Hydration: It’s good for the body – Part 2
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EmailWhat are the signs of dehydration and what beverages should be avoided or limited to decrease the chances of dehydration?
In the first Michigan State University Extension article of this series, “Hydration: It’s good for the body – Part 1,” we discussed healthy ways to hydrate your body with water and other options such as 100 percent fruit juices. Water will always be the best choice for hydration, but everyone does not make the best beverage choices for their body. A lot of people reach for juice or sports drink when they are thirsty, but water is the best beverage to drink when you need to hydrate. Let’s explore ways individuals may try to quench their thirst to no avail, which increases chances of dehydration.
If you experience signs of thirst or even worse, signs of dehydration, you have to select the right beverage that will meet the needs of your body. Water is actually more important to your body than food. You can live without food for almost a month, but you can only live without water for about a week. So, you decide which one is more important. If your body doesn’t have enough water, you may begin to experience signs of dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration include irritability, headaches and feelings of being light-headed or dizzy. If you experience these feelings, try to drink several glasses of water before reaching for pain medications.
Some beverages are not only bad for hydration, but have a lot of sugar and hidden calories. Even if you are not worried about watching your sugar intake or weight, you should want to be as healthy as possible. To develop healthy beverage practices, it is important to avoid or limit beverages with a lot of sugar and caffeine, such as:
- Kool Aid
- Artificial juice (flavored beverages that are labeled as juice but have little to no actual fruit juice)
- Pop
- Energy drinks
Water does not have any sugar and is essential to body functions such as keeping a normal body temperature, lubricating joints, assisting in removing waste from the body and nourishing your brain. Last but not least, water makes up more than 50 percent of our bodies, so we have to drink at least 64 ounces on a daily basis to keep our bodies functioning at full capacity.
Please visit Why Drinking Water is the Way to Go from KidsHealth to learn more about why drinking water is the way to go.
