What Are the Effects of Dehydration on Your Heart Health?

Stay­ing hydrat­ed is espe­cial­ly impor­tant for pro­tect­ing your heart health. 

Whether you’re going for a run, sit­ting on your couch recov­er­ing from a bad flu, or sit­ting out in the hot sun, you’ve prob­a­bly heard the same advice: Get plen­ty of fluids.

Drink­ing enough flu­ids pre­vents you from get­ting dehy­drat­ed. Dehy­dra­tion is more than just feel­ing thirsty – it’s when you lose or use more flu­id than you take in, and your body doesn’t have the water it needs to func­tion correctly. 

Stay­ing hydrat­ed is crit­i­cal for stay­ing healthy, and it’s espe­cial­ly impor­tant for main­tain­ing a healthy heart.

Also read: Amer­i­can Heart Month: Heart Health FAQs

Here are 6 things to know about the effects of dehy­dra­tion on your heart and how you can stay hydrated:

1. Dehy­dra­tion Affects How Your Heart Pumps.

When you’re hydrat­ed, it’s eas­i­er for your heart to pump blood through­out your body. But when you’re not well-hydrat­ed, your heart has to work hard­er. Dehy­dra­tion makes your blood thick­er, which caus­es dif­fi­cul­ty with cir­cu­la­tion. It also makes your heart beat faster, which increas­es heart rate. In more severe cas­es, dehy­dra­tion can lead to dan­ger­ous­ly high or low spikes in blood pressure. 

The ben­e­fits of hydra­tion for your health might not be just short-term. Recent research shows that con­sis­tent­ly stay­ing hydrat­ed could poten­tial­ly reduce your risk for heart fail­ure in the future. 

2. Stay­ing Hydrat­ed Can Be Tricky if You Have Heart Failure.

If you have severe or advanced heart fail­ure, you have to walk a fine line when it comes to hydra­tion. 

Reduc­ing flu­id intake is one way that peo­ple man­age heart fail­ure. Heart fail­ure can cause flu­id to build up in your body, which can cause symp­toms like short­ness of breath or swelling in your legs or stom­ach. Lim­it­ing flu­ids can decrease your risk of a flu­id buildup. 

How­ev­er, if you restrict flu­ids too much, you can become dehydrated. 

Guide­lines sug­gest lim­it­ing flu­ids to 50 oz. a day, but that may or may not be enough for you. Every­one has dif­fer­ent needs, so it’s key to talk to your provider to deter­mine the right amount of water so that you can keep man­ag­ing heart fail­ure with­out sac­ri­fic­ing hydration. 

Read on Duly Health and Care: The Ben­e­fits of Drink­ing Water Go Beyond Quench­ing Thirst

3. Not Every­one Needs the Same Amount of Water.

While there isn’t a mag­i­cal num­ber, there are some gen­er­al rec­om­men­da­tions for water intake.

Some peo­ple need more water than oth­ers. Your needs might be high­er if you are:

• Liv­ing with a chron­ic con­di­tion like dia­betes or heart disease
• Tak­ing a med­ica­tion that acts as a diuret­ic (which makes you uri­nate more often and lose more fluid)
• Fre­quent­ly spend­ing time out­doors in the heat or sun
• Over age 50
• Obese or overweight
• Preg­nant or breastfeeding
• Sick with symp­toms like fever, vom­it­ing, or diarrhea
• Trav­el­ing to a new climate

4. Up Your Water Game Dur­ing Phys­i­cal Activity.

You lose water through sweat, which is why you need extra water dur­ing phys­i­cal activ­i­ty to stay hydrat­ed. The amount depends on sev­er­al fac­tors, like the type and inten­si­ty of exer­cise, the cli­mate you’re exer­cis­ing in, and what you’re wear­ing. Also, if you sweat a lot, you might need more water than some­one doing the same activ­i­ty who doesn’t sweat as much. 

When you’re phys­i­cal­ly active out­doors, pay extra atten­tion to stay­ing hydrat­ed. About an hour or two before­hand, drink at least 16 to 20 ounces of flu­id. While you’re out­side, drink about 6 to 12 ounces every 10 to 15 min­utes. Keep on drink­ing after you’re done – at least anoth­er 16 to 24 ounces to make up for the water lost.

Also read: Five Tips for Prop­er Hydration

5. Drink­ing Water Isn’t the Only Way to Hydrate.

If the thought of drink­ing 10+ cups of water a day stress­es you out, don’t wor­ry – there are plen­ty of ways to hydrate with­out gulp­ing down water. The rec­om­mend­ed amount of dai­ly flu­id intake also includes water from foods or oth­er beverages.

Some of the most hydrat­ing foods include:

• Aspara­gus
• Bell pep­pers
• Berries
• Cel­ery
• Cucum­bers
• Let­tuce
• Oranges 
• Soup
• Toma­toes
• Water­mel­on
• Zuc­chi­ni

When it comes to bev­er­ages, herbal teas, juice, and milk are most­ly made of water. And if you’re a caf­feine or car­bon­a­tion drinker, rejoice – cof­fee and soda can both con­tribute to your dai­ly flu­id intake. How­ev­er, be care­ful about which drinks you choose. Many sodas, sports drinks, and cof­fee drinks have lots of added sug­ar and calories. 

6. Dehy­dra­tion Can Be a Med­ical Emergency.

One of the first signs of dehy­dra­tion is feel­ing thirsty. If dehy­dra­tion is mild or mod­er­ate, you might also notice a dry mouth and tongue, headache, tired­ness, or dark­er col­ored urine. These can be symp­toms of mild and mod­er­ate dehy­dra­tion, which usu­al­ly doesn’t require med­ical care. Drink­ing water is the quick­est way to rehydrate.

How­ev­er, there are times when severe dehy­dra­tion is an emer­gency that needs med­ical care right away. Get emer­gency care imme­di­ate­ly if you have:

• Con­fu­sion, slurred speech, or hallucinations
• Dizzi­ness, faint­ing, or loss of consciousness
• A fever of 103°F or higher
• A lack of sweating
• Mus­cle twitching
• A rapid pulse
• Red, dry, and hot skin
• Seizures

Stay­ing hydrat­ed is essen­tial for your heart health, but there are many oth­er ways to show your heart some love. Talk to your provider about the best ways to keep your heart healthy – and in the mean­time, get in those fluids. 

Want to learn more ways to keep your heart healthy? Sched­ule an appoint­ment with a Quin­cy Med­ical Group pri­ma­ry care provider. For help man­ag­ing an exist­ing heart con­di­tion, make an appoint­ment with a Quin­cy Med­ical Group car­di­ol­o­gy expert.