Why Most People Are Dehydrated (And How to Fix It)

What if the reason you're tired, unfocused, and chronically irritable isn't because you need more sleep or better habits? What if it's something simpler? Most people are chronically dehydrated every day and we don't even realize it. And when we are, our physical and cognitive performance suffers. And the symptoms look like everything else. Brain fog, headaches, poor sleep, and mood swings. But the fix is right in front of you. Today, you'll discover why you're dehydrated, what it's costing you every day, and the exact protocols to fix it. Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to Stronger Weekly brought to you by Purist Nutrition. I'm your host, Jesse Karajat. Thank you so much for joining us this week, wherever you are right now. I certainly hope you are staying warm and staying safe. We are in the middle of February, and there's some crazy winter weather going around in our country. I know there's some states that aren't used to dealing with winter storms and low temperatures, and they're kind of learning how to adjust to that. You got some storms going through. And then if you're near me or where I am, I'm in northern Colorado, and we've got 65 degree weather out here in the middle of the winter. So crazy stuff going on, but hope you're staying safe and warm. And again, thank you for joining us today. We're going to talk about dehydration, or should I say hydration? Because statistically speaking, if you are listening to this episode right now, you are probably chronically dehydrated and you don't even know about it. We're going to go into the science of hydration. We're going to talk about what happens when we are dehydrated. How does our cognitive performance suffer? How does our physical performance suffer? And then if not addressed, what does that mean for our long-term health and fitness? We're also going to talk about some protocols and some steps you can take to make sure that you are properly hydrated. Before we jump into that deep dive topic, as we always do, we're going to start with our health and fitness headlines of the week. And we've got some big ones. We've got some policy changes to talk about, and we've got some cool practical steps that you can take based on recent studies to improve your own health and fitness. Without further ado, let's jump into the health and fitness headlines of the week. Your first headline of the week, the White House has officially launched TrumpRx, a new prescription drug website promising lower prices. But here's what you need to know before you ditch your insurance. So President Trump unveiled TrumpRx.gov on Thursday night last week, a government website offering discounted cash prices on 43 brand name medications. The site connects patients directly to pharmaceutical companies, offering discounts through what the administration calls, quote, most favored nation pricing. The headlines look great. Wagovi, the weight loss drug, starts at just $149 per month, down from over $1,300. Zepbound, Ozempic, and 40 other brand name medications are listed on the site. But here's the fine print. These discounts are only available if you pay cash. They don't work with insurance, and purchases don't count towards your deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. So who actually benefits? According to Dr. Ben Rome, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital, says, quote, for the vast majority of people, it's going to continue to be less expensive to purchase medications and medicines using their insurance and to pay cash, even with these discounts. So the real winners are the uninsured and those paying out of pocket already for medications not typically covered, like weight loss drugs and fertility treatments. One expert noted the discounts on fertility drugs could lower IVF cycle costs by about 20%. So some context, 84% of Americans already have prescription drug coverage, and 9 in 10 prescriptions are for generics, which often cost less than these, quote, discounted brand name prices anyway. So bottom line, if you are uninsured or paying cash already for something like a Zempic or fertility meds, check the site. It might benefit you and save you some money. But for most Americans with insurance, run the numbers first, talk to your pharmacist and your doctor, and don't assume that the government website automatically beats what you're already paying. Next up, a massive new study finds that nearly 40% of all cancer cases worldwide are linked to preventable risk factors, and the top three are probably not surprising. So this one comes from the World Health Organization, otherwise known as WHO, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, published this week in nature medicine. So researchers analyze 18.7 million cancer cases across 185 countries, and they're finding 7.1 million of those cases, that's 37.8%, were attributable to 30 modifiable behavioral risk factors, factors that we can control. So the top three, tobacco smoking infections and alcohol you may have guessed that smoking alone accounts for 15 of all preventable cancer cases globally and more than one in five cancers in men infections including hpb hepatitis b and c and h pylori account for over 10 alcohol is responsible for about three percent of all of these cancer cases or about 700 000 the most commonly diagnosed preventable cancers, lung cancer, stomach cancer, and cervical cancer, together representing nearly half of all preventable cases. And here's what's interesting. The risk factors hit men and women differently. In women, infections are the top driver at 11.5%, followed by smoking at 6.3, then high BMI. In men, smoking dominates at 23%, followed by infections and alcohol. Dr. Andre Abiwa from who put it simply, quote, this is the first global analysis to show how much cancer risk comes from causes that we can prevent. So straightforward takeaway here, folks, don't smoke, don't drink a lot. Try to lower your BMI, get vaccinated, HPV, hepatitis B and C, maintain a healthy weight, get screened for infections if you're at risk. If the lead author could choose one intervention with the largest global impact, she said it would be comprehensive tobacco control, saying, quote, tobacco remains the single largest preventable cause of cancer worldwide. 