Quick Tips To Keep Hydrated This Summer

With the warm weather coming our way, it’s easy to get distracted having fun with family and friends over the summer. But keeping hydrated may be more important than you might think.

What is the importance of staying hydrated this summer?

It’s important to remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day as temperatures rise, because without water your blood vessels can struggle to keep blood flowing through your body, having a negative affect on your health or possibly making you feel unwell. Even if you are just sitting relaxing in the sun, drinking water helps lower your body temperature and it will replace the fluid you may lose through sweating.

How much water you should drink on average can vary depending on your age and gender. If you’re interested in knowing how much water you should be drinking, check out these statistics: How Much Water Should I Drink? (healthline.com). As they say, you learn something new every day!

How can you help prevent dehydration

Now if you’re someone like me who doesn’t like plain water, there are many other alternative options you can drink to stay hydrated. For example, squash is another great option to have, especially as you are still helping towards your suggested daily intake of water too!

You could also try something new and make your own fruit infused water by experimenting with different recipes and tastes, including fruits and herbs such as cucumber, honey, cinnamon, mint, berries and a variety of other different flavours!

Perhaps if you’re someone who doesn’t usually drink enough, a great idea to ensure you are keeping an eye on your water intake this summer or even in general might be to purchase or make a water bottle with different measurements on. This way you will know whether you are on target or need to try and drink a little more.

To ensure your kids are staying hydrated whilst playing outside, you could also get creative and make children staying hydrated fun by creating a little ‘hydration station’ or a 'drinks stall' for them to play with or try out new tastes. Maybe you could set some bottles of water, cut up fruits, paper straws/cups and decorations or a healthy drink of their choosing and ensure they stay cool whilst having fun outdoors. Maybe even setting out a timer to remind them to drink could also be another great idea to ensure they don’t forget!

How do you know if you are dehydrated?

Although it’s very important to know how to stay hydrated, it’s also important to know when you may be dehydrated. Here's some of the main signs of possible dehydration to look out for:

• Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
• Feeling tired
• A dry mouth, lips or eyes
• Peeing little, and fewer than 4 times a day
• Dark yellow and strong smelling pee

If you believe you may be dehydrated you will need to gain back those fluids that your body has been missing. For example this can be done by drinking water, eating frozen water ice lollies or ice pops. It would be essential to gain back all the fluids you lost so be sure to drink plenty of water if you’re feeling dehydrated to keep healthy this summer.