You know it’s important to drink water. You’ve heard it all of your life. But do you really know how dehydration can affect your body? Beyond just your body, it can even impact your mental wellbeing. So, as you work on living a healthy life full of calm and peace, make sure that hydration is on your mind. Here are a few ways that dehydration can impact your health, mood, and even your productivity:
Your body tries to reserve fluids
When you don’t drink enough water, your body is like, “hey, I’m not getting enough hydration, so I’m going to reserve fluids.” The impact that this has on your body can lead to a variety of things that just aren’t any fun to experience.
Dehydration can lead to fatigue. Fatigue often brings on depression, especially for those who use exercise as mood management. It’s hard to want to exercise when your body is trying to reserve fluid, making you feel sluggish and unable to function like normal. It can also cause brain fog, which is why hydration is so important to prioritize on a daily basis.
What you can do?
When it comes to dehydration, you want to remedy it as soon as possible. Try to get some type of electrolyte drink such as Pedialyte that can help you to get rapid hydration or even get an IV drip for hydration to help “bring you back to life.”
But the best thing you can do in the first place is prevention. Shop around for a bottle that you want to carry around with you to fill up often. Another option if you have to be at the office all day is to get soft sided coolers so that you can keep water and other drinks cool throughout your day, easy to have on hand whenever you feel thirsty—especially in the summer.
Know the signs of severe dehydration
If you want to avoid ending up in the hospital for serious dehydration, it’s important to know what to watch for. A couple of telltale signs of serious dehydration are dark urine, lightheadedness, confusion, sunken eyes, and even a lack of sweat. If you’re feeling a combination of these symptoms, it’s important to seek medical help and get some hydration happening ASAP. It’ll be hard to function with these symptoms but can also be dangerous to try to.
Understand the symptoms of mild dehydration
However, most of the time, people don’t get as seriously dehydrated as often as they do mildly dehydrated. And the impacts of mild dehydration are bound to interrupt your flow and productivity by causing issues like constipation, light spells of dizziness, brain fog, dark yellow urine, and a lack of energy. While these symptoms may also be due to other health issues, if you have a combination of them and realize you’re not drinking a lot of water, this could be a good time to start rethinking your hydration.
As an athlete, drink more water
If you’re someone who does a lot of workouts, or is an athlete, your hydration is more important than ever. Dehydration can come quickly for someone who exerts a lot of energy and sweats a lot. This is especially true for someone who works out outside during the summer months. If you’re spending a lot of time exerting energy in heat, hydration is everything.
Without enough hydration and too much heat, you could end up with heat stroke if you’re not careful. Drink water more often than you think you should. You’re not going to be able to perform at your best athlete level without enough hydration.
In Conclusion
Hydration can help you lose weight, look great, and feel good. It’s a key component of a healthy lifestyle but some people don’t drink enough water, even though they work out a lot or spend plenty of time outdoors in the hot months. Pay attention to your hydration for optimal living!
Till next time…stay hydrated & take care…xoxo.