It’s winter, it’s cold, it’s snowy, and it’s Canada. The last thing most people are worried about is sweating and over heating around this time of year. If anything, we are worried about the complete opposite, freezing. However for some reason, to a lot of us this diminishes the importance we stress on staying hydrated. Hydration is often stressed in commercials depicting athletes using Sports drinks. As important as staying hydrated is for the athletic population, it is just as important for the rest of us.
Why do we need to stay hydrated? Water makes up 50 to 65 percent of the human body. If that is not enough to stress the importance, just consider that every biochemical reaction within our body has to do with water and is tailored around it. The blood and fluid within our cells is mostly water. We need our water. Our brain communicates thoughts and commands to the rest of the body by the means of electrical conductions. The only way these conductions can occur however is if there is a significant amount of water present. Water is also a key component for flushing the toxins out of our body. Keeping hydrated keeps us fresh, awake, energetic and healthy (not to mention the addition of exercise, healthy diet and good sleep).
We may not always worry about being dehydrated in the winter because it is not hot and humid outside. Instead, we want to come in and have a scalding hot cup of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee. These beverages contain water, but also caffeine. In large amounts (i.e. four-plus cups of coffee), this caffeine intake can lead to dehydration so aim for at least half of your fluid intake to be from water.
Staying hydrated in winter is just as important as it is in the summer. We may not have water evaporating from our body because of a hot sunny day, but the layer upon layer of clothing and the constant trekking through the snow, and shoveling the driveway are all daily activities that require more energy than normal. Dehydration has many easily recognizable symptoms such as dizziness, weakness, a dry mouth, fainting as well as many others.
Being this time of year, let’s not forget the most common winter driven dehydration cause though, colds. When we have a cold, our body heats up to try and kill the bad bacteria and viruses present. Water is needed to help cool the body back down as well as to remove the harmful toxins, which are causing the sickness. Eight, eight ounce (0.24L) cups of water per day is the minimum amount of water that you should drink. The more you drink, the better it is for you. On most people there will be no damaging effect from the consumption. However there are certain restrictions that are applied to those among us with chronic kidney or heart disease which need to be upheld to avoid the possibility of fluid retention causing damaging effects.
Water should be for the most part easily accessible in our homes. With this being the case it should be fairly easy for us to maintain a constant level of hydration throughout the day. By keeping water bottles in different locations all around the house or having a designated water glass that we make sure is always full, we can increase the ability to stay hydrated.
We can also make the conscious change to have water with most of our meals compared to other beverages such as soda or alcohol. It should also be noted to stay away from salted water as this can cause dehydration in itself.
In a season full of water in endless forms, snow, ice, crystals, black ice we curse at while driving on the road or walking up our front steps, it is important to remember and stress the need for the consumption of water on a regular basis throughout your day-to-day activities.
This second half of winter, remember to stay active, stay hydrated and cherish the love/hate relationship that is humans and water.
For more information about any of the free services offered by the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, visit our website at www.mmfht.ca or call our Drayton office at 519-638-2110 or our Clifford office at 519-327-4777.
