Q: "I exercise five days a week, but I tend to have a lot of stomach problems.  I wonder if perhaps I’m not drinking enough water with all the exercise I do. Do you think that's what is contributing to my stomach discomfort? What are the signs of dehydration?"

A: Without knowing specifically what kind of symptoms you’re experiencing, it’s hard to say what the cause(s) may be. However, it hasn’t been my experience that poor hydration results in stomach issues. According to the Mayo Clinic, mild to moderate symptoms of dehydration include:

• Dry, sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
• Thirst
• Decreased urine output — fewer than six wet diapers a day for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
• Few or no tears when crying
• Muscle weakness
• Headache
• Dizziness or lightheadedness

As you can see, stomach issues aren’t part of this symptom list, but you are not alone in your tummy troubles. I’m not a doctor and do not dispense medical advice but I have had a lot of students over the years, mostly women, who have had similar complaints. There are a number of conditions and sensitivities that cause stomach problems, including lactose intolerance, food allergies, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and celiac disease.

In fact, after months of stomach discomfort, I was recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I would recommend keeping a food and activity diary for a few days to a week, noting adverse symptoms you experience along the way. In some cases the problem is clear from the diary. For instance, if you experience gas and bloating shortly after you drink a glass of milk, cut dairy out of your diet to see if your symptoms go away. If they do, you can then start adding small amounts of dairy back into your diet to find the amount your system can tolerate.

You might also try adding probiotics to your diet. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that reside in your gut. Getting the right kind and amount of “good” bacteria in your intestinal tract has been shown to improve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, in addition to general stomach discomfort. In addition, research shows 70 percent of our immune system is in our gut, so keeping it “healthy” can help all of your body’s systems. Probiotics are found in a number of different foods--that's just one more reason to read labels!