How to know you are dehydrated
- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Apr 1, 2019
- 2 min read
How Can I Tell When My Body Is Hydrated?
Hydration is a key of optimal nutrition for good overall health. You need to monitor how much water are you drinking throughout the day in addition to physical signs.
Light Urine Colour
Urine colour is a good indicator of your hydration status and if you are getting enough or losing water. If you are well hydrated then the colour of urine must be light yellow or straw colour even if you are exercising in a hot climate conditions. When the urine colour turns into dark yellow or gold then you are dehydrated and the colour is due to the waste that concentrate as your body is trying to conserve water. Intensely coloured foods, as well as some medications, B vitamins and laxatives can darken urine even if you are hydrated.
Constant Sweat Production
If you are well hydrated your body will produce at constant rate good amount of sweating as a way to regulate body temperature.
So if you are getting enough water before, during and after exercise your body will maintain a good hydration state and continue to sweat at a constant rate thus improving your performance.
However, if you continue to sweat without replacing fluids, your overall blood volume decreases, which can lead to dehydration and an eventual cessation of sweating, along with muscle cramps and a dangerous increase in temperature.
Normal Skin Turgor
Your skin should rebound after it has been pinched if you are on a well hydration state. The skin turgor test is used by doctors to determine if you are on a good hydration state.
However, it is possible to be well-hydrated and still test poorly due to various other factors, such as smoking, malnutrition or kidney failure.
Capillary Refill
Your skin should take less than two seconds to return to its normal colour after blanching when pressure is applied, if you are well-hydrated. Capillary refill test is used to identify reduced blood flow in a localized area.
With time dehydration will lead to vasoconstriction and then reduce peripheral blood flow so your skin will take much time to return to its normal colour. When severely dehydrated, you might have a capillary refill time of four seconds or more.
Sources:
Comments