Drink Up

Surely you know that drinking enough water is important, and that if you're sick or sweating a lot you might want to take an electrolyte replacement. But did you know that mild dehydration can have noticeable implications to how you feel? You may be experiencing mild dehydration if you don't drink enough water each day, you drink too much caffeine, or you don't eat enough fruits and vegetables (they're packed with water!). This may even be a chronic problem for you, so you may not even realize that some of your day to day symptoms are related to it. Here are a few things you may notice related to even mild dehydration:

1. Fatigue or lack of vigor

2. Mood changes (here's a research article on this topic)

3. Cognitive or memory changes

4. Difficulty concentrating or focusing

5. Dry skin

6. Increased pain

7. Muscle cramps

Worst case scenario, mild chronic dehydration can also be a contributing factor to urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Yikes!

So be kind to yourself! Drink plenty of clean filtered water, ideally free of chlorine. It really does make everything better. How much do you need? According to the Mayo Clinic, about 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men and about 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women. Here's an article on the topic if you're interested: Water: How much should you drink every day?