Don't let dehydration ruin your holiday
Posted by Sue Anderson, 20th Aug 2013
Going on holiday to a warm country can be a bit of a body shock when you've been living day-to-day in the grim weather of the British Isles.
We started wondering whether or not holidaymakers were doing their bit to stay hydrated on hot holidays, because dehydration and sun stroke can spell the end of enjoyment on a trip abroad, if you're not careful!
We spoke to 1,672 UK adults, all of whom had been on a hot holiday abroad in the last 12 months and asked them all about their eating and drinking habits during their trip.
With the general recommendation being to drink 8 glasses of water per day (around 1.9litres) in normal circumstances, but more usually required in a hot environment, we asked people to estimate how much water they drank per day on their last sunny holiday. The average answer stated by those taking part was '1 litre' (52%) - far too little for a hot day in the sun.
Only 9% claimed to drink the recommended 8 glasses or water or more each day. As for the rest of them, we wanted to know why they didn't get their fill of water when on holiday, especially given the effects heat can have if you don't find a friend in H2O.
The top reasons people didn't drink the recommended amount of water whilst on a hot holiday were as follows:
Drank caffeinated fizzy drinks to keep hydrated - 27%
Drank alcohol to keep hydrated - 22%
Forgot - 19%
Didn't feel like I needed it - 15%
Couldn't afford to keep buying it - 9%
All respondents that didn't drink the recommended amount of water on holiday were asked if they thought they had suffered as a result, to which 48% admitted that they had subsequently 'felt ill'. Well, there you go! If you didn't believe it before, this is evidence enough that staying hydrated on holiday is a must. No one wants to spend their holiday suffering, so always be sure to have a bottle of water on you, especially if you're out in the sun for long periods of time. We're afraid to say that cocktails and fizzy caffeinated drinks just don't cut the mustard when it comes to staying hydrated, so perhaps save those for the evening!
We started wondering whether or not holidaymakers were doing their bit to stay hydrated on hot holidays, because dehydration and sun stroke can spell the end of enjoyment on a trip abroad, if you're not careful!
We spoke to 1,672 UK adults, all of whom had been on a hot holiday abroad in the last 12 months and asked them all about their eating and drinking habits during their trip.
Just 1 in 10 adults drink recommended amount of water on hot holidays
With the general recommendation being to drink 8 glasses of water per day (around 1.9litres) in normal circumstances, but more usually required in a hot environment, we asked people to estimate how much water they drank per day on their last sunny holiday. The average answer stated by those taking part was '1 litre' (52%) - far too little for a hot day in the sun.
Only 9% claimed to drink the recommended 8 glasses or water or more each day. As for the rest of them, we wanted to know why they didn't get their fill of water when on holiday, especially given the effects heat can have if you don't find a friend in H2O.
The top reasons people didn't drink the recommended amount of water whilst on a hot holiday were as follows:
Drank caffeinated fizzy drinks to keep hydrated - 27%
Drank alcohol to keep hydrated - 22%
Forgot - 19%
Didn't feel like I needed it - 15%
Couldn't afford to keep buying it - 9%
All respondents that didn't drink the recommended amount of water on holiday were asked if they thought they had suffered as a result, to which 48% admitted that they had subsequently 'felt ill'. Well, there you go! If you didn't believe it before, this is evidence enough that staying hydrated on holiday is a must. No one wants to spend their holiday suffering, so always be sure to have a bottle of water on you, especially if you're out in the sun for long periods of time. We're afraid to say that cocktails and fizzy caffeinated drinks just don't cut the mustard when it comes to staying hydrated, so perhaps save those for the evening!
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