With the heat wave, the sun, and the uninterrupted movements during the summer period are born the great losses of water leading to weight loss. This is called dehydration. This is more common in fragile subjects such as girls and children. Pregnant and elderly women should not be excluded from this category. Dehydration has a drastic effect on these subjects and the subjects who are more rigid to them: men. And, making your arrangements could protect you from this pathology.
First recommendation: drink at least 1.5 liters of water every day!
Did you know that heat greatly increases our water loss? And yes, every day our water losses are about 2.5 to 3 liters. These losses are usually due to your urine, the air you breathe out, and especially the water vapor that you eliminate through sweat and stool. To make up for this loss, food can provide you with almost 1.5 liters. Water compensation can be even more important in case you consume more fruit. Drinks and water can fill the rest, ie 1.5 liters per day.
Sweating, during this summer period, also represents an additional loss of water. This can be up to 1 liter of water. Drinking water in large majority, but also fruit juice, tea, coffee, sodas (in small quantities) … would be an excellent way to prevent this loss at the risk of dehydration.
What are the signs of dehydration?
They will be different depending on the stage of dehydration. This can be mild to moderate or severe.
We speak of mild dehydration when the lack of water in the human body leads to a weight loss of 1 to 3%. As for the symptoms, it is more generally at the beginning, a feeling of thirst, tiredness and dryness in the mouth. Then it will be headache, dizziness, overt dizziness. In addition, the urine is more concentrated and yellower than usual. In infants, these are cries then abnormal apathy, a slightly sunken fontanel. In an elderly person, it will be a feeling of continuous abnormal fatigue, inconsistent words, a very dry tongue, a drop in blood pressure which are biology facts. In any case, the solution is to act quickly, starting with drinking enough!
On the other hand, if the dehydration increases at a more interesting rate causing losses of 3 to 4% of weight loss, the feeling of thirst becomes more intense. The urine becomes very dark and small in volume, the blood pressure drops. There is cause for concern. You have to think about taking care of yourself.
And now, how to stay hydrated?
To avoid this happening, the only thing possible is to respect the rules of prevention. So, you will need to drink a lot regularly throughout the day, while protecting yourself from the heat.
- Drink in the morning when you wake up, the first thing to do
Keep track of how much to drink for the day. You can set a goal of 10 glasses of water. You can also divide this goal into 5 glasses in the morning and 5 glasses in the afternoon and evening. This reflex could be in the fight against dehydration.
In addition to water, possibly drink other drinks to increase your chances of drinking enough: fresh fruit juice, herbal teas, coffee, tea, etc.
- Water everywhere, all the time at your disposal
Always have water available. Seeing her makes you think of drinking. It can be a water bottle on your desk, the water fountain in your workplace, the water bottle prominently in your refrigerator. If you make short trips, remember to take a bottle. It may be tiring at first, but think that it will lighten up much faster than you imagine in this hot season.
Refrigerate your drinks. Drinking a cool drink not only hydrates you, but also refreshes your body.
- A little water during meals, to considerably increase the amount of water to drink
Whether it's during lunch or dinner, put a drink on the side and enjoy. It is a monumental mistake to think that drinking with meals can interfere with digestion. Finish your drink every day to test this. Also remember to eat fruits and vegetables rich in water: peaches, mangoes, cherries, watermelons and melons, oranges, grapefruits… Here is a non-exhaustive list of fruits rich in water. Apples and bananas are richer.
- Urines, a means of controlling dehydration
Check the color of your urine too! If they are dark it means that you are not drinking enough, otherwise, continue in this vein. If you have the option to eat enough salt without exceeding the recommended 6 grams, that would be great. Salt is very interesting, because sweat like urine contains salt. A piece of cheese or butter with each meal could fill this gap. This only applies to adults and children.
For infants, bottles and cereals renewed between small meals (about 500 ml per day, in addition to 500 ml of milk per day) could compensate for this loss if it exists. However, if it is an elderly person, consider offering her a drink every hour: water, fruit juice, and especially herbal teas … which she likes, as long as she drinks .
- Last but not least, the sun and the heat, protect yourself from them!
We are in the summer period, avoid exposing yourself to the sun during the hottest hours (from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.). If you live in a tropical area, the temperature can go up to 38 degrees. Consider seeking shade, wear a hat and light cotton clothing. At night, ventilate the rooms for easy and calm sleep.