It’s no secret that water is essential for your health. Without it, you risk damaging all types of normal bodily functions. Typically, when you think about dehydration, your mind goes to diet and exercise. But did you know that your sleep can have an effect on your hydration? In the same respect, your hydration can have an immediate effect on your quality of sleep as well.
Research shows that the link between hydration and sleep is much stronger than we may think. If you want to reduce barriers to sleep and increase your ability to rejuvenate, then you need to find a balance when it comes to your fluid intake.
The Relationship Between Hydration and Sleep
Since hydration is responsible for keeping many of your bodily functions intact, any level of dehydration will start to have adverse effects on your body, which you might not notice at first, but they’re important to be aware of.
Some of the most common symptoms to be aware of include:
- Fatigue: if you’ve been feeling particularly tired or lethargic lately without explanation, there’s a good chance you’re suffering from dehydration.
- Dry mouth and nasal passages: It might not be a surprise that dehydration can lead to dryness in your mouth, but it can even influence your nasal passages.
- Muscle cramps: you might experience discomfort in your muscles when you’re dehydrated. This can often make it harder to sleep and get the rest you need.
Aside from simply not taking in enough fluids, a recent study shows that a lack of sleep can contribute to dehydration. Participants who only slept for six hours show much higher levels of dehydration than participants who slept for eight hours. The biological explanation that might be behind this is referred to as “insensible water loss.” This is a loss of fluid through the skin because of respiration. You can expect to lose anywhere from 300-400 millilitres of water just from breathing alone! There are other factors too, but the evidence that dehydration occurs is evident.
Since you can’t replace fluid when you’re asleep, your body has a mechanism that produces vasopressin. This is a hormone that promotes water retention. However, you can’t count on this process to preserve your hydration if you aren’t getting good quality sleep. That’s because it can’t occur if your sleep is interrupted or if you need to wake up before you get a full eight hours.
How to Avoid Dehydration During Sleep
While it’s entirely normal for your body to experience some fluid loss throughout the night, you want to be sure it doesn’t lead to a dehydrated state. After all, you want to wake up feeling energized and refreshed, not depleted and ready to get back under the covers. Here are our top tips:
Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day
If you stay hydrated throughout the day, there’s less of a chance you’ll end up thirsty when you go to bed. It’s also just healthier to maintain hydration over a period instead of having too much water at once. If you struggle to drink fluids throughout the day, consider some of the following tips:
- Have a dedicated reusable water bottle. Once you get into the routine of always having it filled and nearby, it will become second nature.
- Set a reminder on your phone or download a water tracking app to help keep yourself accountable.
- Try to drink water over other beverages when you can. Avoid drinks that are high in sugar, caffeine, or contain alcohol.
- Try to balance the foods you eat and include lots of fruits and vegetables that contain moisture. For example, watermelon is mostly water!
Focus on Quality Sleep
Getting a good night’s rest is the best way to guarantee water retention throughout the night. Your body needs this time to go through different processes to rejuvenate and recover. The easiest way to get quality sleep is to start holding yourself to a sleep schedule. Making a habit out of drinking water throughout the day means it’ll get easier over time.
Try to make your night-time routine something you look forward to. Make sure you aren’t using your phone or other electronic devices too close to bedtime, too. In fact, it’s helpful to have a place to charge your phone overnight that’s out of reach from your bed.
If you don’t already have some, consider getting blackout curtains that block out light. This will help you guarantee yourself a peaceful, uninterrupted night.
Find Your Ideal Temperature
If you tend to get hot during the night, try to decrease the temperature in your room, at least overnight. Sweating and overheating lead to fluid loss and can cause you to wake up. This disrupts your circadian rhythm and decreases water retention.
It’s also helpful to consider what bedding you use. Experts recommend sleeping in breathable bedding that will help you maintain a cooler temperature throughout the night. Egyptian cotton and linen bedding are both perfect for maintaining a cooler body temperature.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, your quality of sleep plays an immediate role in your daily life. If you wake up feeling depleted, you won’t go into your day as the best version of yourself. Turn your bedroom into your sanctuary and start experiencing the sleep you deserve with the best quality bedding and interior elements from Homescapes.
