Dehydration And Hunger Feels The Same And.......It STINKS!!
Thirst occurs when your body needs water. When you do not drink enough water, your body receives mixed signals on hunger. Dehydration causes you to believe you need to eat when you really need liquid intake.
Your goal, as it relates to fluid consumption, is to drink enough to stay consistently well hydrated day in and day out. Eating fewer high-fat and high-sugar foods and drinking fewer calorie-containing beverages may help you achieve this goal by making your thirst a more reliable indicator of your fluid needs.
Here are 2 ways to tell the difference between hunger and dehydration;
1) Stay hydrated (Easier Said Than Done) - Let thirst be your guide, or you can use the general recommendation to drink eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day, more if it’s hot outside or you are exercising. If you are drinking enough water, your urine should be very pale yellow. (It’s darker when you’re dehydrated.) Once you’ve eliminated mild dehydration as a cause of whatever sensations you’re feeling, it’s easier to identify hunger.
2) Start paying attention to how hunger feels for you - Physical hunger grows gradually as the time since your last meal increases. How soon you’ll start feeling hunger depends in part on the size and composition of your previous meal or snack, but pay particular attention to possible hunger cues between two and five hours after eating.
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