Have you ever experienced excessive thirst, followed by a tired body, and a very bad headache? If so, one of the reasons it happened might be because you’re currently experiencing signs of dehydration.
What Is Dehydration?
Dehydration is a condition in which the body lacks fluids. Once this happens, the body won’t be able to function properly. Other impacts that you may experience when you are dehydrated are feeling dizzy, your body feeling sluggish, weak and you may also get constipation. If dehydration is left unchecked, it can even damage your vital organs. Thus it is important to know how to treat dehydration immediately.
If dehydration is not treated immediately, it can cause more serious symptoms, such as low blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and breathing rhythm. The effects of severe dehydration can lead to serious complications such as:
- Seizures: These occur due to an electrolyte imbalance in the body.
- Unconsciousness: In conditions of severe dehydration to cause a lack of electrolytes can cause disturbances in the form of decreased consciousness.
- Kidney probleem: Such as kidney stones, urinary tract infections, and kidney failure.
- Cramps and difficulty walking: This condition is caused by a lack of electrolytes in the body which are essential for muscle work.
How Can You Know Whether You Are Hydrated Enough Or Not?
One simple way to tell if your body is getting enough fluids is to do a urine color test. If your urine color is clear or yellow, it means that your body is getting the proper amount of water. But if your urine color is darker, it means that you should increase your water intake -because this can be an early sign of dehydration.
How To Prevent Dehydration?
Dehydration is a condition that we often experience unconsciously. Because you do not think that you are thirsty, you do not think that you need water. This is so wrong! Feeling thirsty is not the only sign that you lack fluid inside your body.
Drink water
Drinking water is the most effective way to solve dehydration problems. When dehydrated, body fluids are reduced drastically. Thus you should, immediately drink a glass of water to restore fluids that have been lost. But you should keep in mind that nowadays lots of water sources have been contaminated with bacteria or chemicals due to the environment or dirty water pipes. Drinking contaminated water for a long time can impact our health in the long run. What you can do to prevent this is by looking up for the best spring water to buy on the internet, thus you can order it in bulk. This can be the ultimate way of staying hydrated with the right product.
Hydrating vegetables and fruits
You may not know it, but food can contribute about 20% of your fluid intake. Thus, you can also get your fluid replenished from high-water content vegetables and fruits. Here is some water-rich food that you can consume daily in order to help you replenish the fluid you lose.
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Watermelon
- Strawberry
By consuming these water-rich vegetables and fruits you can increase the body’s energy thereby reducing fatigue due to dehydration.
Drink juices or infused water
If you don’t like the plain taste of water, you might want to opt to combine your fluid intake with fruit juices or infused water. These two are very efficient to increase your body fluid level, but at the same time help you not have to consume the boring taste of water often.
You can prevent dehydration and at the same time pamper your taste buds by drinking the delicious fruit concoction. There are many recipe recommendations on the internet, shall you want to make infused water or mix-fruit juices.
Energy drink
Sports drinks which contain sodium are a great remedy to be given to people who suffer from dehydration. People who are lacking fluid inside their body need sodium in order to bounce back, but water alone won’t be sufficient for them. This is why usually athletes will opt to consume energy drinks after doing very hard training. Energy drinks can help them to prevent or even cure hyponatremia -electrolyte disorders that occur when the level of sodium in the blood is lower than normal.
Reduce caffeine intake
If you are dehydrated, caffeine intake can actually reduce sodium and water levels in your body, making the dehydration you experience becoming even worse.
Infusion
If the dehydration condition is very severe, what you can do to deal with the problem is possible by giving an infusion. The infusion will help the hydrated body get enough fluid through injection. This will truly help, especially for people who are sick and can’t even digest anything orally.
Maintaining the amount of fluid in the body is very important for everyone. Though water is important and very useful for our body, you should also keep in mind that water is not the only source of things that can help to prevent or even overcome dehydration. There are several other things that you can do, which will also help you maintain the water level in your body.