What the warmer weather does is it absorbs fluid out of our body, even without we knowing or realizing. The best cure for this is replacing adequate amounts back into our body, by drinking clean crisp pure water. The issue however, is most will avoid doing so, or will drink alternate tastier fluids.
The reason being most think fluid is fluid. But what most beverages contain are detrimental ingredients which doesn’t do your health any favours.
The young and the elderly are especially susceptible to this. Children will drink too many sweet drinks, while the elderly will not drink enough water at all.
As a result, these age groups usually become dehydrated, which has repercussions on their performance and health.
Examples include poor academic performance for the young, and weakened muscles, confusion and loss of willpower for the old.
The Body Needs Water To Function
We know the body is comprised primarily of water, which is required to accomplish a number of functional physiological processes, along with biochemical reactions on a daily basis.
What these include are: proper blood circulation, regulation of metabolism, balances body temperature, administers muscle strength, and manages waste removal and detoxification.
Just a 2% percent loss of water because of the hot weather or excessive exercise, will make you thirsty.
Using this thirst as a guideline to drink more water is the best and most obvious way to replenish yourself.
But once this thirst mechanism kicks in, you’re usually already in the early stages of dehydration. So what becomes vital is not ignoring the initial pangs of feeling thirst.
This thirst mechanism in some children can also be underdeveloped, while feeling thirsty is usually ignored by the elderly, making both vulnerable.
The elderly are especially at a heightened risk because of their weakened immune system.
To Drink More Water
Getting hunger pangs or sugar cravings are also strong indicators your body is thirsting for more water.
Once you begin to feel hungry, always drink a glass of water first, but never soda or caffeine.
In addition to feeling thirsty, other signs of dehydration include:
• fatigue and dizziness
• mood swings
• weak muscles
• muscle cramps
• foggy thinking
• poor concentration
• back or joint pain
• constipation
• infrequent urination
• headaches
• and bad breath
Know If You’re Dehydrated
Being severely dehydrated at times can become life threatening, while milder forms of it can cause issues such as impaired cognition, irritability, and confusion.
Even just slight dehydration can affect your ability to place full effort into your workouts or daily activities, as just a small percentile can cause up to a 10% percent decrease in performance.
The key symptom that’s known, is the more dehydrated you become, the worse your performance will deteriorate.
So How Much Water To Drink
The oft-advised clinical guideline is to drink eight – 8-ounce glasses of water per day. It’s found however, the amount to drink depends more on the individual, which can vary significantly.
It can depend on a variety of factors, such as the weather conditions, activity level, body composition, the individuals age, and the time of day.
It becomes impossible to determine how much water a particular person needs, as it depends on one’s living habits, what the external conditions are, and what other types of fluids they drank that day.
Take The Pee Test
What’s found more accurate is the colour level of the urine, as it’s found to be the most effective way of tracking an individuals hydration level, on a day to day, hourly basis.
If it’s dark, that means the kidneys are retaining fluid to maintain proper bodily function, and the strongest indicator more water is needed. The ideal colour is a pale yellow.
Also, if you take vitamin B12, (riboflavin) which is commonly found in supplements or in multivitamins, the urine can turn a bright yellow, making it more difficult to judge ones water intake needs.
The frequency of going to the bathroom also becomes a factor, provided one is healthy. Most on average will go around eight times a day.
Don’t Dehydrate And Drive
When it comes to dehydration, what many become susceptible to is fatigue and irritability. Cognitive functioning along with loss of rationality will often become blunted.
There can also be more serious ramifications. If you’re driving and are severely dehydrated, what’s known is you can make up to 2 times more driving errors, if you’re seriously parched.
It’s been discovered that some of the symptoms when severely dehydrated, can be similar to driving drunk.
What compounds this is most will purposely avoid drinking water before going on a long drive, to avoid frequent bathroom stops.
As a result, severe dehydration especially in warmer humid areas or for elderly drivers, is now considered a traffic accident risk.
Replacing Water With Other Beverages
Even if you don’t realize it, your body is losing water, like right now. Even if you’re not visibly sweating or moving around, you need to constantly be replenishing this fluid loss.
Although energy drinks, sport drinks, fruit juices, soda and alcohol are liquid, they’re far from substitutes for pure fresh water, and some even have a negative effect.
Soda, energy drinks, coffee, and some teas contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, and will actually dehydrate you.
They’re bad choices when attempting to quench your thirst, as you’ll usually get thirstier.
What most sweet drinks contain is processed fructose, which contributes to obesity and metabolic dysfunction.
So to remain hydrated, just drink pure filtered water. Do so when walking, exercising, and especially if it’s hot outside.
Make sure to avoid energy or sugary drinks, which won’t effectively replace the lost fluid.