Winter has arrived and so we are all living in a centrally heated environment leading to dry skin, chapped lips, headaches, dry coughs etc. all caused by dehydration. Most of us think that dehydration is more of a problem in the summer but actually in the winter when the central heating is on, moisture can be drained from the body more easily and leave you dehydrated. Did you know these winter water facts:
  • Cold weather can actually increase your risk of dehydration
  • In the cold weather more heat is lost from our bodies and so in turn more moisture is lost too and our respiratory evaporation is increased. Humans loose 1 pint of water a day through breathing alone and this increases in winter.
  • The hormone that triggers our sense of thirst reacts differently when we are exposed to cold weather so in general people don’t drink as much as they should in the winter.
  • In order to feel thirsty, your body has a mechanism that is a chain reaction and is triggered by sweating, leading to your body demanding more fluid by feeling thirsty. However in cold weather our body reacts completely differently and people just don’t feel thirsty. So, it becomes even more important to keep yourself ‘topped up’ with water.
  • Electric blankets are very dehydrating to the body
  • When wrapped up in lots of layers it is normally more difficult to tell how much you’re sweating and how dehydrated you are becoming.
See our previous blog Drinking Water in Winter - Maybe a slice but definitely no ice, no need to shake or stir… to read some of our tips on how to drink the recommended daily amount of water when you don’t fancy a cold glass of water on a cold day!