This is how you check if you are well hydrated

door roos-aduagyei

Hot, sunny days can unfortunately be accompanied by sun burning, a fairly dry skin and lack of moisture. Best would be to make sure you always have with you a bottle of water to keep yourself hydrated. But when are you actually hydrated enough? With this tips you’ll find out in no time!

THE COLOR OF YOUR URINE

I know this might not sound very fresh, but the color of your urine is the perfect indicator to check whether you’ve drank enough liquids or not. Urine becomes over-concentrated with waste and it turns yellow or golden when you haven’t drank enough. On the contrary when you drank enough water, your urine becomes less concentrated and the color of it becomes very light. Sometimes it can get close to a transparent color. So remember, light urine color = good job in keeping yourself hydrated!

SWEAT PRODUCTION

When you are properly hydrated, your body creates a constant sweat while you’re physically active. Your body uses sweat to control your body temperature. When your body temperature increases it produces sweat from the bloodstream. If you continue to sweat without drinking water in between, you could experience dizziness, muscle pain, extreme amount of sweat and eventually dehydration. In addition your body temperature may rise making your body feel warmer and warmer. But when you drink enough water before a workout and you make sure to keep yourself good hydrated, your sweat production remains fairly constant. This will help you continue exercising without overheating your body.

THE COLOR TEST

To test whether you are sufficiently hydrated , you can perform the "capillary refill trick". This is how you do the test:

  • Press for 5 seconds on the sternum so that the skin turns white
  • Let it go and watch how long it takes until your skin gets back to  its normal color
  • You should regain your normal color within 2-3 seconds

--> If you are significantly dehydrated it could take up to 4 seconds to regain your normal color

Now you know, use these 3 tips to know if you’ve drank enough water today. Good luck!