Next time you’re feeling run down, chances are you’re dehydrated. Instead of coffee or soda, reach for a bottle of pure water. Coffee dehydrates you, and soda is full of unhealthy sugars, chemicals and empty calories.
Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry on normal functions. Even mild dehydration — as little as a 1% to 2% loss of your body weight — can sap your energy and make you tired.
Dehydration poses a particular health risk for everyone, so it’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms. Watch for:
- Excessive thirst;
- Fatigue;
- Headache;
- Dry mouth;
- Little or no urination;
- Muscle weakness; and
- Lightheadedness.
Thirst alone isn’t always an adequate gauge of your body’s need for fluid replenishment. The older you are, the less you’re able to sense that you’re thirsty.
In addition, during vigorous exercise, an important amount of your fluid reserves may be lost before you feel thirsty. With warm weather coming, this is especially important for you flat-bedders, as you secure your loads in the summer heat.
Make sure you’re sufficiently hydrated before, during and after exercise or heavy workload.
Think in terms of your truck’s battery: You place intense effort into maximizing your truck’s performance.
As our friends at Fahrenheit Batteries recognize, today’s trucks are technological marvels — and they are also significantly more demanding on the vehicle batteries. Making sure trucks have the right battery for the right applications and that these batteries are properly taken care of helps fleets run longer, operations run smoother and keeps customers happier.
Sound familiar? In the same way, dehydration places extra stress on our bodies’ personal batteries. Help avoid the need for emergency repairs, and stay hydrated!
Here are a few tips to help you stay safely hydrated.
- Make a conscious effort to keep yourself hydrated, and make water your beverage of choice.
- Try adding flavored green tea bags to your bottle of water.
- Eat water-rich foods, such as fruit, but be careful of the sugar content.
- Use water as a true measuring stick for hunger. The next time you’re driving down the road and think you are hungry, drink some water. Wait a few minutes and see if the hunger pains are still there.
Known as The Trucker Trainer, Bob Perry has played a critical role in the paradigm shift of regulatory agencies, private and public sector entities, and consumers to understand the driver health challenge. Perry can be reached at [email protected].
Bob Perry has spent nearly the past four decades on a mission to educate professional drivers and share life-changing products and services to help them live healthier lives while on the road. Recognized throughout the transportation industry, from bus drivers to over-the-road professional drivers, Bob Perry has played an important role in creating a paradigm shift helping regulatory agencies, private and public sector entities, and consumers understand the current health challenges of the professional driver. He has participated as a wellness advocate in several roundtable discussions, large audience groups and small forums as well as going “curbside” through a national truck stop tour.
Bob’s articles have been featured in The Trucker and a number of other national transportation industry publications and is the host of a weekly wellness call produced by Rolling Strong. Bob has been a regular guest on RedEye Radio and Land-Line Radio, and is often an invited guest on Sirius radio shows. He has been featured in the New York Times, Men’s Health Magazine, Drug Store News, American Road Magazine, WSJ, NPR, ABC National Radio, as well as hundreds of daily newspapers. He has appeared on television news shows across the nation, including a featured TV segment on ABC NightLine News.