7.1 million cases is a powerful reminder, folks. Lifestyle matters, and cancer is, and can be anyway, preventable in most cases. Your next headline, a pretty polarizing one this week. The American Medical Association has changed its position on gender-affirming surgeries for minors now recommending these procedures generally be deferred until adulthood. So the AMA, the nation's largest physician organization, released a statement this week saying the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is, quote, insufficient for us to make a definitive statement. Their position in the absence of clear evidence, surgical interventions in minors should generally be deferred to adulthood. This follows a similar announcement from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which recommended delaying gender-related chest, genital, and facial surgery until patients are at least 19 years old. Some context, these surgeries are already rare amongst minors. According to research published in JAMA, fewer than 1,000 minors in the U.S. receive such surgeries annually, the vast majority being mastectomies, not genital procedures. procedures. Genital surgery on minors is virtually never performed. The AMA still supports other forms of gender-affirming care for youth, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. And the American Academy of Pediatrics affirmed its guidance, quote, does not include a blanket recommendation for surgery for minors. Dr. Andrew Racine, AAP president, stated, quote, patients, their families, and their physicians, not politicians, should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them. So this is a significant shift in stated position from the AMA, even if the practical impact is limited, given how rare these procedures already are. The broader debate over gender-affirming care for minors continues across medical, legal, and political arenas for sure. More than 25 states have passed laws restricting this very type of care. And what's clear, major medical organizations are calling for more evidence and more caution when it comes to surgical interventions, especially for minors. Okay, next up, this one, very practical in nature. Pink noise or any type of sound machine while sleeping may actually harm your sleep quality. So if you fall asleep to sound machines, pink noise, those steady rain or ocean type sounds. A new study suggests it may actually be hurting your deep sleep. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine published findings in the journal Sleep this week challenging the widespread use of ambient sound machines. They monitored 25 healthy adults over seven nights in a sleep lab, exposing them to different conditions. Aircraft noise, pink noise alone, both combined and quiet sleep with earplugs. The results, pink noise, plated about 50 decibels, roughly the sound of moderate rainfall, reduced REM sleep by nearly 19 minutes per night. That's a lot statistically speaking. So when pink noise was combined with aircraft noise, the effects got even worse. Both deep sleep and REM sleep decreased. Participants spent an extra 15 minutes awake and they reported lighter, worse quality sleep overall. Here's why this matters. Dr. Mathis Basner, the study's lead author, explained, quote, REM sleep is important for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and brain developments. When we lose it, that is not a good thing. And here's the concerning part. Children spend much more time in REM sleep than adults, making them potentially more vulnerable. Dr. Basner cautioned against using noise machines for infants and toddlers. Man, And my wife and I are three kids deep and they relied on these things So this is a bummer It a bummer to hear this but what works if you want some practical guidance and you do like some type of aid to help sleep earplugs. I'm not doing this, but earplugs apparently work. They protected deep sleep from environmental noise without disrupting REM. My advice to you is if you can just fall asleep on your own with nothing, it seems like that's the way to go. So look, millions of people use white noise, pink noise, or rain sounds to sleep. About 18% of Americans use some kind of sound machine. Some people even leave a TV on. This study suggests we need more research, especially on long-term effects for vulnerable and young populations. So if you are sleeping fine without sound, you probably want to keep doing that. If you are using some of these sleep aids and sounds, you might want to consider making a change for better quality sleep. And your last health and fitness headline, kind of a fun one, the rise of quote day life. So fewer Americans are drinking than ever before. We've talked about it on this show and a new social movement called day life is filling the gap with something