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How To Hydrate Fast
If you need fast hydration, Next Health provides expert tips for quick and effective hydration strategies. Rear all this information to learn more today.
Next Health Staff
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December 6, 2023
What Is The Fastest Way To Cure Dehydration?
Staying hydrated is key, especially in the sweltering summer sun. But lots of people simply forget to drink enough water or they find themselves in dehydrating circumstances. Dehydration is no joke, and it can lead to major health problems – or even physical danger – in both the short and long term.
Fortunately, you can always rehydrate. But simply sipping a glass of water may not give you the water your body needs ASAP. Read on to discover how to hydrate fast and why you should prioritize certain means of hydration over others.
Signs of Dehydration
Mild to severe dehydration can come up without warning. However, you can often tell that you are dehydrated by looking for a few common signs and symptoms, including:
- Not sweating, even if it’s hot or you are exercising
- Irritability or mood swings
- Fatigue, especially during the day
- Inability to urinate or dark urine
- Difficulty keeping fluids down
- Headaches or nausea
- Muscle cramps
- Dry throat
If you notice more than one symptom, you might be severely dehydrated and should seek to rehydrate at the earliest opportunity. Drink a glass of water or consider the other fast hydration methods broken down below.
It’s never good to stay dehydrated for too long. It could lead to long-term side effects or other, more severe symptoms.
Hydrating Fast – What You Need To Know
Hydrating isn’t just about consuming water. You have to consider how your body absorbs that water and any factors that may limit its absorption rate.
For example, when you drink a glass of water, it first has to pass through your stomach. If you have an empty stomach, that water can quickly enter the intestines and be absorbed by your bloodstream. But if you have food in your stomach already, it might take longer for your body to absorb that water than it would otherwise.
Furthermore, your body is limited in terms of how much water it can absorb at a given time. That’s why some fast hydration methods (see more below) prioritize drinking water with certain minerals or nutrients.
Hydrating fast is about drinking or absorbing water smartly based on your current needs and stomach contents.
How To Hydrate Quickly
There are many methods you can turn to if you need to hydrate quickly, such as in the middle of a sports game or after dehydrating yourself at the gym. Let's take a look at these effective methods one by one.
IV Drip Infusions
By far, the best way to hydrate as quickly as possible is to use IV drip infusions. In a nutshell, IV drip infusions involve using an intravenous delivery method to provide nutrients and water directly to your bloodstream. By attaching a needle to a vein, your body can get the water and nutrients it needs immediately without having to go through the time-consuming digestive process.
That's why IV hydration is used in medical contexts. It's easier, faster, and safer for patients to get nutrients and water through intravenous means than it is to have them drink water or other beverages in the midst of a critical situation like severe hydration.
However, wellness specialty facilities like Next Health also offer IV drip infusions. These infusions not only rehydrate you but can also come with additional nutrients and compounds to provide a wide range of benefits based on your needs.
Oral Rehydration Solutions
While IV drip infusions are very effective, you can also turn to oral rehydration solutions, or ORS. Oral rehydration solutions are salt and sugar solutions added to regular water. When you drink oral rehydration solutions, you may find that your body can absorb the water much more quickly than normal.
Why? Ever since 1964, scientists have known that salt and sugar can improve how quickly your body absorbs not just water but other nutrients. Specifically:
- Sodium helps your body absorb nutrients, such as key minerals and micronutrients
- Glucose helps your body absorb sodium. In addition, the sugar energizes your body and provides you with a quick boost
- Electrolytes like chloride and potassium provide various physiological balances, such as helping your cells retain the right amount of water and alleviating muscle cramps
You can find oral rehydration solutions as capsules, pills, or in powder form. Regardless, all oral rehydration solutions are meant to be added to a glass of water, quickly mixed, and consumed. They are excellent rehydration solutions if you're on the go.
Note that the reason oral rehydration solutions work is the same reason that some sports beverages work. Your body takes the sugar and electrolytes and absorbs water more quickly, potentially accelerating the rehydration process.
Avoid Drinks with Lots of Carbs
If you mean to drink water to alleviate your rehydration, you should try to avoid beverages that have a lot of carbohydrates. Specifically, if you consume a beverage with 6% carbohydrate content or greater, you’ll find that the beverages linger in your stomach for a longer timeframe.
