If you associate sweat with the need to rehydrate you’re not alone. The issue is, if you’re using sweat as your main psychological marker for drinking water, you might be missing out on some hydration.
It’s true – we sweat more in warmer weather. But the truth is, dehydration is more common in the winter.
In reality, both summer and winter are equally dehydrating to the body. The difference is we think more about hydration in the summer because we’re triggered by warm weather and sweat.
So we might be doing ourselves a disservice in the winter time.
Just because you’re not sweating as much, doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fluids. Dehydration looks different in the winter because it’s our indoor environment that can cause us to lose water but we fail to take this into account.
There’s less humidity in the winter (water particles in the air) because we have the heat turned up. When the air is dry inside your home, it sucks the moisture out of your body. This is the same reason why skin is dryer in the winter (it’s from transepidermal water loss). Dry winter air can also cause chapped lips.
Tips for Winter Hydration
The obvious thing to do here is to drink more water. The exact amount you need to drink differs from person to person. A good rule of thumb year round is to drink half your weight in ounces of water per day. This can fluctuate though depending on how active you are and how much water is in your diet.
Thankfully there are winter warming foods that can help keep you hydrated. Soup (particularly with clear broth) and decaffeinated teas are great options for keeping you warm and contributing to your hydration.
As always, your diet (particularly fruit and vegetables) contributes water to your body, so it’s a good idea to keep up your intake of these year round.
Your diet is a great way to keep your skin hydrated from the inside out. There’s always the option to apply moisturizer or lip balm to keep your skin and lips hydrated as well.
The Bottom Line
It’s possible to become dehydrated at any time of year, we seem to pay less attention to our hydration during the winter. Keep your fluid intake up and enjoy warm soups and teas during the winter months to keep your body and skin hydrated and to feel your best.