healthier. So according to a 2025 Gallup poll, only 54% of American adults say they drink alcohol regularly. Good for you, America. The lowest percentage in nearly 90 years of polling among young adults 18 to 34 that number drops to just 50 the decline is especially pronounced amongst gen z and young millennials separate survey found 65 of gen z plan to drink less this year in 2026 39 say they'll adopt a dry lifestyle entirely so how are young people socializing without alcohol i don't know i'm laughing at that because my my whole young life was basically summarized and kind of captured by alcohol, right? But things are changing. Enter day life, a term coined by the fitness social app, sweat pals. It refers to a daytime social outing centered on alcohol-free fitness activities. Think group runs, workout classes, hiking meetups, and more. Salar Shahina, co-founder of sweat pals told Huffington post, quote, it's just the concept of using wellness and using movement as a way to meet and socialize versus relying on alcohol. And it's not just about avoiding hangovers. Kathleen Cross, a licensed counselor notes that social fitness addresses something deeper saying, quote, this is necessary in a country that has an epidemic of isolation and loneliness. So the movement is growing beyond morning jogs. Daybreaker, a sober morning dance party movement, It now reaches over, get this, 800,000 people across 60 cities worldwide. Wellness raves, sauna socials, and group recovery sessions are becoming mainstream alternatives to evening bars and nightclubs. Here's why I find this encouraging. This is essentially America moving in a healthier direction. I can't say that I've done any of these events myself. I might even feel a little uncomfortable because it's so unusual to my generation. But the research on alcohol's health risks keep mounting. Earlier on in this very health and fitness update, I talked about preventable cancers and alcohol was listed on there. And one of the top behavioral and lifestyle choices that we can make that can increase our risk of cancer, which is drinking more alcohol. So if you're looking to try it, the advice is simple. Sign up for the same fitness class at the same time. Each week, you'll start recognizing faces. join a local running club or a Facebook group. Just show up, move, talk to people and try to retrain yourself on what socializing could look like because you could be extending your health span. And that's it for this week's health and fitness headlines. Just a quick word from our sponsor. And then our deep dive on hydration is on the other side. We'll see you over there. All right, let's be honest. You're probably not a professional athlete with a personal chef and unlimited recovery time. 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That's puristnutrition.com because your nutrition should work as hard as you do. Hydration. Here we go. I'll start with this. When I first moved from New Jersey at about sea level up to Colorado, and I'm not way up in the mountains in Colorado. I'm in what's called the Front Range. still much higher in terms of feet from sea level. But when I first move up, I started getting migraines. Now I've always gotten migraines here or there, but I started getting this blurry vision followed by migraines and not occasionally, frequently. I went through out of fear, like a thorough battery of tests. My father actually died from brain cancer at 49 years old. So it's always been, if anything is ever happening cognitively, headaches and whatnot, I'm just extra sensitive to it. We'll say that, maybe even a little anxious about it. So I went through a battery of tests, neurologist, eye doctor, MRI, blood work, the whole deal. The diagnosis, or should I say lack thereof, migraines triggered by chronic dehydration. And that opened up my eyes. And here's the thing that really surprised me. I wasn't even thirsty, right? I always incorrectly associated, if I'm not thirsty, I must be hydrated. which is wrong. I didn't feel dehydrated. I was working out, working, running a business, parenting, running around, drinking water throughout the day, but I was dehydrated and I didn't even know it. And it got to the point where it was causing a physical response in my body. In this case, for me, it was migraines. And since I've started to focus on and fix my hydration problem, not only are the migraines gone, but my focus has been sharper. My moods are more stable and consistent. My sleep quality has improved and I've experienced a myriad of other benefits. So today I'm breaking down why most people are chronically dehydrated without even knowing it. What dehydration actually is costing you in physical and mental performance and the exact protocol to fix it. So here's what we're covering. First, what hydration actually means because it's not just about drinking water. I learned that firsthand. Number two, the hidden cost of the hydration. So things like brain fog, mood swings, poor sleep, and why your body is not performing. And third, and lastly, the practical protocol. How much water should you be drinking? When to drink it? When you need to maybe supplement with things like electrolytes and how to even know if you're properly hydrated in the first place. So let's get started. So some statistics that you should know, and this is what has really, really thoroughly surprised me when I started researching this. So 75% of Americans drink only 2.5 cups of water per day. That's shocking to me. That is one standard water bottle. Now you'll see headlines claiming 