Quick Summary-How much water is sufficient to keep a diabetic person hydrated? Did you know diabetes increases dehydration and causes dry mouth and oral health issues? Read this article to know more about the adequate water intake for a diabetic person.
Ideally, a diabetic person should drink 8-10 glasses of water, or 2 to 2.5 liters of water, every day on average. Diabetes increases dehydration because of the high glucose levels in the body. That is why it is crucial to maintain water intake to keep yourself hydrated. Read this article to know more about the water intake for a diabetic person.
Understanding Diabetes and Water Balance
Everyone consistently recommends drinking water to maintain a healthy body and skin. So be safe and add at least 2 liters of water to your regular diet to keep yourself hydrated.
Hydration is the hallmark of a healthy gut and metabolism, but if you are diagnosed with diabetes, you should drink even more water than the person who does not have diabetes because the diabetic patient has a higher glucose level in their body, so to balance out the glucose level, it is very important that the person drink more water than a person who does not have diabetes. Due to the higher glucose level in the body, diabetic people lose more water and feel dehydrated easily if the water intake is not enough.
But it is advisable to consult a dietician or nutritionist as well because people who also have some other medical conditions along with the diabetes are advised to consult a doctor before increasing water intake in their diet because in some conditions consuming more water is also dangerous and leads to a lot of problems.
And the easiest way to check if you are hydrated or not is to check your urine color after using the bathroom. Because if the color of your urine is pale or clear, it’s a sign that everything is fine, but if the color of your urine is dark or it’s dark yellow, it’s an indication that you have to increase your water intake without giving it a second thought.
But if you have diabetes with other medical conditions, please consult an expert dietician or nutritionist and reconfirm with them how much water you can or should add to your diet so that you are hydrated the whole time.
Daily water intake for male/female diabetics
So it’s understood now that a diabetic person should drink more water compared to a person who is not diabetic. But how much?? And if the water intake level varies if you are a man or woman??
So yes, there is a slight difference in the intake of water for men and women, which is given below in the chart:
| Category | Recommendation |
| Water Intake(men) | 2l |
| Water Intake(women) | 1.6l |
Self Monitoring- Pale yellow colour is ideal
These are the ideal water intakes for a person with diabetes, but there is a catch: if you have other medical issues and are taking different medications as well, please consult your doctor before increasing water intake in your diet because, in many cases, consuming a lot of water may also lead to certain health issues where your doctor may suggest you not drink much fluid. So it is really advisable to take all the factors into consideration and then only include any kind of intake in your daily diet plans.
Daily Hydration Tips for Managing Diabetes and Water Balance
Changing anything suddenly in your day-to-day plan is really difficult, and sometimes it’s really miserable to manage everything all of a sudden, so for that, we have a small tip for you, and the tip is to discipline yourself by starting with a small activity. There are a few things that you can do to solve the hydration problem for your body, which are listed below: –
- First and foremost, set a goal, and of course, after consulting your doctor or dietician.
- Keep a small bottle with you all the time so that it’s always in your mind that you have to sip a portion of it every hour.
- Track your water intake and try to increase the water intake slowly and make it a habit.
- Add some flavor to your water so that it does not feel like a duty; you must enjoy having water.
This little step you can follow to hydrate yourself on a regular basis, and ultimately it becomes a part of your life where you do not have to consciously think about it; it will automatically fall into your lifestyle.
Diabetes and Water: How Dehydration Can Spike Your Blood Sugar
Yes, there is definitely a correlation between dehydration and blood sugar, so basically when the water level is low in your body, it may lead to an increase in the sugar or glucose level in your blood. Dehydration may lead to problems like
- Headache
- Fatigue
- skin and lip dryness
- dark urine
- decrease in urine output.
Dehydration for a longer period of time may lead to a condition of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar). This condition develops when there is a higher loss of water from your body; the sugar or glucose level will increase in your body, which leads to the condition of hyperglycemia. This condition is potentially life-threatening. So make sure that your body is always hydrated to avoid such a serious condition.
Healthy tips for getting enough fluid if you are a diabetic patient
There are some tips for diabetic patients to hydrate the body. Yes, it’s crucial to drink enough water to get hydrated, but what else could we do to make ourselves hydrated if we are diabetic? A few tips are listed below other than drinking water:
- Hydrate with fiber—add vegetables and high-water foods to your diet, like cucumbers, chia seeds, and berries, which slow down absorption of glucose in your body and make you feel hydrated.
- Herbal teas—They provide hydration and control blood sugar to increase it. They work like meditation; ginger tea, cinnamon tea, and hibiscus tea have anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in antioxidants, which help in regulating blood glucose levels in your body.
- Avoid caffeinated and sugary beverages—they cause glucose fluctuation.
These are some self-care diabetic health tips that will help you to control the blood glucose level fluctuation in your body.
Conclusion: Make Diabetes and Water Work Together
A diabetic condition leads to an increase in urination, which leads to loss of water from the body, so please follow small tips and steps to be hydrated, as well as consult an expert dietician who will help you to follow a customized diet plan as per your requirement.
FAQ
How important it is for diabetic to remain hydrated?
When a person has diabetes, the urination activity is increased compared to the person who does not have this condition, which leads to loss of water from your bloodstream and causes hyperglycemia due to an increase in glucose level in the body because of major loss of water from the person’s body; therefore, it is advisable to be hydrated if you are diagnosed with diabetes so that it will not lead to any major problem.
What happens if diabetic person is dehydrated?
If a person with diabetes becomes dehydrated, it leads to a condition called hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) because of the loss of water in the body, which can be fatal, so keep yourself hydrated per day, and for safety, consult an expert dietician.
How much water diabetic drink in one day?
On a regular basis a person should drink approximately 2 liters of water, which may vary among men and women, so basically a man should drink 2 liters of water and a woman should drink 1.6 liters of water per day to keep herself hydrated.
But please consult your doctor or dietician before blindly following the tips because everyone is different and has different medical conditions as well, and drinking high amounts of water can also be dangerous, so be wise and consult an expert.
How much water does a diabetic woman drink in a day?
A diabetic woman should drink approximately 1.6 liters of water per day to keep herself hydrated, but again, if you have other medical conditions or are taking some other medicines, consult an expert and then accordingly increase or decrease the water intake.
What should diabetic drink in the morning?
The best thing that you can add to your diet if you have diabetes is an unsweetened drink. You can add warm water with a few drops of lemon in it to detoxify your body, and you can also add apple cider to your diet, which is also helpful for you to keep your body hydrated.
