Hydration is essential for overall good health. Maintaining adequate hydration levels helps mood and attention, improves blood circulation, and helps optimize urinary tract function to remove waste from the body [1].
When you don't get enough fluids, you can develop dehydration. This can lead to negative side effects like headaches and fatigue. It can also increase the risk of urinary tract infections.
Urinary Tract Infection Risks
A urinary tract infection occurs when harmful bacteria settle into the urethra, bladder, ureters, and kidneys, causing an infection. These bacteria provoke the immune system to fight them off, which leads to inflammation, soreness, pain with urination, fever, and blood in the urine.
Both men and women can get urinary tract infections. They are more common in women because they have shorter urethras, making it easier for bacteria to enter the urinary tract [2].
Dehydration and UTIs
Urination is one way that the urinary tract can flush bacteria out before it can become a problem. Frequent urination and fully emptying the bladder sluices away bacteria in the urinary organs before they can adhere to the tissue.
When you don't consume enough fluids, you don't produce as much urine. Your body uses available fluids for basic functions like blood volume, sweat, and saliva. A lower volume of fluid reaches the kidneys and bladder, so you don't feel the urge to urinate as often. When you do, you may only pass a small amount of urine [3].
Infrequent urination and low urine volume can create an opportunity for bacterial growth. There is more time between trips to the toilet, allowing bacteria to accumulate and adhere to urinary tract tissue. When you finally do urinate, there is less fluid to wash away bacteria [4,5].
In addition, chronic dehydration can lead to other urinary tract issues such as kidney stones, bladder inflammation, and damage to the kidney.
Hydrating to Improve Urinary Health
You can reduce the risk of dehydration-induced UTIs by making sure you stay adequately hydrated. Some simple steps to maintain proper hydration include:
- Drink plenty of nonalcoholic, non-caffeinated fluids throughout the day
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Drink more while exercising or doing physical work
- Drink more fluids in hot weather and when you're sick
- Avoid exertion during the hottest part of the day
Monitoring Urinary Health
You can keep track of your hydration levels and urinary health by using home testing strips. Home testing only takes a few minutes, and provides inportant helth information without having to visit a doctor. Home hydration tests and UTI tests can tell you if you are adequately hydrated and alert you to the presence of a UTI.
Urinox-10 is a urine test strip that can help monitor hydration levels. The easy-to-use test strips measure ten different parameters in urine, including urine specific gravity, which is an indication of hydration. The test provides easy-to-read color-coded results in just a few minutes.
If you are concerned about having a UTI, you can use UTI home test strips. The UTI test is a 2-parameter urine dipstick test that gives quick, easy-to-read results. You can share the results with your doctor and start UTI treatment right away.
