Importance of Hydration for Seniors

The human body contains about 60 percent water, and it’s an essential element that your body needs to operate. Without water, your body wouldn’t be able to perform essential functions to survive. Keeping yourself hydrated by drinking water and other fluids ensures your body has the water it needs to work properly. 

Why Is Hydration Important?

Being hydrated means providing your body with enough fluids to keep it functioning properly. Water is a vital nutrient that helps the body to:

• Build cells
• Regulate body temperature
• Transport nutrients through the bloodstream
• Flush out waste
• Form saliva
• Lubricate joints

When you aren’t getting enough fluids (primarily water), your body becomes dehydrated. Dehydration just means your body doesn’t have enough fluids. When dehydrated, you’ll experience unpleasant signs and symptoms such as dry mouth, headaches, thirst, dry skin, dizziness, and fatigue. If dehydration persists, it can lead to more serious consequences, such as confusion, fainting, increased heartbeat, or an inability to use the bathroom. Serious cases of dehydration can be fatal, especially for older adults during the summer. 

How Do I Know If I’m Hydrated?

If you’re not experiencing signs of dehydration (thirst, dark urine, dry mouth), you’re likely well hydrated. However, a study from UCLA found that up to 40 percent of older adults, while not dehydrated, are chronically underhydrated. Being underhydrated means that while you may not experience signs of dehydration, you’re not getting adequate fluids for your body to perform at its highest level. 

The best way to ensure you’re hydrated is to focus on getting enough fluids each day. Your water intake will vary from person to person, depending on activity levels, climate, sweat ratios, and various other factors. However, a good starting point to calculate your recommended water intake is to divide your body weight by 2 and drink that many ounces of water. So if you’re 200lbs, you’ll drink 100 oz of water. If you’re 130lbs, you’ll drink 65 oz of water. 

Tips For Staying Hydrated 

Getting enough fluids every day can feel a bit overwhelming, but there are some things you can do to make staying hydrated more of a habit and less of a headache. 

Drink Water

The most obvious way to stay hydrated is to ensure you drink enough water daily. Fill up a glass of water or a bottle at the start of each day and keep it with you to make drinking more convenient. You can also try drinking a small glass of water with each meal or drinking a glass between meals to help make drinking water more of a habit. 

Get Enough Electrolytes 

Drinking water is great, but water alone isn’t always enough to stay hydrated. To ensure your body is retaining water, you want to ensure you’re getting enough electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals (primarily sodium, potassium, and magnesium) that help your body retain and use water, so you’re not just urinating and sweating it out. 

You can get electrolytes from tons of foods you probably already incorporate into your diet, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, and lean meats. If you’re eating a well-balanced diet, you’re likely getting enough electrolytes from foods to keep yourself hydrated. However, your body does lose electrolytes through excessive sweat (exercising), diarrhea, and vomiting. If you are physically active or get sick and experience diarrhea and vomiting, consider an electrolyte powder that you can add to water to help replenish the electrolytes you're losing.

Eat Food With High Water Content

Water can get boring, and there might be days when you can’t or don’t want to drink water all day. The good news is you can get fluids from foods with high water content to help you hit your hydration goal. Foods with a high water content include watermelon, lettuce, carrots, pickles, and squash. You can find a full list of foods and their water content here. 

Staying Hydrated With Visiting Angels

It takes a lot to stay hydrated, but it’s not something you have to do alone. With a Visiting Angels of Gadsden caregiver by your side, you can feel confident knowing you have someone to help encourage you to drink enough water, get electrolytes, and prepare foods with high water content so you’re feeling fueled all day. Caregivers can also assist with medication reminders, personal care, appointment transportation, and light housekeeping. 

If you want to learn more about at-home caregiving with Visiting Angels, don’t hesitate to contact us for a complimentary consultation with our care team.