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated and that specific stat isn't scientifically supported, but here's what we know. A survey of 3,003 Americans found that 75% had a net fluid loss, meaning they're losing more water than they're taking in. And mild dehydration begins at just 1.5% body water loss. You lose 8 to 12 cups of water every single day through breathing, sweating, urinating, and digestion. So if you're not replacing that consistently, you are operating essentially in a net deficit when it comes to hydration. So let's talk about what hydration actually is. So your body is 60% water. Your brain is 75% water. Water is not something that you just drink. It's the medium that your body uses for everything. What might you ask? Transporting oxygen and nutrients, regulating temperature, lubricating joints, enabling cellular function, all the most important stuff just to keep your body and mind operating. And when we talk about hydration, we're not just talking about volume of water, we're talking about cellular hydration, whether your cells have enough water and the right balance of electrolytes to function properly and optimally. And that's the piece that most people miss. You can drink a gallon of water a day and still be functionally dehydrated if you're not getting sodium, potassium, and magnesium. And here's why thirst is a terrible indicator of hydration. The problem, by the time you feel thirsty, you've already lost about 2% of your body's water content. A 2% loss at that level, cognitive performance declines, focus drops, mood deteriorates, physical performance absolutely suffers. Thirst is a late stage warning system. It's not preventative. You're not getting thirsty. That's not your body saying, I need water now. It's saying you already don't have enough hydration. And that's key. That's a key takeaway for all of this. That is why I wasn't catching my own dehydration before I started having those symptoms of migraines. I would be drinking when I was thirsty, but I was already behind. And because I had just relocated from New Jersey to much higher above sea level in Colorado it was exacerbated And that a big big problem So when I moved at altitude you lose water faster There lower humidity There increased respiration. Your body is working even harder to get oxygen. And I didn't even realize it. The recommendation at sea level, if you're listening near or at sea level is eight to 10 cups of water per day at altitude, 12 plus cups minimum. If you just follow me around here in Colorado, you'll notice that every single person has a water bottle and I just didn't really pick up on that. So that's a key there. And I just wasn't adjusting for it. My body was paying the price and I started to get blurry vision. I can remember being on zoom calls where I was supposed to show up and lead teams and perform. And I just felt like I didn't have that extra gear. And again, I had no idea is because deep down I wasn't hydrated. So it was a big takeaway for me. So let's talk about brain fog and cognitive decline, exactly what I was experiencing and you might be too. Your brain, again, 75% water. When you're dehydrated, even mildly, your brain has to work extra hard to perform the same tasks that you're asking of it. Studies show that just 1.4% body weight loss from dehydration causes some pretty bad things like impaired working memory, concentration difficulties, increased fatigue, and more. A meta-analysis found that more than 2% reduction in body mass from dehydration causes significant impairments in attention, executive function, and motor coordination. And here's what is wild. Brain imaging studies show that dehydrated brains have increased neuronal activation. Your brain is literally working harder to accomplish the very same cognitive tasks that you normally ask it to do. So the brain fog that you feel in the afternoon, the lack of focus during meetings, the inability to think clearly, it might not be just general fatigue or maybe caffeine withdrawal or lack of sleep. It might be that you are dehydrated. And let's talk about mood swings and irritability. dehydration affects your neurotransmitters things like serotonin dopamine gaba glutamate things that we talk about all the time on this show these chemicals regulate your mood and your motivation and your anxiety and your response to stress when you're dehydrated this system gets disrupted multiple studies show increased feelings of anxiety greater irritability heightened fatigue reduced sense of calm all of these things can be connected to dehydration and women are more sensitive to these effects than men, but everyone experiences mood changes with dehydration. And just a couple more categories here that you might not connect to hydration. Let's talk about sleep and sleep disruption more specifically. Most people don't know this, but short-term sleep duration, less than six hours, is associated with a 59% higher odds of being dehydrated. It's bidirectional. Poor sleep leads to worse hydration. Dehydration leads to worse sleep. And when you're dehydrated, you have more difficulty falling asleep with reduced REM sleep, lower sleep efficiency, lower deep sleep, and more fragmented sleep. Dehydration also causes dry nasal passages and dry mouth, which leads to snoring and discomfort. And during sleep, your brain releases vasopressin to help retain water. But if you're starting from a dehydrated state already, your body's already playing catch up at night when it's time to fall to sleep. All of these things are bad, right? So I track my