. You can buy it in a supermarket. Your talk-tuk driver will collect half a dozen bottles of water in a pack and give you a fresh one every morning. You will have saved your own bottle from breakfast.

Remember to save your bottled water from dinner. Don't leave it on the table.

At the airport they will take away your water, but usually let you drink it, or they will offer to throw away the water and give you back the bottle to refill later.

England
Drinkable water from London fresh water kitchen taps. In Physics lessons at school we were told don't drink from bathroom taps because that water is not from the main but stored overhead in a tank which could have all sorts in it.

You hear lots of stories about creatures which fall into tanks. I've heard plumbers say nonsense, tanks have covers so no insects not pigeons nor squirrels can drop in. But we had a plumber who investigated a tank in a loft where we were living and produced and piece of rusting metal which he said he'd found in the tank.

Hard water in London. Soft water in Derbyshire at Writers' Summer School.

Singapore
Yes, you can drink from the tap. We do all the time. I also use the tap water in a coffee machine which I hope boils the water. Then the water is too hot to drink, so I add milk and cold tap water.

I don't like the taste of tap water to drink so I add slices of lemon. Lemon is supposed to rot your teeth, being acid. You are told not to clean your teeth within an hour of drinking water containing lemon.


Wales
Lovely soft water in Fishguard, West Wales.

Tips
Concerned about drinking water safety?
1 Drink water which has been brought to the boil.
2 Buy a filtration kit from a camping shop.
3 Buy bottled water. In restaurants drink only from water which has been poured from a bottle which was opened in front of you.
4 Wash the cup before pouring in water to drink.
5 Avoid ice, iced cold drinks, iced tea, iced alcoholic drink, milkshakes with crushed ice, ice lollies.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share my posts.