The reason why doctors say to drink plenty of fluids when sick is because when you're sick your body loses more fluids when trying to fight off the illness.
Fluids when sick are lost through vomiting, diarrhea, sweating and even fever and can lead to dehydration.
You need to keep hydrated more when sick to help you recover and help prevent dehydration and to help thin out mucus and facilitate removal of mucus from your respiratory tract.
When you're sick you lose fluids faster through sweating, vomiting and fever and diarrhea and you're at an increased risk of dehydration so you must drink plenty of fluids to replace those lost fluids and prevent an electrolyte imbalance and dehydration.
The 5 signs of dehydration are.
Peeing little and fewer than 4 times per day.
Dry mouth, dry eyes and dry lips.
Feeling Tired.
Dizziness and being lightheaded.
Dark Yellow and strong smelling pee.
Also feeling thirsty and blurred vision is another sign of dehydration.
The organs that are affected by dehydration are the heart, skin, kidneys, muscles and brain.
Dehydration that is not treated can be deadly if it gets severe enough so it's important to seek medical attention when you're severely dehydrated and also drink plenty of water and other hydrating liquids through the day to prevent dehydration.
You can get hydrated quickly by drinking water, juice, tea or by eating watermelon.
You should always drink water and other hydrating drinks before you get thirsty to prevent dehydration.
In severe cases of dehydration you will need to seek medical attention but less severe cases of dehydration can most often be fixed by drinking plenty of water and hydrating fluids.
Drinks that are good for dehydration are water, juice, tea, green tea, coffee, pear juice, apple juice, carrot juice and other fruit and vegetable juices.
Water is the best drink for dehydration and drinking water through the day before you get thirsty can help to prevent dehydration.