Water is considered one of the fundamental building blocks of life. For humans, this is no exception[1]. It is essential to keep your body hydrated for all functions. From digestion to circulating oxygen around your body.
When the our environment increases in temperature, it can become harder and harder to maintain this, as your body will lose more and more water through sweat and keeping your body cool. As such, it is essential to understand dehydration, what it looks like and how to best deal with it.
How to spot dehydration
Dehydration is easy to spot with a large variety of symptoms that can cause it. These include:
- Feeling thirsty
- Headache or dizziness
- Tiredness
- Less pee, or darker stronger smelling pee when you do
- Nausea or sickness feeling
How to deal with dehydration
To deal with dehydration, you need to drink water. If you are experiencing a sick feeling, then you may find it difficult to drink water in large quantities. Therefore, it is important to focus on taking small sips. With drinking water, the job worth doing is worth doing poorly, and it is better to drink a little bit at a time than none at all.
What can cause dehydration
Heat and Exertion
If you are in a hot environment and/or doing strenuous activity such as moving, carrying heavy objects or intense manual labour. You will begin to sweat, this sweat uses water from your body which will slowly dehydrate you unless you replenish that water.
To avoid dehydration from this, remember to take frequent breaks, especially in hot weather. Make sure to consider the work that needs doing and asking for help from friends/family/neighbours. To reduce the strain on your body and help to better manage your water usage.[2]
Sickness
Many sicknesses such as diarrhoea[3] can cause dehydration as the body rapidly loses fluids while fighting disease and from waste removal. It is important to always keep yourself hydrated when ill, preferably by keeping water within easy reach at all times.
According to a recent article from the BBC, certain mental health medications can also cause dehydration. It is important to check the side effects of any medication that you are taking, these can usually be found in instruction leaflets within the box, or written on the box itself. For more info, see the BBC article here
Alcohol
Drinking alcoholic drinks causes your body to push out fluids rapidly[4], as such drinking can be a major cause of dehydration. It is safe to have a cup of water with you whilst drinking and alternating what you drink from. This keeps your body hydrated whilst being able to enjoy your beverage.
Dehydration is extremely common and even easier to deal with, however, in extreme cases it can be dangerous and even fatal, therefore it is much better to keep yourself safe and hydrated.
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4 Works Cited
1. Popkin, B. M. A. D. K. E. A. R. I. H. (2010). Water, hydration, and health. Nutrition reviews, 68(8), 439-458.
2. Convertino, V. A. A. A. L. E. A. C. E. F. A. M. G. W. A. S. M. N. A. S. L. C. A. S. W. M. (1996). ACSM position stand: exercise and fluid replacement. Medicine \& Science in Sports \& Exercise, 20(10), i-ix.
3. Aghsaeifard, Z. A. H. G. A. A. R. (2022). Understanding the use of oral rehydration therapy: A narrative review from clinical practice to main recommendations. Health science reports, 5(5), e827.
4. Polhuis, K. C. A. W. A. H. A. S. A. A. C. W. A. T. M. (2017). The diuretic action of weak and strong alcoholic beverages in elderly men: A randomized diet-controlled crossover trial. Nutrients, 9(7), 660.