sleep with a whoop. On nights when I'm well hydrated, my deep sleep and REM sleep are consistently better. And it's just not even close, right? And if you don't have a sleep tracker, I highly recommend getting one. You don't have to go super fancy. Now let's talk about physical performance, training whether you're a runner strength training whatever it is hydration matters so much so when you're dehydrated your blood thickens reduced plasma volume less efficient oxygen delivery and this all puts a strain on your cardiovascular system your heart simply has to work harder to pump blood when you're dehydrated so for anyone that's training that could be lifting running sports whatever it is dehydration can just absolutely kill your performance you fatigue faster, your recovery is slower, your motivation drops, your overall strength output can drop. But even if you're not training, dehydration affects daily physical function. You just feel more tired and more irritable, movement's harder, you're just not as durable, and you're not as sharp. So now let's talk a little bit about what is dehydrating you. We mentioned not even five minutes ago that we all just lose water throughout the day, just from doing life, walking around, talking, sweating, et cetera, but there are some culprits or some reasons why you might become dehydrated faster, right? So the most common culprit, just not drinking enough water. No one will recommend that to be dehydrated. You're drinking soft drinks and sweet drinks and things like that. Water is the best way for you to remain hydrated. And this is the simplest and most common cause. Most people just don't drink enough water, but there are other culprits that can make you dehydrate. And let's start with the one that I love to hate on alcohol. Alcohol is a major, major dehydrator. It is a diuretic. It increases fluid loss and it does it rapidly. If you drink and don't compensate with water and electrolytes, you're setting yourself up for maximum dehydration, especially the day after. So watch your drinking. Another one is stress. Conic stress, absolutely. And surprisingly can make you more dehydrated because when you are stressed, your body has a harder time regulating fluid and electrolyte balance. When stress is high, your body struggles to maintain hydration. So here's a terrible combination. If you are stressed and drinking alcohol to cope with your stress, you can just imagine that you'll be extra dehydrated. So you don't wanna go down that road. And that was huge for me as a matter of fact, because my story, if you follow the show, high stress job, new dad, three kiddos, running around all over the place. I was stressed and I was using alcohol to cope and I had just moved to Colorado. So it was a trifecta that made me just devastatingly dehydrated. So things to keep an eye on. Here's another one for you. I think this is commonly known, but we'll touch on it. Caffeine, mild diuretic, but moderate amounts are fine. The issue is when people drink coffee all day long and nothing else, that can be tough. So caffeine is definitely something that can dehydrate you. And then last one, obvious here, worth stating exercise. you lose lots of water through sweat, especially if you're pushing yourself hard and doing some longer steady state cardio. If you're training hard and not replacing fluids, you are absolutely setting yourself up for dehydration. So with those as the culprits and kind of laying down already the scientific framework as to what dehydration is, why it's important and what causes it, let's talk about some protocols to fix it, to make sure that you are properly hydrated. And we'll start with how much water, how much water should we be drinking? Because it is not a one size fits all. So the standard recommendation is eight glasses a day, but that's actually just not enough for most people. You need to adjust for where you live, how active are you? How much are you sleeping? How stressed are you, et cetera? All things that we all just went over. So let's talk about some better guidelines. So for men, for most men, 125 ounces, which is about 15.5 cups per day. For women, 91 ounces, about 11.4 cups per day. But the most accurate formula is actually based on body weight, which is 0.5 to one ounce per day of body weight. I weigh 186 pounds. Okay, So it's as simple as taking that number and multiplying it by either 0.5 or 1. And that's how you get to a more accurate recommendation for how much water you should be consuming per day. If you are training, if you are actively doing a strength training, cardio training program, ideally both, you should add 16 to 20 ounces per hour of exercise per day on top of that amount. If you're at altitude like me, add another two to four cups to your baseline. So again, if you're exercising, that's a calculation for you to add more hydration. And depending on where you live, you want to add more cups as well. So let's talk about when to drink it because timing matters as well. Per studies that I've researched for this episode, it is a great idea to front load your hydration. Drink more water in the first half of the day. And here's why. If you chug water right before bed, you're waking up multiple times to use the bathroom, which disrupts your sleep. That is not good. A better approach in the morning, 16 to 24 ounces upon waking and key here before coffee, drink throughout the day, consistently sipping, drink pre-workout, definitely focus on a pre-workout hydration protocol. protocol. Look to take in about 16 to 20 ounces before you work