“If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated” is a thought many individuals have as they refill their water bottles or buy a drink on the retailer ― however is it true?
No, probably not, specialists say. “The science shows that we start to get thirsty when we’ve lost 1 to 2% of our body water,” mentioned Dr. Nate Wooden, the director of culinary medication on the Yale Faculty of Drugs in Connecticut. Shedding this quantity of water typically doesn’t include huge well being points and might be simply fastened by ingesting some fluids.
In relation to dehydration, it turns into an issue when somebody loses about 8% of their physique’s water, mentioned Dr. Philip Skiba, an affiliate professor and the medical director of Jefferson Health Sports Drugs in Philadelphia — not after they lose 1% or 2%. Early thirst cues are simply your physique cluing you into the truth that you might use some fluids.
Dr. Jordan Hilgefort, a sports activities medication and household medication physician on the College of Louisville Health in Kentucky, agreed. Thirst is “maybe not necessarily a marker of dehydration, but perhaps is more aptly said as an early warning sign of impending dehydration.”
As we lose water, it’s solely pure for our our bodies to inform us to have extra fluids, based on Wooden. “But the body is really smart, and it would be really dumb if its thirst mechanism only kicked in after we were dehydrated,” Wooden mentioned.
The precise indicators of dehydration embrace dry mouth, dry pores and skin and lightheadedness.
Whereas being thirsty isn’t an indication of dehydration, there are different crimson flags. In line with Hilgefort, dry mouth, dry lips and dry pores and skin are all indicators of slight dehydration.
“When you think about things like dizziness, lightheadedness — those are big ones that start to come on when you can get pretty significantly dehydrated,” Hilgefort mentioned. That is additionally true of headache and fatigue.
You can too have a look at the colour of your urine. “It does give us a good way to gauge how well-hydrated you are and how much fluid intake you have or need to have,” Hilgefort mentioned, noting that pale yellow urine is an indication of fine hydration.
However if you happen to do discover dry lips or darker urine than common, don’t panic. “Being a little dehydrated is not a big deal, because you drink water and you have some Gatorade or whatever, and you get better,” Skiba mentioned.
When you drink some water and the feeling of thirst goes away “that’s a good gauge that, ‘Hey, I’ve at least started to drink and replete my fluid stores,’” Hilgefort defined.
Getting dehydrated repeatedly can result in critical issues if it’s not dealt with.
Getting barely dehydrated right here and there possible gained’t trigger you a lot issues so long as you drink fluids to treatment the issue. Nonetheless, if you happen to repeatedly get dehydrated you might expertise well being penalties.
“The big thing that I think about with patients is chronic kidney dysfunction. Not just in the sense of how well the kidneys are working, but even in putting you at higher risk for things like kidney stones or urinary tract infections,” Hilgefort mentioned.
Then again, ingesting an excessive amount of water can result in kidney issues, too.
“Your kidneys, in particular, work to keep the blood sodium in a very, very tight range, because if it goes too high or too low, bad stuff starts happening,” Skiba mentioned. This contains complications and seizures. That is fairly uncommon, however might be seen in marathon runners, he mentioned.
To maintain a wholesome quantity of water in your system, it’s essential to hearken to your thirst cues; drink whenever you’re thirsty and cease whenever you’re not.
Hydration is essential for our physique’s most important capabilities.
“Water is extremely important in the body. It’s used in metabolic processes, which keeps our cells functioning really, really well,” Wooden mentioned.
It additionally helps preserve our blood stress in a wholesome vary and ensures our organs get the fluid, vitamins and oxygen they want, he added. “Having an adequate amount of water in the body is really important for temperature regulation, too,” Wooden mentioned. With out it, warmth stroke can occur.
Precisely how a lot water you’ll want to drink every day depends upon your physique, local weather, exercise stage and well being circumstances, all three medical doctors advised HuffPost.
You’re most likely accustomed to the recommendation that claims you must drink eight glasses of water, 8 ounces every, each day. This can be a good place to begin, based on Wooden, however isn’t a hard-and-fast rule for everybody.
It’s possible you’ll discover you require rather less or a bit extra. “You can basically just drink every time you get thirsty. I think that’s a pretty reasonable thing to do,” Wooden mentioned. You can too use the colour of your urine as a hydration clue.
For some individuals, a go to to the physician may help decide how a lot fluid you need to be ingesting. Coronary heart failure sufferers can’t have as a lot water as these with out the situation, Hilgefort mentioned, and athletes require extra fluids than those that don’t train. Extra, being overly thirsty might be an early signal of circumstances like diabetes, Skiba famous.
Feeling thirsty is an indication your physique is doing what it wants to make sure you have the correct quantity of fluid in your system; feeling thirsty isn’t a motive to panic about your water consumption for the day.
Backside line: “When you get thirsty, you’re not yet dehydrated, but if you ignore those thirst cues for a couple of hours, then you probably will start to feel the effects of true dehydration,” Wooden mentioned.
