We all know that hydration is important to think about during exercise, work and in hot weather, but we often fail to connect the dots between poor hydration and poor sleep. The fact of the matter is that dehydration not only impacts your performance and health when you're awake, it can also impact how well you sleep and how your body reacts the following day.
Studies have shown that a poor night's sleep reduces energy, cognitive awareness and increases the chances of irritability. Long term effects of sleep deprivation can include diabetes, respiratory problems and chronic high blood pressure. People who sleep for six hours rather than eight are far more likely to show symptoms of dehydration and suffer the ill effects of proper overnight rest.
How do you know if your hydration level is impacting your sleep? Here are a few signs:
- Dry mouth and nasal passages
- Leg cramps
- Fragmented sleep
A dry mouth and nasal passages are an easilily recognized indicator that you're going to bed dehydrated. A dry nose, mouth or throat can prevent you from falling asleep quickly and hamper your ability to get back to sleep if you wake in the middle of the night.
Dehydration is also known to cause leg cramps, and these cramps can be painful day or night. When you're trying to sleep leg pain can make it impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position to get a good night's rest.
Fragmented sleep can be recognized by either fitful, shallow sleep or waking up several times over the course of the night. This fragmented sleep pattern can be a result of dehydration causing your body to struggle to remain in a state of rest.
Hydrating for a better night's sleep takes a little more care than simply consuming a large amount of water just before bed. In fact, too much water right before bed can negatively impact sleep. We have a few tips to help prevent dehydration from robbing you of precious hours of rest.
First, make sure to consume fluids often during the day. Keeping to a regular hydration schedule is not only the best way to hydrate for a good night's sleep, but it's probably the best way to hydrate for improved overall health. Your body needs to take in fluids regularly rather than all at once. We suggest using an alarm or timer on your phone to remind you to hydrate once an hour.
Incorporating a sports performance beverage such as TapouT can increase how well your body stays hydrated. TapouT comes in two flavors, our regular Citrus Kick or a low-calorie Cherry-Lemonade Blast. TapouT beverages contain the electrolytes your body needs to stay healthy as well as nine essential vitamins and five important minerals. Adding one of these to your daily routine will not only help you stay hydrated, but help you recover from physical activity and supply your body with the energy it needs to thrive.
Making sure you sleep for eight hours a night can also help with hydration levels. During studies, researchers have noticed that people who sleep for eight hours are much better hydrated than those who only sleep for six hours or less. While the correlation between the loss of sleep and dehydration is unclear, there is apparently an important connection between a good night's sleep and the following day's hydration.
Sometimes a poor night's sleep happens regardless of your hydration the previous day, leaving you irritable and off of your game. It's important to make sure that you rehydrate properly to raise your energy levels and improve your mental and physical performance.
Including an early morning TapouT beverage is one of the best ways to jump start your day's hydration routine after a poor night's sleep. TapouT is formulated to rapidly hydrate faster than water. Both our Citrus Kick and Cherry-Lemonade Blast flavors contain natural sodium to help your body retain fluids. They both also contain essential vitamins to give you a natural energy boost to help shake off the sluggishness that results from a lack of sleep.
Also remember to hydrate frequently during the day to continue to shake off the effects of poor sleep.
TapouT is engineered to hydrate better than any leading sports beverage. It has 240mg of sodium to help your body retain fluids and is the only major sports beverage to contain the following five electrolytes that your body needs:
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Chloride
- Calcium
Beyond minerals and electrolytes, TapouT also contains vitamins A, C, E and several B vitamins to help you improve physical and mental performance. Our regular TapouT comes in a tasty Citrus Kick flavor, but for those who are calorie conscious or are looking for a sports performance beverage with no sugar, we've also formulated our 10-calorie Cherry-Lemonade Blast to include the same vitamins, minerals and electrolytes with zero sugar.