STAYING HYDRATED

Hydrated STAYING

BY KATIE CAMPBELL

his year, the UK experienced its hottest ever heatwave. When it comes to staying safe in the hot weather, keeping properly hydrated is one of the most important things to consider, along with protecting ourselves against UV rays. Remembering to keep hydrated while we go about our busy lives - whether we’re enjoying the heat or trying to get our daily workload done - is absolutely vital in helping us avoid heat-related illnesses, like heatstroke and heat exhaustion.

The NHS distinctly states that dehydration occurs when our bodies lose more fluids than they take in. When we spend time in high temperatures, our bodies produce sweat - this sweat sits on top of the skin, and as it evaporates, the surface of the skin cools down. It’s our natural, inbuilt air conditioning that helps prevent our bodies from overheating in warm surroundings. When we’re sweating, that’s a sign from our bodies that we need to put more water into our system to keep everything ticking over properly, otherwise we run the risk of becoming dehydrated. With that in mind, if you’re spending time in the heat, it’s a good idea to drink more water than you normally would to compensate for the water your body is using to cool you down.

Water is, of course, the gold-standard for keeping hydrated - even if you’re not keen on the taste of water, adding a little diluting juice or switching to sparkling water is still helpful for ensuring you’re staying hydrated. The NHS doesn’t recommend you drink alcohol when you’re trying to rehydrate as it’s something called a diuretic - that is, something that can make you pee more often, which is of course, a bit counterproductive to trying to keep water in your body. Tea and coffee are also mild diuretics, but staying within your daily limits for their caffeinated varieties shouldn’t have much of an effect on your hydration levels, unless other factors are at play. Some food can also help get liquid into your body: fruit and vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes are around 95% water!

One of the most important things you can do to combat dehydration is know its symptoms. When you know what being dehydrated looks and feels like, you’ll be able to spot the warning signs much easier. Some people are more susceptible to dehydration: people living with diabetes, anyone taking medicines that are diuretic, for example, may find that they are affected by dehydration more quickly than others. The NHS lists the main symptoms of dehydration in children and adults as: feeling thirsty, having dark and strong-smelling pee, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, feeling tired, having a dry mouth, lips or eyes, and not peeing often (fewer than four times in a day). For children who are under five, the situation has become urgent when they: seem drowsy, are breathing quickly, cry with few or no tears, have a sunken soft spot on their head (sunken fontanelle), have a dry mouth, have dark pee or have not peed in the last 12 hours, and have cold and blotchy hands and feet. At this point, the NHS recommends that they see a GP or visit A&E.