Staying hydrated this winter


From a young age, you’re taught that it’s important to keep hydrated and to drink about eight glasses of water a day. As the body is made of more than 60% water, doing this helps you stay healthy and in peak physical condition. In summer and warmer weather, this is often not an issue as you’re so thirsty and visibly sweaty, maintaining your water and liquid intake makes a lot of sense. During colder months though, keeping hydrated often slips your mind and, without even realising it, you become dehydrated.
There are a few reasons why dehydration can happen during winter. A main one is that you aren’t reminded to hydrate. That is, you don’t necessarily have streams of sweat running down your back, and you don’t see adverts everywhere telling you how hot it is. Consequently, your body is tricked into thinking everything is fine, and that you don’t need to drink some water. Also, when you do activities on cold days, you can get duped into thinking your body isn’t losing water because your sweat turns into vapour.
Many people are admitted to hospital every year for dehydration. Water is vital to organs and you may not always be aware that you are becoming dehydrated until it’s too late. Some signs of dehydration include muscle cramping, headaches, dizziness and nausea.
The trick to staying hydrated in winter is that you shouldn’t just rely on your body to tell you when it’s time to drink water. Rather, you should make a note of it. 
If drinking glasses of cold water when it’s cold outside doesn’t appeal to you, you could consider a few other options. Ideally, water in its purest form is what your body needs, but it is possible to cheat a bit. Here are some ways to ensure that you stay hydrated:
Eat soup – as soup is mostly water-based, it is a great way to increase your liquid intake.
Drink those herbal teas – caffeinated drinks are not ideal as they promote dehydration, but herbal teas are great.
Eat fruits and vegetables rich in water – not only are they full of water, but they contain many vitamins too. Water-rich fruits include pineapple and grapefruit. For vegetables, look at spinach and cauliflower.
Drink a daily dose of electrolytes – this is ideal as it maintains the balance of minerals in your body.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this website is provided by the SPAR Group Ltd for general information purposes only. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.