Dr. Elisabetta Bernardi explains how proper hydration can be an important help for our health during the winter season
With the arrival of the winter season and the sudden drop in temperature, the risk of dehydration, commonly associated with the hot season, is often underestimated: one of the main risk factors, however, is the cold. If in fact in summer because of the high temperatures our body leads us to hydrate more easily, during the winter season instead the stimulus of thirst decreases.
"Several factors can increase the risk of hypohydration in cold weather, such as increased diuresis, induced by low temperatures, a reduced sense of thirst and sweat caused by an excessive increase in breathing with exposure to cold and high altitude - explains Dr. Elisabetta Bernardi, Biologist specialist in Food Science and member of the Sanpellegrino Observatory - Furthermore, during the winter months, sweat evaporates more quickly in the cold and dry air, leading us to think that we are not losing fluids as quickly as during a hot summer day ".
A good habit is therefore not to wait for the stimulation of thirst - which is activated when the loss of water exceeds 0,5% of body weight - but to drink constantly throughout the day. A simple but fundamental gesture, even more so for the elderly and children, particularly "at risk" categories due to a lower efficiency of the stimulus of thirst and the mechanisms of compensation for the water balance. In children, for example, the sense of thirst is less developed than in adults, which is why it is essential to educate them to drink properly from an early age, so that frequent drinking of a glass of water becomes their normal part of their daily habits.
"Drinking properly even during the winter season, not waiting for the stimulation of thirst, can help avoid the manifestation of the symptoms of dehydration that, in mild to moderate form, may concern dry mouth, drowsiness, fatigue, dry skin, headache , constipation, dizziness and a general sense of malaise. Severe dehydration, on the other hand, can cause extreme thirst, severe sleepiness in infants and children, irritability and confusion in adults, little or no urination, sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, dry and not very elastic, and a fainting sensation when getting up from position sitting upright. "- continues Dr. Bernardi.
It should also be noted that dehydration from exposure to cold may be more significant during exercise because the internal temperature is high and the flow of blood towards the skin increases to dissipate heat. Even getting dressed with clothes that are too heavy can cause your internal temperature to rise, thus increasing fluid losses due to thermoregulatory sweating.
"We must therefore not underestimate the risk of dehydration during the winter: even in the coldest months, in fact, to maintain a proper water balance, it is important to integrate the simple gesture of drinking water during our day, creating a real routine that helps us not to forget it "- concludes Dr. Bernardi.