Explore Potential Causes of Dehydration and Tips to Prevent

Dehydration is one of the common disorders that can be even more dangerous when your body loses excessive fluids. It occurs due to numerous factors, including higher temperature, extensive physical activities, excessive vomiting, inadequate water intake, etc.

In dehydration, you will face numerous symptoms such as thirst, dry mouth, dizziness, fatigue, headache, etc. These are even some of the common dehydration symptoms. In several conditions, dehydration causes heart stroke and various other life-threatening complications.

So, you can take several appropriate measures to prevent dehydration, which is not only necessary for maintaining a good health condition but to avoid serious health risks. To overcome the dehydration issue, you need to drink an adequate amount of water and various other fluids. You can increase your water and fluid intake more, especially when you get exposed to higher temperatures or do lots of physical activities.

Besides, you can adopt several other strategies for the prevention of dehydration and stay healthy. These strategies include avoiding caffeine and alcohol. Instead, you can eat lots of water-rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, etc. You should also constantly monitor your urine color.

In this post, we will discuss the causes of dehydration and give you helpful advice to prevent it to maintain good health.

Causes of Dehydration

Inadequate Amount of Fluid Intake

It’s one of the common causes of dehydration. If you don’t drink enough water and fluids, your body is prone to get dehydrated. And you will face lots of related complications. You should keep in mind that the human body needs a certain amount of water daily to ensure its proper function. So, if you neither drink enough water nor consume water-rich fruits and vegetables, your body starts losing water. And it causes dehydration.

Chronic Medical Condition

Some chronic medical conditions like kidney disease, diabetes, etc. cause dehydration. For instance, the diabetic patient always faces symptoms like frequent urination due to increased blood sugar levels, which results in fluid loss and thus, dehydration. If your kidney doesn’t function properly, it causes an imbalance of electrolytes and fluids in the human body.

Excessive Loss of Fluids

Sometimes, you sweat excessively due to heavy physical workouts or due to hot weather. It also leads to dehydration. In this case, your body loses electrolytes and water, which causes dehydration. The fluid loss also takes place due to excessive vomiting and diarrhea.

Medications

We all are aware of the fact that medication has various side effects. So, if you consume medicines, you may face dehydration. Some medicines are available to cure heart failure and hypertension often causes excessive urine production, which causes fluid loss.

Aging Factors

Aging factors are also responsible for dehydration. With growing age, your body loses its capability of conserving water in the effective way it does at a young age. So, those who are old often face problems like a decrease in thirst sensation, which leads to improper fluid intake and dehydration.

Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol consumption is one of the factors that cause dehydration. The main reason for this excessive alcohol consumption often increases urine production, which causes excessive fluid loss. It causes dehydration, especially if an individual doesn’t drink enough water to compensate for the fluid loss.

Living in Higher Altitude

Higher altitude is one of the reasons for dehydration. At higher altitudes, the air is thin, which reflects that your body requires working hard to breathe. It leads to increased fluid loss through sweating and breathing, which often leads to dehydration.

How to Prevent Dehydration

Let’s explore several ways to prevent dehydration.

Drink Plenty of Water and Fluids

It’s one of the easiest ways of preventing dehydration. You need to even make a daily routine of drinking plenty of fluids – at least 7 to 8 glasses a day. It’s recommended for an adult. It’s advisable to drink water and fluids throughout the day to ensure you get enough fluids.

You should follow this routine, especially during the summer and hot weather. Make sure you consume sports drinks and other types of fluids that include electrolytes for replenishing lots of minerals and fluids.

Consume Lots of Water-Rich Foods

Apart from drinking a higher amount of water and fluids, you should eat foods that contain a higher amount of water to prevent dehydration. You should eat lots of fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, and more. These food items are better sources of water and can help you stay hydrated. You can also consume broths and soups that contain a higher amount of not only water but also certain essential nutrients.

Avoid consuming alcohol

As we already mentioned above, alcohol and caffeine often cause dehydration and thus increased urine production. So, if you are keen to prevent dehydration, it’s good to avoid or can reduce the intake of alcoholic caffeine and beverages. Apart from that, you need to limit the intake of tea and coffee.

Minimize Physical Activity

If you engage in physical activities, it’s vital to take certain regular breaks to rest and rehydrate. You should always drink plenty of water or sports drinks after every 15 to 20 minutes to replace fluids lost through sweating. If you feel lightheaded, dizzy, or fatigued, you should minimize your physical activity.

Dress According to Weather

You should always dress appropriately to prevent dehydration. So, it’s crucial to wear loose-fitting cloth and lightweight clothes that allow air to circulate across your body. It helps you keep your body cool and also overcome excessive sweating. While doing any physical activity, you should always wear a breathable cloth that can wick moisture from your skin.

Monitor Urine Color

Another way of preventing hydration is to monitor the color of urine. If you notice the color of your urine is pale yellow or clear, it reflects that you are hydrated. On the other hand, if your urine color is amber or yellow, it indicates that you are dehydrated. In this case, you should drink plenty of water and fluids.

Conclusion

Though dehydration is common, it could become serious if ignored for a long time. Getting aware of several potential causes helps you take preventive measures to overcome dehydration and stay healthy. You can follow the above useful tips to stay hydrated. To get a better treatment for dehydration, you should approach MyCLNQ SEHAT!