Written by Dr.Snehal Nijapkar, Practitioner at Orthofit
Yes! Drinking plenty of water can prevent frequent muscle tightness or cramps…
Muscle tightness or cramps especially in leg muscles is an early sign of dehydration, although it’s relatively common cause. Stress, overdoing exercises, poor blood circulation,pregnancy, diabetes can also cause muscle tightness.
What is Dehydration?
Our body is made up of approximately 60% of water which is important for every function. We continuously lose water over the day through urine,sweat, in our breath as vapour and it has to be replaced. Dehydration happens as it doesn’t get replaced and starts affecting your body.
How dehydration affects your body?
Brain: Tiredness, headaches, unconsciousness
Kidneys: Minimal urine
Lungs: Rapid breathing
Eyes: Sunken eyes, no tears when crying
Heart: Rapid heartbeats
Muscles: Muscle tightness or cramps
Can dehydration be prevented?
- Men should be drinking approximately 3L of water in a day (which is the equivalent to 15.5 cups) and women should be drinking 2.7L (which is 11.5 cups), to keep the water level balanced.
- Always sip water during exercise or any physical activity, especially when the temperature’s too hot.
- Replace sport drinks, diet soda, commercial fruit juices, etc. with coconut water.
- Go for a green juice recipe that combines one or two fruits and larger amounts of greens like spinach, celeryor kale.
How to get rid of frequent muscle tightness / cramps?
- Drinking plenty of water a day is very important for your muscle functioning.
- Reduce consumption of alcohol and caffeine.
- Increase mineral and electrolyte intake.
- Eat bananas after workout.
- Include sea salt in your meal.
- Light exercise, stretching or massage might be of great help.
- A consultation with a health care professional should be considered in serious cases.
The Key to Avoid Dehydration: Listen to Your Body
- If you feel that you are already thirsty or sweating severely,it’s time to refill your body with water immediately.
- Do not wait for severe symptoms to show before you take action, as this can be life threatening.
- Everyone is at a risk for dehydration, even without any physical activity. So it’s important to keep a filtered water bottle to keep you hydrated.
- A healthy person urinates 7-8 times / day, so if you’re not urinating frequently it’s a sign that you’re not drinking enough water.