Spring Fever By Dr. Michelle Irwin

Spring fever comes with many symptoms. An overwhelming urge to get outside to be in the sun, play sports that we may not have tried doing since we were young kids, dig in the dirt, and stop to smell the roses and other flowers. But did you know these symptoms come with other body signals?

It is important to do all of the activities aforementioned, but we need to listen to our bodies to know what signals are telling us something is unusual within us and take action. Dehydration can be associated with all of these activities and when we are dehydrated, we have elevated histamines in our blood stream which is the cause of allergies. When we are already suffering from allergies because of the flowers we stopped to smell, and the dirt we played in to grow the flowers, we have a more intense reaction due to dehydration.

A good rule to follow is trying to get at least half of your body weight in ounces of water EVERY DAY. I know it sounds crazy; I mean how much can you really get done when you are running to the bathroom all day long. But if you think about the desert and the forest it makes it easier to understand why it really does work. If it rains in the forest on regular basis the rivers flow, plants grow, and the soil stays rich and healthy. If it rains in the desert, it will flood and not soak into the ground and the plants are hearty to store what they can but flush out the rest. When we regularly hydrate, our bodies are like the forest but if not, it is like the desert, and we flood it causing us to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes. We have to go through the desert sometimes to get to the forest, but it can be done!

Listen to your body and learn what it is saying. If we do, we can all stay happy and healthy as we get to play in the sun more and more this year.