Irritability, fatigue, dizziness, stomach pain, trouble concentrating, muscle cramps — how many times have you felt one or all of these symptoms and chalked it up to a lack of sleep, a tough workout or not enough coffee? Turns out, these feelings can all be consequences of something relatively easy to prevent: dehydration. Especially in the winter, many of us don’t realize that just a few glasses of water can sometimes make us feel better in no time.
But first, it’s important to recognize the telltale signs of dehydration. If you go without fluids for just a few hours, you may notice a decrease in your urine volume (known as oliguria) and its concentrated yellow color. This is one of the most basic signs to observe at home to determine your hydration status. Typically, your urine should be pale yellow in color.
[See: What Color Should My Pee Be? A Stream of Urine Questions, Answered.]
Have you ever noticed you get irritable easily or you feel fatigued or dizzy upon standing when you go a few hours without fluids? These and other symptoms occur because you don’t have enough blood flow to your tissues. When you’re severely dehydrated, you may even experience stomach pain, trouble concentrating, muscle cramps or worse yet, heart arrhythmias and neuromuscular issues.
Despite these physical signs of dehydration, there’s no clear-cut formula or set of symptoms to determine just how deep in fluid debt you are. When exercising, you can determine your fluid loss by weighing yourself before and after activity, but I wouldn’t solely rely on this measurement. Instead, consider the above signs and symptoms, which are usually used to diagnose dehydration. In any event, don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.
Here’s a glimpse of how some of your organ systems work hard to balance fluid losses with gains — and what happens when you don’t hydrate enough:
1. Gastrointestinal Tract
Your GI tract secretes hundreds of milliliters of fluids every day. Under normal circumstances, you absorb most of this fluid further along in your GI tract, so you only lose 100 to 200 milliliters each day. But if you don’t reabsorb this fluid properly, you can experience hypovolemia, or not having enough blood circulating in your body. You can also get dehydrated if you excessively vomit when you’re sick, experience profuse diarrhea from infection or food poisoning, or have unrestrained GI bleeding.
[See: 8 Common Digestive Problems and How to End Them.]
2. Kidneys
Our kidneys typically have tight control on our hydration status: They determine the concentration of our urine by reabsorbing fluids and electrolytes. Every day, our kidneys filter 130 to 180 liters of fluid and reabsorb 98 to 99 percent. Even a seemingly minuscule decrease in reabsorption can greatly increase fluids lost through urination. Diuretic use, uncontrolled diabetes and other acute and chronic kidney diseases can lead to excessive fluid loss.
3. Skin
Skin is another source of fluid loss — and not just in summer. Do you know the major constituent of sweat? Contrary to popular belief, sweat is largely composed of water; just a small portion of it is electrolytes like sodium. That’s why on a hot and humid day, or during intense exercise, you need extra fluids. Skin also acts as a barrier, so when this is disturbed — say, from a severe burn or lesion — you can lose a large quantity of fluid volume.
If health professionals suspect you’re dehydrated, they’ll often look to your skin for physical signs of hydration status. When you’re adequately hydrated, your skin has good “turgor,” or firmness or tightness. When you become dehydrated, on the other hand, your skin loses this plump elasticity. So, when you pinch your skin, it will not fall flat immediately (like normal). Decreased turgor also occurs naturally with age, so this simple test alone is not as reliable in older patients.
How much fluid do you need?
While some people believe that eight glasses (or 64 ounces) of fluids a day will meet their needs, scientists now say otherwise. In reality, women and men require 91 ounces and 125 ounces, respectively, but these values can differ based on your activity level and outside temperatures. Children and older adults are especially susceptible to dehydration, so remind those who are more vulnerable to keep drinking.
[See: 10 Seemingly Innocent Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore.]
To help make your fluids easier to swallow, vary the beverages you consume and perhaps jazz up your water with cut fruit or herbal teas. No matter how you get your liquids, let’s raise a glass (or bottle) to healthfully hydrate a little more often this season and beyond.
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Tired and Irritable? Maybe You’re Just Dehydrated originally appeared on usnews.com