This delays a process called gastric emptying, which details how your body moves food or other liquids into the intestines to make room for new nutrients. If you give your body carbs, it will try to digest those carbs before it tries to absorb water under most circumstances.
Therefore, you should avoid beverages like soda or juice if you are trying to rehydrate fast. Plain water, or water with a micronutrient tablet or powder, is much more ideal for quick rehydration.
Drink Water Regularly
Lastly, to rehydrate quickly, consider drinking a lot of water. Don’t just sip a glass of water if you are very dehydrated.
Some studies indicate that if you consume 20 ounces of water or more at a time, your body will automatically process that water more quickly compared to if you consume fewer ounces at a time. This is likely an automatic effect so your stomach always has room for more food and water if needed.
While you shouldn’t drink so much water that you make yourself sick, drinking a large glass is better than drinking or sipping a small glass of water if you are already dehydrated.
Drinking Water Before Bed: Is It Good For You?
Studies indicate that not getting enough water can make people feel either too cold or too hot during sleep. When you drink water before bedtime, it helps you stay hydrated while sleeping and keeps your body temperature just right. This ensures your sleep stays uninterrupted and cozy.
Why Is IV Rehydration So Effective?
As you can see, there are many different ways in which you can hydrate quickly. However, IV rehydration is by far the best choice for a variety of reasons.
For starters, with IV rehydration, your body gets nutrients and water delivered directly to the bloodstream. In contrast, other means of rehydration require you to pass that water through your digestive system first.
Even if you follow the above tips – such as by drinking a lot of water or drinking an oral rehydration solution – it'll still be several minutes until your bloodstream and bodily tissues get the water they need.
In contrast, IV rehydration is so effective because your bloodstream immediately receives water. In a matter of a few seconds, that water can be distributed to different body tissues and help to offset the symptoms of dehydration.
On top of that, IV rehydration allows you to easily add other micronutrients or beneficial compounds to your bloodstream. That's the heart of Next Health’s IV drip infusion process.
Next Health’s IV Drip Infusions – What To Expect
Next Health offers IV drip therapy at each of our state-of-the-art locations. If you’ve never experienced IV drip therapy before, read on for a step-by-step breakdown of what you can expect:
- First, you’ll make an appointment at any location that works for your busy schedule. You’ll go through a brief breakdown of what you want and are looking for with one of our wellness specialists.
- Next, when the date of your point arrives, you'll be greeted by a staff member and taken to one of our comfortable IV lounges. The lounges are furnished with cushioned chairs that offer access to television screens. Of course, you are more than welcome to bring a device, book, or music. Most IV drip infusion sessions last anywhere from 15 minutes up to a few hours, depending on what you want.
- One of our staff members will hook you up to your IV drip. This only takes a couple of seconds. Each session is overseen by a licensed professional.
- After you’re hooked up, you can sit back, relax, and let the IV drip infusion do its work.
- Each Next Health IV drip infusion starts with a Myer’s cocktail base, which includes a combination of electrolytes and other key micronutrients to assist with the absorption of other compounds.
As for selection, Next Health offers many different IV drips to choose from. For example, our Longevity IV provides you with a very potent accommodation of minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins to help promote whole-body healing, detoxification, and the production of glutathione. This specific IV drip can help to clear up your skin, promote brain health, and revitalize your skin.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Our other IV drips can serve as capable rehydration solutions, hangover cures, and more.
If you’re not sure which IV drip is right for you, you can contact us for more information. One of our staff members will be happy to guide you through all the different options to help you find the best fit for your needs.
Summary
All in all, IV drip therapy is the best way to rehydrate your body as quickly as possible. Whether you strain yourself too much during a workout, haven’t consumed enough water, or are trying to recover from a hangover, IV drip infusions can provide fast and effective treatment when you contact a local Next Health facility.
In fact, when you contact us today, you can sign up for a one-time or recurring IV drip therapy employment. You can also ask one of our wellness specialists if you have any further questions or concerns.
Sources:
Dehydration: Causes & Symptoms | Cleveland Clinic
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