Here’s a question I ask from time to time – although I only ask it if I already suspect that the answer is No . . . .
Are you drinking enough water?
I heard a lovely description of dehydration recently – it’s like when the Low Petrol light comes on in your car, warning you to top up SOON!
Feeling dehydrated is actually quite a late sign of not enough water in your body. It’s far better to sip frequently than to gulp a lot every few hours.
A quick sign of dehydration is the Pinch Test – pinch the back of your hand, and then let go. See how quickly your skin bounces back to smooth. If the pinch ridge stays, then you are definitely in need of water, or a herbal tea, or fruit juice spritzer, or even a 0% beer!
We need water for so many processes in our bodies – not only for our kidneys, which are involved in regulating blood pressure, but also improving our bowels, regulating cholesterol, helping our brains and mood and energy levels, as well as better dental health and lubricating our joints – to name just a few.
At last, we have some warmer weather – too warm some might say – so do make sure that you keep yourself well hydrated. Watery fruit and vegetables count too, such as watermelon, cucumber or strawberries – or you could even take a jug of water, and infuse it with chunks of all or any of these!
And as I have said before – your urine should be pale yellow and not smell. So if it’s darker than it should be, and has a distinctive urine smell, then you need to up your water intake.
Have a big glass of water first thing, and then sip a little and often in the morning and afternoon.
If you need to get up during the night to go to the toilet, then try to drink a bit less in the evenings.
Let me know how you get on!