It can be nice to have a drink every now and again, but it’s important to know that it can come with some risks. One of these risks is potentially becoming dehydrated. As a result, keeping hydrated is pretty important. Doing so will let you drink without having to worry about some of the nasty side effects…
Keeping Hydrated: Balance Your Intake
Drink water beforehand
One thing you’ll want to avoid is going into drinking while dehydrated. Drinking tends to have a dehydrating effect on your body. This is because of the diuretic effect of alcohol, which increases the amount of water you lose from say sweating or using the bathroom. As a result, if you’re already dehydrated, drinking could cause it to become dangerous.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to drink plenty of water beforehand. Health professionals tend to recommend that people drink around a half gallon of water each day. An easy way to remember this is the 8+8 rule: drinking eight 8-ounces glasses of water. However, it always helps to drink a bit more water if you plan on keeping hydrated.
Space your drinks
Once you begin drinking, the dehydrating effects begin to take place. As a result, it’s easy to become dehydrated even if you’ve been drinking water beforehand. That’s why it helps to keep drinking water even while you’re drinking alcohol. This will help you with keeping hydrated throughout the night.
A good plan is to space out your drinks with water. For every alcoholic drink you have, follow it up with a glass of water. This will help keep you hydrated even while drinking. Plus, it’ll help limit how much you drink. Drinking too much too soon could quickly dehydrate you, among many other things.
Snack properly
Everyone knows that drinking tends to encourage some less-than-healthy eating options. In fact, many people think that some of those more unhealthy options help with preventing hangovers. However, choosing some healthier options is a much better choice, especially for keeping hydrated.
As it turns out, a large portion of a person’s daily water intake comes from things like fruits and vegetables. That’s why it’s a good idea to swap those in for your snack choices instead of those more-common, unhealthier ones. Plus, eating healthier foods can help you limit your drink intake as well as help with hangover prevention.