Can dehydration cause abdominal pain? Those of you who may have gone through excruciating abdominal pain might want to know the answer. The answer is yes; dehydration-related abdominal pain does exist and can cause extreme discomfort and pain. But the good news is, it can be prevented or managed by making positive changes in your lifestyle and by taking care of your gut health.

Understanding the correlation between dehydration and abdominal pain- Most Americans are unaware of the correlation between dehydration and abdominal pain. Dehydration-related abdominal pain can cause sudden bouts of cramping, and it can often come unalarmed or without any prior symptoms. Your body cannot function properly without enough water and fluid intake. According to the guidelines issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, women should consume 2.7 liters of water per day and men should consume 3.7 liters of water per day.

The typical way you lose fluid from your body is by sweating, breathing, peeing or even through tears. But there are other ways your body loses fluids more than usual such as through fever, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive sweating etc.

Dehydration and loss of electrolytes causes muscle spasms and abdominal spasms. You might even experience other symptoms due to dehydration such as extreme thirst, dizziness, headaches and dark yellow urine.

Insufficient consumption of water or fluids can lead to sluggish bowel function. Water receptors in the colon tend to pull water from your body to make the stools softer. So with less water-intake you could get abdominal cramps or pain. This is where your gut health comes into picture.

One of the surprising facts of abdominal pain is that it can be connected straight to your gut health. Digbi Health - an innovative digital therapeutics company is committed to reversing poly-chronic inflammatory illnesses through personalization. Digbi believes in addressing the root of the problem to provide holistic care versus quick-fix solutions that try to mask and manage chronic issues. Digbi experts interpret your genes and your unique gut microbiome to help identify the existing gut bacteria. After mapping these details, a unique lifestyle and diet program is created that is designed to alter the type of bacteria in your gut to help you lead a healthy life.
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Other possible causes of abdominal pain-

Irritable Bowel Syndrome-
Also known as IBS; irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic condition that affects the large intestine. Common symptoms caused due to IBS are stomach pain or cramping, bloated feeling, diarrhea, constipation, gas etc.

Gastroenteritis-
Also known as stomach flu, this is a type of stomach inflammation that involves an inflammation to the intestines. Gastroenteritis can lead to the following symptoms

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Stomach pain
• Bloating
• Diarrhea

Urinary tract infection-
Can UTI cause abdominal pain? Yes it can! UTI includes symptoms such as pressure, pain and bloating in the lower abdominal area. Most infections also cause painful urination, and strong smelling urine. UTI is a very common reason for abdominal pain and is mostly caused by bacteria, primarily the E-coli species.

Constipation-
Constipation is another reason that could cause your bowels to cramp. Abdominal pain is caused due to increased pressure inside the bowels.

The Wrap-
Various reasons can cause abdominal pain; however, dehydration related abdominal pain does exist and is backed by research. Most of the causes and reasons for abdominal pain can also be related to the overall health of your gut.

It is therefore important to understand genetics and gut microbiome because that is where most of the answers and cures to your health are hidden. Unravel these hidden answers through our health programs and get your health and lifestyle streamlined today, because, it’s never too late to take charge of your well-being and that of your loved ones!