Dehydrating Drinks: Best and Worst Drinks for Dehydration

Just because your friends are taking that extra tequila shot doesn’t mean you have to. She goes on to explain these nutrients also help you retain fluids, while chugging a bunch of water will cause much of it to pass through your system without properly rehydrating you. While it depends on a variety of factors relating to how much you drink, your metabolism, genetics and more, alcohol can stay in your system a long time – and be detectable for weeks or months depending on the test. These foods also have the bonus of being easy on the digestive system if yours is upset from drinking too much alcohol.

Don’t drink during a workout

But, as Lindsey Pfau, M.S., R.D., points out, just one beer, for example, also has a lot of non-alcoholic fluids, which will help lessen the dehydrating effects of one beer. Any alcoholic drink, whether beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, rum, gin, or tequila, will inhibit the body’s production of vasopressin, which will cause you to pee more and increase your chances of becoming dehydrated. Between your Thursday night wine and your Saturday night cocktail, you have a fairly good sense of what kind of hangover you’re in for on Friday and Sunday mornings. But beyond the type of alcohol you’re imbibing, you might not realize how much dehydration enters into the hangover equation. Some drinks are more dehydrating than others, but the amount of dry mouth you wake up with has more to do with alcohol volume, how much you drink per session, and what you combine with your favorite tipple.

Monitor alcohol intake:

Diuretics are agents that cause the body to produce and pass more urine than it otherwise would, having the potential to dehydrate us. When dehydration becomes super severe, it can have much more serious medical consequences including cardiac events, seizures, and organ failure. This level of dehydration typically only occurs as a result of extreme circumstances like severe illness or prolonged, strenuous exercise without proper fluid replacement. However, the intense heat of summer can cause some of us to lose enough fluids to go into heat exhaustion potentially leading to some of these symptoms if not properly attended to. You can also choose non-alcoholic drinks or mocktails to reduce your alcohol consumption. These drinks can be just as delicious and refreshing as alcoholic drinks, and they won’t dehydrate you.

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Diet sodas typically contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin, which have mild diuretic effects and, if combined with caffeine, can contribute to considerable water loss and dehydration. If hydration is your number-one priority, avoiding or significantly reducing consumption of these drinks is probably your best bet. But another option would be to get creative and make alternatives for these classic beverages at home. The effects of dehydration, moderate alcohol consumption, and rehydration on cognitive functions. Some people may find that drinking water or sports drinks can help to alleviate the symptoms of a hangover, while others may prefer to rest and allow their body to recover naturally.

If you drink alcohol on a hot day, your body won’t be able to adjust and control your internal temperature effectively, which increases the risk of heat stroke. Alcohol restricts blood vessel dilation and increases heart rate, which explains why drinking can cause arrhythmia and elevated blood pressure. “By the time you feel thirsty, you are already behind in fluid replacement,” the CDC notes on its website.

Sodium is an electrolyte mineral found in many foods, and most people obtain adequate amounts from table salt. For most people, sauna use can help reduce stress and improve your health in a variety of ways. Li said she generally tells people not to drink more than two or three times per week. The notion that drinking may somehow improve health, they said, is misguided.

Dehydration Risk Factors

• For this reason, a person should drink alcohol in moderation and avoid binge-drinking or chronic heavy drinking.
• Research from 2017 found that people with diabetes who had 3 days of low water intake had an impaired blood glucose response.
• Dehydration can also impact heart function, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke, especially in people with pre-existing heart conditions.
• In addition to water, you can also drink sports drinks or coconut water to replenish the electrolytes lost during alcohol consumption.
• On the other hand, some studies show that certain beverages that are often believed to be dehydrating are unlikely to affect fluid balance or increase water retention, especially if enjoyed in moderation.
• “Anyone experiencing these concerning symptoms should seek immediate medical attention,” he says.

Dehydration occurs when fluid loss is greater than fluid intake. Although people often use the terms “thirsty” and “dehydrated” interchangeably, the latter is an actual condition that can have serious consequences. Those signs may include dry mouth and dry or cracked lips, she says — but it doesn’t stop there.

How to Prevent Alcohol Dehydration

This is something for athletes to be aware of, as it puts them at greater risk of pulling or straining their muscles. According to one study in the Journal of Alcohol and Alcoholism, one drink of alcohol can lead does liquor dehydrate you to a 2-4% increase in additional urine output. After a night of drinking it’s important to make sure you rehydrate. Stoutz says the best way to hydrate is to alternate alcohol and water while you’re drinking.

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Most hard liquors have high alcohol content; the alcohol by volume (ABV) of liquor is around 40%. You’re likely to urinate 100 mL more for every standard drink you consume (10 mL of alcohol). If you binge drink, you’ll likely lose 500 to 1,000 mL of fluids, causing dehydration.

• Sugary drinks, like soda, can also lead to fluid loss in the gut and negatively affect kidney health.
• Some foods and drinks contain ingredients, such as high amounts of added salt and caffeine, that can increase water loss from your body and contribute to dehydration.
• One standard drink, according to American Addiction Centers, should contain around 0.6 ounces of pure alcohol.