out, drink water while you work out, and then post-workout, it's recommended another 20 to 24 ounces. And in the evening, lighter intake, stop any drinking, heavy drinking, if you can, at least two hours before bed to ensure you don't have some of those detrimental effects from alcohol that we talked about earlier. And this is a strong recommendation of mine. I recently, in the past two months, started actually regularly consuming an hydration supplement. I used Purist Nutrition's hydration, and it has been a game changer for me, especially, again, being so active, living up here in Colorado and having a pretty stressful life. When do I take those supplements? And key here with this particular supplement from Pierce Nutrition, it's all about electrolytes because it's not just about water, it's about electrolytes. We're going to get into that in a second. But what I do, depending if I'm cold plunging in the morning, I will wake up, I will have my hydration supplement, I will get in the cold plunge, and then I will work out. If I don't have the cold plunge, I still have that hydration supplement right when I work out to really front load the day I have my coffee afterwards And I have to tell you that coffee that caffeine I have a double espresso It is just so much better when I hydrated properly after sleeping all night. I have the caffeine. I wake up, I feel great. I don't have that like dehydrated, almost irritable effect from having the caffeine. And it just works perfectly. I'll also mix my hydration supplement into my pre-workout before I go. That way I'm definitely hydrated as I'm exercising. And then sometimes it depends. I might have some more hydration later on in the evening. It all depends. But I found that first thing in the morning and pre-workout has worked wonders for me. Let's be honest. Most of us don't have a private gym, a full-time trainer, or hours every day to lift. If you're like me, you don't even have time to commute to a local gym. You're training early in the morning or carving out 40 minutes between work, kids, and everything else competing for your time. And when fitness matters that much to your well-being and your health, you've got to have home fitness equipment that's as strong and reliable as you are. That is exactly why I use Rep Fitness. Rep is built for people who train with purpose, people who need high quality, reliable equipment engineered for real strength. Designed right here in Colorado, USA, Rep Fitness provides racks, benches, bars, and plates that offer commercial-grade durability without commercial gym prices. Premium materials, smart engineering, and fair pricing. Whether you're outfitting your very first garage gym or upgrading your current setup to match where you want to go with your training, Rep makes gear that keeps up with your life and your goals. Visit repfitness.com to see their full lineup. Racks, benches, bars, plates, conditioning tools, and everything you need to build a home gym that works as hard as you do. That's repfitness.com. So let's talk about why electrolytes are important because that's exactly what I'm getting in this supplement. So water alone sometimes is not enough, especially again, when you're active, stressed, if you're drinking alcohol, doing cold plunges, you just need electrolytes. And most of us are just not getting enough that we need. So let's talk about those electrolytes. So number one, sodium regulates fluid balance and nerve function. Most people under consume sodium, especially if they're active. So that's a key one. Number two, potassium which is critical for cellular hydration and muscle function you lose potassium through sweat so it's important to replenish it and then the last one magnesium magnesium is key it supports cellular function and sleep quality and unfortunately most americans are deficient in magnesium and when i finally started finally by me i just wish i would have known all of this earlier started actually paying attention to electrolytes, not just water volume. That's when everything clicked. And again, if you're going to look into a supplement, Purist Nutrition, highly recommend it. You want to look for one that has the right balance of sodium, potassium, and magnesium without a ton of sugar or artificial ingredients. And that is key. There are supplements out there that are electrolyte or hydration type supplements. They have all the electrolytes. You flip it over. You've taken on 12, 15 grams of sugar. not something you want to be doing. So important to have the stuff that you need and not the stuff that you don't want. So highly encourage you looking into an electrolyte supplement if you're open to it, because I got to tell you, nothing hits like slamming 12 ounces of water with electrolytes versus just the 12 ounces of water. There's just no comparison. So let's touch on real quick. How do you know, right? How do you know if you are dehydrated? If you're not maybe even feeling some of the symptoms that we've described here on this episode, there is a way that you can do. It's very simple just to kind of ask or figure out, are you dehydrated? So it's called the urine color test. It's the simplest way to know if you're hydrated. Just look at your urine, right? So here's the different colors and you can look this up and Google it if you want more information, but here's the basics of the colors, right? So after you urinate, take a look at it. If it is a pale yellow, good to go. You're hydrated, right? If it is a dark yellow or even an amber, you are dehydrated, you need to drink more water, maybe