When you’re thirsty, it’s hard to focus on anything else. Your mouth is dry, your head might be hurting, and you could even be dizzy and weak depending on how dehydrated you are. But it isn’t only this discomfort that’s a consequence of becoming dehydrated! There are a number of negative health consequences associated with dehydration you’ll want to avoid at all costs. On that same note, there are also a number of health benefits to staying hydrated.
So today, we’re going to share those benefits of hydration, the effects of dehydration, as well as tips for staying hydrated all day long.
Effects of Dehydration
Dehydration can range from being a mild inconvenience all the way to becoming life-threatening.
Here are some of the ways dehydration can affect you and your body:
- Extreme thirst
- Less frequent urination
- Trouble concentrating
- Headaches
- Dizziness/light-headedness
- Sleepiness
- Dry mouth, skin, and other mucous membranes
- Seizures
- Brain swelling
- Low blood pressure
Benefits of Hydration
It will come as no surprise that as negative as the consequences of dehydration are, the benefits of good hydration are just as powerful.
Here are some of them:
- Regulates body temperature
- Lubricates joints
- Helps your organs function properly
- Water helps carry nutrients to your cells
- Improves sleep, cognition, and mood
- Helpful for weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight
- Helps prevent infections
- Improves athletic performance
Tips for Staying Hydrated
Now, for the fun part. Let’s talk about how you can work on staying hydrated so you can experience those benefits of hydration for yourself.
- Start by tracking how much water you’re drinking right now. Keep track for a few days, then try adding two more cups of water each day. This will help your body adjust to the changes and it also makes it a more realistic goal to achieve. Remember: it’s also possible to drink too much water. This is why it’s important to start slow.
- Hydrate as soon as you wake up! This is helpful because prioritizing staying hydrated helps ensure you don’t forget about it during the rest of the day’s activities. To make it even easier, you can keep a big glass of water beside the bed and task yourself with drinking it as soon as you wake up.
- Drinking a glass of water before meals is another helpful strategy for staying hydrated. It also has the added benefit of helping you feel full and preventing overeating.
- If you don’t enjoy drinking water or struggle with the taste, there are plenty of ways to make it more appealing. For people who tend to hydrate with sugar-laden juice and soda, this change can be especially jarring. To jazz up your water and make it more exciting, try adding your favorite fruit to your water bottle. This helps infuse those flavors into the water to make it tastier.
- Another way to make staying hydrated more fun is with a special water bottle. There are a few different options that aid in hydration, including ones that light up at regular intervals reminding you to take a sip. There are also options with times listed on the side, showing you how much water you should drink by each time during that day.
Find all kinds of other nutrition and wellness tips on the Xtend Fitness blog.
