Dehydration can range from mild to moderate to severe, even leading people to a dangerous state that puts their lives at risk.
Water is essential to the body’s processes. It is vital for digestion, absorption, and excretion, and also plays a fundamental role in the structure and function of the circulatory system and as a means of transport for nutrients and all substances in the body.
The loss of 20% of body water can cause death, and the loss of only 10% causes serious impairment.
Nutritionist Rosa María Mendoza explains that the simplest symptoms of dehydration are dry mouth and tongue, thirst, headache, lethargy, fatigue, dry skin, muscle weakness, dizziness, dizziness and lack of concentration.
People with severe dehydration may present with sunken eyes, lack of tears, sunken fontanelles (especially among infants), hypotension (low blood pressure), tachycardia, and, in the worst cases, unconsciousness.
Feeling thirsty is an important warning sign of dehydration. Also, check your urine; the more colorless it is, the more likely your water levels are. On the contrary, its color and strong odor indicate the need for water in the body.
Recommendations and mistakes for hydration
Water is lost every day through actions such as breathing, sweating, urinating, or evacuating the bowels. This makes it important to consume water frequently through food and drink. How much do you need? Although it has been said that eight glasses of water a day is enough, each person may need different amounts, depending on their constitution and physical activity.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that men’s consumption is a little more than three liters and women’s consumption is approximately 2.7 liters daily, which could represent about 15 to 11 cups.
Water is the best recommendation to reach optimal levels. What you eat also has an influence; those foods with the highest level of hydration are lettuce, celery, cucumber, spinach, carrots, watermelon, oranges, apples, and grapes, to name a few.
The Mayo Clinic also reports that other drinks are beneficial in this hydration challenge, such as milk, juice, and herbal teas.
It is important to know that although coffee is a beverage, in high quantities it has a diuretic effect that could contribute to dehydration. This effect has also been demonstrated in alcoholic beverages and sodas.
It is said that isotonic drinks should only be used when you are doing intense exercise for more than an hour. These drinks help to replace electrolytes lost through perspiration. Energy drinks, on the other hand, are high in caffeine or other stimulants, sugar, and other additives and are not intended to hydrate.
Although it is rare, drinking too much water should also be avoided. When this happens and the kidneys are unable to eliminate the excess water, the sodium content in the blood becomes diluted, producing hyponatremia, which is dangerous for humans.