Something incredibly important to our health that many don’t implement into their daily schedule is hydration. Personally, my friends and I are constantly reminding each other to drink more water. Yet not everyone follows through. I myself am guilty of either forgetting to drink water or simply ignoring it altogether. It’s easy to overlook hydration and not take it seriously, but dehydration can have serious consequences.
One reason that people might forget to hydrate is that they can’t tell when they need to drink water. Everyone should know the most basic symptoms of dehydration: these include mostly minor things like headaches, dizziness, fatigue, confusion, the sensation of thirst, and having a dry mouth. These symptoms are things that many people, myself included, are willing to ignore temporarily. If I am doing something that I feel is too important to break away from or if I am feeling a bit too lazy, I tend to disregard these symptoms. Needless to say, this is a practice I need to change.
Just as it is important to understand the symptoms of dehydration, it’s worth noting the possible ramifications. According to Mayo Clinic, if your dehydration becomes serious or starts to become a frequent issue, you risk developing some severe and long-term effects, such as urinary problems, kidney problems, seizures, and, in some cases, hypovolemic shock. To be fair, many of these severe effects are rare. However, it’s still good to know about possible consequences and how to avoid them.
So, how do you prevent dehydration from becoming serious or from happening so frequently? Well, Healthline lists many simple and low-effort ways to do just that. One way is to start carrying a reusable water bottle with you. Carrying around a physical reminder to hydrate is an easy way to stay accountable, and it makes hydrating convenient no matter where you are. Another effective way to stay more hydrated is to start incorporating more high-water content foods into your diet, such as lettuce, celery, zucchini, cabbage, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. Lastly, if your issue with water is the taste, you can start flavoring your water with your favorite fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Between these easy tips, and all the others Healthline has to offer, you can see dehydration is actually very easily preventable.
In fact, now that you’ve finished reading this, do yourself a favor and take a sip right now. You’ll thank me later.