Life & Soul Nutrition
What
does the average women and a boiled pea have in common? They’re
both made up of about 75 per cent water! That’s around
40 litres (67 pints) sloshing about in your body (men have 45
litres, 75 pints). And just as a shrivelled pea doesn’t
have much going for it, so a dehydrated woman is not a pretty
– or healthy – sight either. The symptoms of dehydration
are usually poor skin, tired eyes, low energy, headaches (that
disappear once you have had a good drink of water), weak muscles
and pre-menstrual cramps. Many people put these down to too
many late nights, bad diet, lack of fitness, or stress, rather
than dehydration.
Chris Fenn with the low down on what’s best for your health. Water, water everywhere (but do you get enough to drink?) Sweat
it out!
We tend to drink more when we exercise or get overheated, but
even at rest, we lose around six pints of water every day. During
a day spent just reading this magazine, you would lose a pint
of fluid as perspiration, two pints in breathing out and three
pints down the toilet. Once you are more active – and
you start to sweat – you lose even more fluid.Sweating is the most effective way of keeping your body cool. Humans have more sweat glands per centimetre of skin than any other animal. The glands on your chest and back produce the most sweat, followed by those on your arms and legs. Women tend to produce less sweat than men, due to their smaller size, but it can vary with each individual. While sweating is vital during strenuous activity to prevent severe overheating, it can bring about dehydration – and with it, the shrivelled pea look. The
symptoms of dehydration
The fluid lost via sweat is taken from your circulation system.
With less fluid in your bloodstream, your heart has to pump
harder to get oxygen, nutrients and fluid around the body. However,
ultimately blood flow to your skin (for cooling) and muscles
(to provide them with oxygen and nutrients) is reduced. Which
is why your skin suffers when you’re dehydrated –
and why you feel so tired and lacking in energy. You may also
find it hard to concentrate, especially at work where the dry
office air may cause you to lose fluid. Your brain is 78 per
cent water, so dehydration will drastically affect its performance.Avoiding
the problem
The most obvious symptom of dehydration is, of course, thirst.
This is triggered by the rise in salt concentration in your
blood, but by the time your brain tells your body that you need
something to drink, you are likely to already be dehydrated!If you then take a drink and feel sick or bloated, this confirms that you are lacking in fluid. Dehydration slows down stomach emptying and upsets the normal rhythmic movement of your gut. To prevent dehydration, make a habit of drinking a glass of water when you get up each day and 30 minutes before any exercise. Aim to drink 6-8 glasses of water daily, though larger bodies may need more fluid. Not all drinks will prevent dehydration. Steer clear of drinks containing alcohol or caffeine, as they have a diuretic effect, which means that your kidneys produce more urine than they need to, flushing out more fluids. At the end of the day (and yes, we know it’s boring…) plain water is the best choice. Tap water is fine but, depending on where you live, it can taste like the dregs from a swimming pool! Although added chlorine effectively destroys harmful bacteria, tap water may still contain a variety of other substances such as nitrates, antibiotics hormone and pesticide residues. If
in doubt, take a wee test…
As thirst is often one of the last symptoms of dehydration,
the simplest, most effective way to see whether you’re
drinking enough is to look at the colour and volume of your
urine. Large amounts of a pale straw colour indicate that your
fluid levels are well topped up, but small quantities of dark,
orange urine is the signal to drink more. This is a surprisingly
accurate way to assess your hydration status – as good
as other more complex laboratory tests. |
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