even some more electrolytes. If it is clear, you are possibly over hydrated. Yes, that is a thing. Don't go too crazy. That's somewhat benign, but you could actually be over hydrated. So you're looking for that pale yellow to kind of be in the sweet spot, if you will. So check your first morning urine. That's the way to go. And if it's dark, you went to bed dehydrated and you do something about it. So it's really good just as you're going throughout the day, just to take a peek. It could be an indicator for you, again, because you're not always gonna be symptomatic of being dehydrated. If you see that your urine is starting to shade, maybe a little bit more towards yellow or amber, just make sure you're intentional for the remainder of the day and even add some electrolyte supplements if you have one, just to kind of catch up. So again here, things to avoid, folks. If I can just pick a couple to revisit and hammer down here, avoid excessive alcohol consumption for a myriad of reasons, not just dehydration. avoid excessive caffeine one to two cups of coffee is fine i think uh six cups or maybe a couple double espressos with no water is not going to serve you well so again just by myself just learning about hydration and focusing on it the benefits that i've experienced and what's changed for me i the migraines i was having just completely went away i feel better focus better mood consistency my sleep has improved and my energy is just more durable throughout the day. And this is all just from making sure that I'm staying hydrated. I already went over my protocols on how to do that, considering a supplement and whatnot. And just to leave you with a little challenge, why not a little seven day hydration challenge? So for the next week, commit to proper hydration, see what it looks like. So calculate your water needs based on what we talked about earlier, which is 0.5 to one ounces per pound of body weight, adjusting for where you live and how active you are. Front load your day. Just wake up and drink 16 to 24 ounces of water before you have caffeine. Track your intake if you're open to it, or you can just check your urine color daily as you go and add electrolytes if you're training, stressed, or at altitude and just see how you feel by doing it. And that's it, that's seven days. see what changes if you notice a noticeable difference in some of those attributes I'd describe like mood and focus and sleep and whatnot. You're onto something and stick with it. Don't be one of those people that just lives chronically dehydrated after listening to this and not do anything about it. And that's it, folks. Don't be one of those people after listening to this that does nothing about hydration. As I mentioned, most of us are dehydrated, but there are some simple fixes and protocols that you can implement today to fix it. All right, folks, let's bring this home. If you've been with me the whole episode, thank you. I know your time is valuable. Here is my summary of the big takeaways from this episode. One, most people are chronically dehydrated without even realizing it, and I was one of them. Thirst is a late indicator of dehydration. If you are thirsty, you have been dehydrated. By the time you feel it, you're already at a 2% deficit and cognitive performance has already declined. Number two, your brain is 75% water. Dehydration causes brain fog, mood swings, poor sleep, and reduced physical performance. The symptoms look like everything else, but the fix is simple. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Three, it's not just about water volume. It's about electrolytes, sodium, potassium, magnesium, especially if you're training stressed, living and working in high elevations, drinking alcohol or otherwise. So you have to be cautious, especially cautious, depending on the lifestyle that you live and where you live. Number four, the protocol is very straightforward to fix it. You calculate your needs. It's 0.5 to one ounce per pound of body weight. Front load your day with 16 to 24 ounces before coffee. If you're a coffee drinker, track your intake if you need to until you get to more of an intuitive hydrator, if you will, check your urine color, which is a pretty good indicator and add electrolytes when you need them and consider a supplement. If you're busy and on the go, you just need an extra boost. And finally, number five, try a seven day challenge, track your hydration for one week, just one week, you can do it and see what changes, see how you feel and see what comes of it. And just DM us if you ever have any kind of questions and share your results and we can certainly jump and encourage you and add some insights as we can. So just a few quick updates here at Stronger Weekly. We are continuing to build. We're continuing to grow. This show is and always has been for busy parents and or professionals who just want evidence-based health and fitness content without the overwhelm, being able to trust a source for your information. We're not selling nothing here, just trying to bring free health and fitness guidance to the masses to improve their lives. No BS, no fluff, just what works. So we certainly thank you for being here. If you found this episode valuable, here's how you can help. And we would love your help. One, share it, send it to someone who you think could benefit from it. Maybe they're dealing with brain fog, headaches, et cetera, on hydration, or just in general, want to get more fit. This could be exactly what they need. 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