Contents:
- Medical Video: How Much Water Should You Really Drink a Day? | Dr. Josh Axe
- Lack of drinking water makes the body dehydrated
- The danger is driving a car when it's dehydrated
- Drink enough water before you drive
Medical Video: How Much Water Should You Really Drink a Day? | Dr. Josh Axe
We are advised to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day - after waking up, before eating, before going to bed, also before and after exercise. But do you know that we also need to drink water before driving a car or driving another vehicle, especially if the distance is quite far? Because, drinking less water has the same harmful effects as driving while intoxicated. Here is the explanation.
Lack of drinking water makes the body dehydrated
Two-thirds of the human body is liquid. That's why your body needs to enter enough water to function optimally. When the body loses more water than it drinks, you can become dehydrated. Most body fluids are lost from sweating and urinating.
Imbalance of fluid levels can make the body unable to function optimally. Unfortunately, often we don't realize that the body has lost a lot of fluid. Because the signs of dehydration are not just thirsty so you might be too late to realize it.
The danger is driving a car when it's dehydrated
Dehydration can reduce a person's level of concentration and alertness to the surrounding conditions, including when on super busy busy streets. This is evidenced by a study involving 12 young adult men, all of whom were tested in a driving simulator. Researchers then divided participants into two conditions: driving a car in good hydration (meaning the body has enough fluids) and when it is dehydrated (lack of fluids).
Simulations carried out include driving straight on two lines, on the bend, shoulder of the road, and also required to overtake slow vehicles. In the simulation session the first condition (good body hydration), participants were given to drink 200 ml of water after one hour of driving. Meanwhile, at the time of simulation in a state of dehydration, participants were only given to drink as much as 25 ml of water after one hour of driving.
As a result, the risk of traffic accidents almost doubled when driving with a dehydrated body. The level of driving errors also increases with time and peaked in the last 30 minutes.
When you are dehydrated, the blood thickens because of the lack of salt and sugar in the body. This makes the heart have to work harder to keep oxygen and nutrients moving throughout the circulatory system. Lack of oxygenated blood can make you sleepy and tired quickly.
Dehydration can also make you very confused and have a reflex response that makes it difficult to quickly take emergency decisions on the streets. For example, when a vehicle suddenly cuts a path, the brain will process this change more slowly before deciding what you have to do: swerve the steering wheel, horn, or brake. Without realizing this, this will make the driver around look shocked and it is very possible that a fatal accident will occur.
Drink enough water before you drive
The results of this study indicate that mild dehydration can result in an increased risk of driving errors during long and monotonous trips. Moreover, dehydration is very easy for people who rarely drink water because they are too busy with their work or activities.
The researchers say that accidents on the streets are mostly caused by driver errors due to fatigue, drowsiness, lack of concentration, and also lack of awareness. These things can be caused by dehydration. The researcher also reminded that driving a car when the weather is hot can also cause the body to lose more water, so it must be replaced by drinking more water.
We have all realized that driving drunk is very dangerous, but we never think of anything else that is trivial but also at great risk of our driving ability, one of which is dehydration. With the findings of this study, you can realize the dangers that you did not know beforehand, so you can prevent them by ensuring yourself to drink enough water before driving other cars and vehicles.
