Does Water Help Menopause? How to Stay Hydrated During Menopause
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Does drinking water help menopause? Many women often experience a range of uncomfortable physical and emotional symptoms during this stage of life. Drinking plenty of water can help to relieve some of these symptoms. In this article, we’ll look at what the symptoms of dehydration in menopause are, and how to stay hydrated during menopause.
Water is our lifeblood. For our bodies to function well we need water and we need plenty of it. We lose water every day every time we breathe, sweat, go to the bathroom and even blink. In order to not fall prey to the issues that can come with dehydration, it is important to make sure you are drinking enough water each day.
Drink beyond what you need for daily function and you will start to notice improvements in your skin condition and digestion. Your joints will be lubricated, and your body will flush waste well. For these things to occur we need to be drinking 2 to 3 litres per day.
Being dehydrated can make you feel tired and affect your concentration levels and will reveal itself in the form of headaches and/or a dry mouth.
Constant dehydration can affect your health and wellbeing in other ways too.
Unfortunately as we age and move into menopause and beyond our body’s ability to retain moisture reduces.
Why Are We More Dehydrated In Menpause?
As estrogen levels drop so does our body’s ability to retain moisture. Every chemical reaction in the brain needs water to occur, including production of energy.
Symptoms Of Dehydration In Menopause
Some signs include:
- Being thirsty
- Feeling dizzy or light-headed
- Feeling tired and fatigued
- Having dark coloured urine that may also have a strong smell
- A dry mouth and dry lips
- Muscle cramps
- Not going to the bathroom much and not passing much urine when you do go
- Dry hair, nails, skin
- Constipation and bloating
- Dry sore joints
You are more likely to be dehydrated if you have diabetes, aren’t well, have spent a while out in the sun, got sweaty after working out or take diuretics that make you go to the bathroom more.
It is also important to consider the everyday diuretics you might including your diet without being aware of it. The more common two being alcohol and caffeine.
How Dehydration Can Affect Your Health:
Menopause Hot Flashes
Some studies show that dehydration in menopause can cause an increased occurance of hot flashes.
Dehydration And Inflammation
Dehydration can increase the amount of inflammation in your body. Inflammation is heavily linked to many illnesses, so it is something we should be working hard to avoid! High blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, arthritis and even cancer are just a few of the health problems that can come from inflammation.
Immunity
If you’re dehydrated, it’s far more difficult for your body to get rid of toxins and waste products. And if this is the case, it can affect how well your body can fight off infections and other illnesses. Higher levels of inflammation in your body can also have a negative effect on your immunity.
Experts also think that chronic dehydration can make your immune system more likely to turn on itself and attack healthy cells as well.This is a key factor in autoimmune conditions.
Menopause Hair Health
Water moisturises your skin & hair from within. It also helps keep your hair follicles clean and running smoothly which will protect your hair from becoming dry and frizzy.
Kidney Health
When waste products are not being effectively removed from the body, they can build up causing uraemia, an overload of toxic waste products.
Not drinking enough water can also activate a system designed to hold onto the water that is currently in your body. This tells your kidneys to produce less urine and also constricts capillaries in areas such as the brain and heart. This can cause kidney damage if it’s a chronic problem.
Heart Health
Not being properly hydrated can have an effect on your cardiovascular system too. In particular blood flow. Your blood pressure can drop, leaving you prone to feeling dizzy. As your body tries to raise it again, it can put a strain on your heart.
Lack of hydration can also encourage the production of a chemical that encourages the blood vessels to be more constricted. This will also increase your blood pressure as your body will find it harder to pump blood. Again, your heart will be under more stress.
Brain Health
Headaches and concentration problems are some of the signs of mild dehydration but the effects on the brain can go far beyond this. Your brain needs a decent amount of water to keep it functioning at its best – even more so than the rest of your body. Therefore, even slight dehydration can have a big impact on your cognition and energy levels. It’s also been linked to depression.
Digestive Health
Usually, you’ll lose a decent amount of water in your stool and this helps it to be passed more easily. If you’re not very hydrated, your body will try to hang onto more water and tries to extract water from digested food in your small intestine. The end result means that you are more likely to be dehydrated. Your stool will be harder and drier, which can be a lot more difficult to pass. Not a particularly pleasant situation at all.
Dehydration and Joint Health
Your joints need a certain amount of lubrication to stop them from rubbing against each other and not drinking enough water can upset this delicate balance. If you’re hydrated, any cartilage that does start to wear away will be replaced by new cartilage but if you’re dehydrated, this is can take a lot longer to happen. The nutrients that you need for repair and renewal find it much harder to get to their destination and joint problems can become a problem.
Drinking plenty of water can help you lose weight
It has contains no calories, aids in burning fat and can supress your appetite.
If you replace a sugar drink with water your cutting carbs which very helpful for shedding weight.
Be mindful that if you need to lose a lot of weight you will have to do more than up your water intake.
How to stay hydrated during menopause?
As usual the standard eight glasses of water applys for women in menopause. Generally it’s better to drink plain or spritzed water if you can.
If you have sweated during exercise or on a hot day then drink more than the standard amount.
If you’ve been ill you may need to drink more. Fevers, vomiting and diarrhea can all rid your body of much needed fluid.
If you’ve been sweating due to exercise, heat, illness or hot flashes you may want to replace some of the lost electrolytes. You body won’t properly rehydrate unless you replenish the your electrolytes. Good old coconut water would do the trick or you can by electorlyte powder that you can add to your water. Just make sure it is sugar free.
Staying well hydrated can help your immunity and digestion, and keep your heart, kidneys, joints and brain healthier. It can also lesson the impact of menopause symptoms and improve your skin, hair and nail condition. It’s such an easy thing to do for improved health.
Have you had enough water today?
