Hydration is key to living a healthy, happy life. But maintaining the proper level of hydration all day, every day can actually be more difficult than you think. Knowing what to drink throughout the day and how to hydrate fast can help you avoid or eliminate symptoms of dehydration.
Hydration drinks extend beyond plain water — though, of course, your body needs plenty of that. But we also require electrolytes to keep our bodies functioning properly. Some products like DripDrop’s electrolyte mix can be added to regular water, integrating delicious flavor and essential electrolytes into your daily hydration routine.
Here’s our guide to help you understand how dehydration occurs, what signs to watch for who’s at risk and how to hydrate fast with the right hydration drinks.
How Can I Hydrate Myself Quickly?
When it comes to fast hydration, simply drinking water may not be enough. While plain water can increase your fluid intake, it doesn’t contain many electrolytes that you need for full hydration. Instead, the most effective remedy is an oral rehydration solution, or ORS.
An ORS, like DripDrop, makes use of a handy hydration shortcut known as the sodium-glucose cotransport system that accelerates fluid absorption into the bloodstream to help you feel better faster.
Why an ORS is the Key to Quick Hydration
When you’re dehydrated, you don’t just lose water. You also lose vital electrolytes, including sodium, magnesium, and chloride. These electrolytes affect essential body functions, such as muscle function and brain transmission. Without enough electrolytes, you can become dehydrated. Electrolytes can also reduce the loss of fluid in urine, helping you conserve water in your body.
Additionally, sodium is used to move water in and out of your cells. Your body needs to manage a precise amount of sodium to regulate water level throughout your body and maintain proper hydration levels.
Other Hydration Drinks
Though there are many other drink options out there, such as fruit juices, coconut water, and sports drinks, these are significantly less effective at rehydrating your body when compared to an oral rehydration solution.
Fruit drinks and sports drinks contain much higher levels of added sugar, which can actually increase your feelings of thirst and dehydration. The best hydration drinks are plain water and electrolyte drinks with low amounts of sugar.
DripDrop has just one-half the amount of sugar found in traditional sports drinks, and DripDrop Zero features no added sugar with the same great taste and electrolytes your body needs.
While coconut water has adequate potassium, it doesn’t have enough calcium bicarbonate or sodium. These minerals are important electrolytes that impact your body’s rehydration.
A common misconception is certain foods can improve your hydration. That’s because some fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon, are more than 90 percent water. While some foods have a high water content, they don’t contain enough sodium that helps absorb and circulate water in your body.
What Happens When You Become Dehydrated?
When you experience dehydration, your body stops functioning as efficiently. Dehydration can lead to many uncomfortable symptoms, such as muscle pain or difficulty thinking.
Here are the main signs of dehydration:
- Dark yellow urine
- Decreased urination
- Dry mouth
- Dry skin
- Low blood pressure
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Headaches
- Muscle cramps
In order to relieve dehydration, it’s important to know the signs. Even mild symptoms of dehydration can cause headaches, fatigue, and muscle cramps. When left untreated, mild dehydration may develop severe dehydration. Severe cases of dehydration can be life-threatening and even require hospitalization.
How Does Dehydration Occur?
Dehydration occurs when you lose more fluids and electrolytes than you can replace. The most common causes of dehydration are illnesses that cause the body to lose fluids. For instance, illnesses that cause diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. When you’re sick, you lose electrolytes and fluids quickly through waste. If you don’t replace those electrolytes quickly, you can experience dehydration.
Additionally, excessive sweating also plays a key role in dehydration. Normally, your body uses sweat to control its core temperature. Water and electrolytes are pushed to the surface of your skin, where they evaporate and produce a cooling effect. If you’re sweating excessively without replacing fluids as well as electrolytes, you are at risk for dehydration.
Who’s at Risk for Dehydration?
While dehydration can affect anyone who doesn’t get enough water and electrolytes, certain factors can increase your risk.
Active People
People who are very physically active, particularly when it comes to outdoor activities, are at a higher risk of becoming dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when your body loses more water than it takes in, so sweating through physical activity often leads to dehydration if you are not consciously drinking enough water and intaking the right level of electrolytes.
Exercising outside is particularly dangerous because high temperatures may cause additional sweating which then can cause you to become dehydrated more quickly. If you are an active person, using a hydration drink like DripDrip and help with hydrating more quickly.
Older Adults
Older adults are more susceptible to dehydration. As we age, our bodies become less effective at maintaining a proper fluid and electrolyte balance. In addition, older people tend to have medical conditions that can increase the risk of dehydration.
Young Children
Young children are predisposed to dehydration because they lose fluid more quickly and require larger amounts of water and electrolytes to stay hydrated. Infants may display unique signs of dehydration such as fewer wet diapers, confusion, and irritability.
Pregnant Women
Pregnant women have a higher risk of dehydration, as they need a lot of water to provide for their baby. Additionally, during pregnancy, pregnant women experience changes in hormones that can lead to faster loss of fluid and electrolytes.
Factors such as age and occupation, particularly for firefighters and military members, can increase someone’s risk of dehydration. Although anyone can develop dehydration, it’s even more important for people at risk to use an oral rehydration solution. Knowing how to hydrate fast can help you quickly overcome symptoms of dehydration and prevent more severe dehydration from happening.
Hydrate Fast with DripDrop
When you’re wondering how to hydrate fast, turn to DripDrop. Its precisely balanced ratio helps your body to replenish those vital electrolytes and fluids to mitigate symptoms and get your body functioning properly again. DripDrop supplies vitamins like zinc, potassium, and magnesium, which are essential to supporting your overall health.
Plus, DripDrop’s many delicious flavors make it a more exciting option than plain water while also giving your body what it needs. Try DripDrop’s multi-flavor pouch or learn how you can save up to 25% on every purchase when you subscribe.
