How do I stay hydrated?
The Better Health Channel recommends that adults drink eight to ten cups (or 2 to 2.6 litres) of fluid every day, and more in hot weather or when you’re exercising. Here are a few ideas to make it easier to stay hydrated:
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Stay hydrated for a healthy circulation
Did you know that around 70% of your body is made up of water? That’s why it’s so important we drink enough of it.
Staying well hydrated is essential for good health and plays a particularly important role in our circulatory system.
Why is good hydration essential for a healthy circulation?
There’s good reason water is described as the source of life - every cell in our bodies needs it to work efficiently, and proper hydration is essential for a healthy heart and circulation.
Your heart is constantly working - it beats an average 72 times each minute and pumps almost 8,000 litres of blood every day. Staying well hydrated helps your heart do its job more easily.
Dehydration happens when you lose more fluids than your body takes in.
As blood is around 90% water, the loss of fluid through dehydration makes it thicker and blood volume decreases. The heart beats faster to compensate and works harder to push blood around the body. All this puts a strain on the heart.
How else does dehydration affect my health?
Severe dehydration can be life-threatening, but research shows that being even a little dehydrated can affect wellbeing.
As well as placing a strain on the heart, dehydration can impact on your blood pressure, causing it to both plunge and skyrocket. Decreased volumes of blood can initially result in low blood pressure, simply because there’s less blood in the vessels.
But dehydration also causes sodium levels in the blood to rise, and your body responds by releasing a hormone called vasopressin, to help your body retain more water. Vasopressin causes blood vessels to constrict, which can cause your blood pressure to spike.
Signs of dehydration
Our thirst mechanism lags behind hydration levels, so by the time you experience the early signs, the chances are you’re already dehydrated. Early signs of dehydration include:
- Feeling thirsty
- Dark yellow urine
- Peeing less often than usual
- Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
- Tiredness
- Dry mouth, lips and tongue
- Headache
Dehydration can happen more easily if you have diabetes, have been ill or take medicines that make you pee more (diuretics).
- Keep your drink handyIt’s easy to simply forget to drink enough water, especially in winter. Keep a water bottle handy to encourage you to drink throughout the day, have a glass of water with every meal and order a jug of tap water in restaurants.
- Liven up your waterDrinking more water is the obvious way to stay well hydrated, but it can be unappealing. Give plain water a flavour boost by adding a herb or fruit infusion. Cucumber, lemon, lime, orange, basil and mint are good choices. There are lots of fruit infuser water bottles on the market for when you’re on-the-go.
- Choose alternativesWater isn’t the only drink in town - some studies suggest that milk provides just as much hydration. Regular cups of tea and coffee also go a long way to help you reach your hydration target, and de-caffeinated options are best as caffeine acts as a diuretic. Green and herbal teas, and coconut water are also great choices. But beware of drinks that contain lots of sugar as they can be damaging to your health in other ways.
- Eat your hydrationDrinking isn’t the only way to take on fluids - some foods are also great for boosting hydration. Foods with a high water content include cucumber, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, honeydew melon, watermelon, apples, oranges and blueberries.
- Drink less alcoholAny alcoholic drink over 10 per cent alcohol content is a dehydrator, which means that more fluid will leave your system than be absorbed by drinking it. A rule of thumb is that the stronger the alcohol, the more dehydrating it will be.
- Rehydration drinksIt’s best to avoid dehydration through your day-to-day fluid intake. But if you feel that your body has lost too much fluid - perhaps after suffering an illness or during a heatwave - you may need to replace the sugar, salts and minerals your body has lost. A pharmacist can recommend rehydration drinks that will help with this.
- Keep your drink handyIt’s easy to simply forget to drink enough water, especially in winter. Keep a water bottle handy to encourage you to drink throughout the day, have a glass of water with every meal and order a jug of tap water in restaurants.
- Liven up your waterDrinking more water is the obvious way to stay well hydrated, but it can be unappealing. Give plain water a flavour boost by adding a herb or fruit infusion. Cucumber, lemon, lime, orange, basil and mint are good choices. There are lots of fruit infuser water bottles on the market for when you’re on-the-go.
- Keep your drink handyIt’s easy to simply forget to drink enough water, especially in winter. Keep a water bottle handy to encourage you to drink throughout the day, have a glass of water with every meal and order a jug of tap water in restaurants.
- Liven up your waterDrinking more water is the obvious way to stay well hydrated, but it can be unappealing. Give plain water a flavour boost by adding a herb or fruit infusion. Cucumber, lemon, lime, orange, basil and mint are good choices. There are lots of fruit infuser water bottles on the market for when you’re on-the-go.
- Choose alternativesWater isn’t the only drink in town - some studies suggest that milk provides just as much hydration. Regular cups of tea and coffee also go a long way to help you reach your hydration target, and de-caffeinated options are best as caffeine acts as a diuretic. Green and herbal teas, and coconut water are also great choices. But beware of drinks that contain lots of sugar as they can be damaging to your health in other ways.
- Eat your hydrationDrinking isn’t the only way to take on fluids - some foods are also great for boosting hydration. Foods with a high water content include cucumber, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, honeydew melon, watermelon, apples, oranges and blueberries.
- Drink less alcoholAny alcoholic drink over 10 per cent alcohol content is a dehydrator, which means that more fluid will leave your system than be absorbed by drinking it. A rule of thumb is that the stronger the alcohol, the more dehydrating it will be.
- Rehydration drinksIt’s best to avoid dehydration through your day-to-day fluid intake. But if you feel that your body has lost too much fluid - perhaps after suffering an illness or during a heatwave - you may need to replace the sugar, salts and minerals your body has lost. A pharmacist can recommend rehydration drinks that will help with this.
- Keep your drink handyIt’s easy to simply forget to drink enough water, especially in winter. Keep a water bottle handy to encourage you to drink throughout the day, have a glass of water with every meal and order a jug of tap water in restaurants.
- Liven up your waterDrinking more water is the obvious way to stay well hydrated, but it can be unappealing. Give plain water a flavour boost by adding a herb or fruit infusion. Cucumber, lemon, lime, orange, basil and mint are good choices. There are lots of fruit infuser water bottles on the market for when you’re on-the-go.
How Revitive can help
Revitive Circulation Booster is a range of medical devices clinically proven to boost circulation in the legs and feet during use. Revitive’s Medic Coach includes Smart Therapy technology and one of its key features is hydration sensors, which let you know whenever your skin hydration levels are low.