There will be times in your life when the water content of your body will drop below levels your body prefers to maintain. At first, you will experience mild symptoms, like being thirsty. But eventually, more severe problems will emerge.
In this post, we cover some of the common signs you’re dehydrated and how to restore normal water levels in your body quickly.
Signs And Symptoms Of Dehydration
Water is essential for life. Without it, our cells can’t go about their everyday processes and, eventually, they die.
Most of the time, any dehydration you experience is mild. Perhaps you didn’t take enough fresh water with you on your jog, or maybe you forgot to drink because you became distracted by something at work.
Signs and symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, headache, dry skin, feeling tired, deep yellow or brown urine, and dry mouth.
Some people are more prone to dehydration than others. Children, for instance, are more likely to become dehydrated because their bodies are smaller, as are older adults with kidney trouble.
How To Rehydrate Effectively
If you have any of these signs and symptoms, you need to rehydrate. Here are five ways to do it fast.
1. Drink Filtered Water
Drinking clean filtered water is one of the most potent ways to rehydrate your body rapidly. Where possible, try to avoid sugary carbonated beverages and alcohol as these will slow down the rate at which you rehydrate.
Gentoo water filters jugs may help to improve hydration levels by extracting any impurities in tap water. You pour water in at the top and wait for it to percolate through the filter material, yielding pure, beautiful water in the bottom. There’s no need for electricity (gravity does all the work) and the device reduces fluoride, chlorine and other contaminants, like heavy metals.
In most cases, you won’t need to take rehydration salts onboard. You’ll be able to get all the salt you need from your regular diet. The only exception here is when doing prolonged exercise in hot humid climates for prolonged periods or if your sweat is naturally very salty.
2. Tea And Coffee
Caffeine is a diuretic in high quantities, meaning that it makes you want to visit the bathroom more often. But it turns out that drinking tea and coffee in moderate quantities after exercise is just as hydrating as water. Plus it can give you energy at the same time - just what you want in hot weather or after a long workday.
3. Fruits And Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are both exceptionally high in water. These foods contain more than 90 per cent water - the rest being fat, fibre, protein and various types of sugars. Thus, you’re often able to stay hydrated by simply adopting a healthy lifestyle that supports your hydration goals.
4. Skim Milk
Skim milk is essentially regular milk, but with the suspended fat particles removed. Manufacturers use a centrifuge to separate whole milk into its constituent parts, and then remove most of the fat, leaving just the water, plus nutrients.
Skim milk might be a good way to rehydrate rapidly because of its high concentrations of electrolytes. Research finds that it may be as effective as leading sports drinks after intense exercise while providing additional nutrition and health benefits your body needs.
5. Hydration Solutions
Food poisoning often dehydrates because of the amount of water lost in vomit and diarrhea. Combined with reduced fluid intake, this can lead to rapid reductions in body weight. It is particularly dangerous for men and women over the age of 65 or children under the age of 10.
Today, though, you can buy oral hydration solutions from the pharmacy - specific formulas designed to provide the body with the chemicals it needs when water levels are running low.
These solutions contain electrolytes - things your body uses to transmit signals along nerves - such as potassium, sodium and chloride (which is one of the reasons they taste a little salty).
Unfortunately, these solutions can be a little expensive and may not perform any better than traditional kitchen ingredients.
You can create your own solutions in a water bottle. Add one litre of water, half a teaspoon of salt and a few teaspoons of sugar if necessary and shake to combine.
Wrapping Up
You can become dehydrated for all kinds of reasons. But the principles of rehydration remain the same. Drinking pure filtered water is the cheapest and most convenient method. But other beverages can also rehydrate your body, such as skim milk and coffee. Fruits and vegetables can help too, because of their high water content.