How Dehydration Can Spike Your Blood Sugar

WRITTEN BY: Ginger Vieira

 2021-10-28

This content was created as a part of a paid partnership with Ultima Replenisher, an active partner of Beyond Type 1 at the time of publication.

Water accounts for 50 to 60 percent of your body weight—and nearly 75 percent for newborn babies! For the average adult, 100 pounds of your body weight is water.

Clearly a critical part of your body’s ability to function, staying on top of your daily hydration—especially during exercise—is an important part of diabetes management.

But nearly 75 percent of Americans are dehydrated on a regular basis.

Here, we’ll discuss dehydration and its impact on your blood sugar as a person with diabetes.

Why your body needs water

When your body’s water weight starts dropping below 50 percent for any reason, symptoms of dehydration can develop and even affect your blood sugar level.

Water helps your body function in a variety of ways, including:

• Carrying oxygen and nutrients (including glucose) throughout your bloodstream to cells
• Hormone production
• Neurotransmitter function
• Regulating your body temperature
• Keeping membranes moist
• Keeping your eyes clean and moist
• Smelling, tasting, and swallowing food
• Bowel movements
• Passing toxins and waste thru urine and sweat
• Metabolizing the food you eat for energy
• Dissolving minerals and vitamins in your food
• Producing saliva
• Lubricating your joints
• Insulating your brain, spinal cord, organs and fetus (in pregnancy)
• Protecting your joints/organs/bones thru shock absorption

Symptoms of dehydration include:

• Headache, dizziness, light-headedness
• Tiredness
• Dry mouth or dry cough
• Increased heart rate
• Low blood pressure
• Lack of appetite
• Sugar cravings
• Swelling in your feet/hands
• Muscle cramps
• Constipation
• Dark-colored urine
• And for people with diabetes: a sudden spike in blood sugar levels

How dehydration can spike your blood sugar

If you become dehydrated that means the amount of water in your bloodstream decreases which then makes the existing glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream more concentrated.

While the amount of sugar in your bloodstream hasn’t technically increased, it can result in high blood sugar levels because the ratio of sugar to water has changed.

Think of it like this: when making maple syrup, you collect sap from trees. Sap is actually 95 percent water, and only 5 percent sugar! By boiling the sap, which reduces the amount of water through evaporation, the sugar in the sap becomes more concentrated. This produces a thick, sweet syrup that tastes delicious on pancakes. Less water = more concentrated sugar.

Your bloodstream needs adequate levels of water in it to maintain that ideal ratio of water vs. glucose.

• Mild to moderate levels of dehydration—especially during hot weather, intense exercise, or illness (diarrhea or vomiting)—can easily spike your blood sugar 50 to 100 mg/dL or higher.
• Severe dehydration can be life-threatening, because of many factors including concentrated blood sugar levels and too little electrolytes, sodium and potassium.
• If you’re experiencing an illness that’s causing severe dehydration or vomiting and you’re unable to consume fluids properly, visit the Emergency Room or Urgent Care to get intravenous fluids immediately.

Simply re-hydrating via intravenous fluids or drinking water and other hydration beverages can have a big impact on bringing your blood sugar levels back down to a safe level.

Beware that hydration fluids like Gatorade and Pedialyte can contain sugar—read the nutrition labels carefully and talk to your doctor about potentially dosing insulin with the hydration beverage or choosing the “zero sugar” or “low sugar” options.

Left untreated, severe dehydration can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis and other life-threatening conditions.

How much water should you drink each day?

For most people, simply drinking water when you feel thirsty is adequate, according to recent research. (Yes, other water-based beverages count, too, but beware of high sugar quantities or consuming too much caffeine, which is a diuretic and can lead to dehydration. )

You may need more than six to eight glasses of water a day if:

• You’re taking a medication that increases your body’s urine output
• You exercise intensely, especially for those involved in endurance training
• You’re in an extremely hot weather
• You’ve recently experienced diarrhea or vomiting and need to replenish
• You’re pregnant or breastfeeding

You may need to limit your water intake if:

• You have certain health conditions, including kidney, liver or heart failure
• You’re experiencing symptoms of over-hydration
• You’re taking medications that cause water retention
• You’re taking other medications, including some antidepressants and opiates
• Your doctor has instructed you to reduce water intake for any reason

Talk to your doctor about your personal water consumption goals and concerns!

WRITTEN BY Ginger Vieira, POSTED 10/28/21, UPDATED 12/07/22

Ginger Vieira is an author and writer living with type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, fibromyalgia and hypothyroidism. She’s authored a variety of books, including “When I Go Low” (for kids), “Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes,” and “Dealing with Diabetes Burnout.” Before joining Beyond Type 1 as digital content manager, Ginger wrote for Diabetes Mine, Healthline, T1D Exchange, Diabetes Strong and more! In her free time, she is jumping rope, scootering with her daughters, or walking with her handsome fella and their dog.

Can dehydration cause blood sugar to rise?

Dehydration can cause a person’s blood sugar or glucose levels to rise. This occurs when the level of water in their bloodstream decreases due to dehydration. As such, this results in a higher concentration of glucose being present in the blood.

Dehydration can occur if more water and fluids leave a person’s body than enter it. Dehydration can cause a number of symptoms, such as:

• feeling thirsty
• dry skin and lips
• fatigue
• dark urine and decreased urine output
• headaches and lightheadedness
• dizziness and fainting

In addition, dehydration can cause blood sugar levels to rise, as less water in the body means a higher concentration of blood sugar.

In this article, we will discuss how dehydration can affect blood sugar levels.

Dehydration occurs when the water losses from the body are greater than the water someone takes in from drinking. A person’s blood sugar level refers to the concentration of blood sugar present in their blood. Dehydration can cause blood sugar levels to rise.

Common causes of dehydration can include:

• Excessive water loss from the skin: This can include water loss due to:
  • heat
  • exercise
  • burns
  • severe skin disease
• Failure to replace water loss: This can be due to immobility or an impaired thirst mechanism.
• Excess water loss from the kidneys: This may occur due to:
  • medications, such as diuretics
  • acute and chronic kidney disease
  • post-obstructive diuresis, which involves excessive salt and water loss
• Excess water loss from the gastrointestinal tract: This may occur due to:
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • fistulas, an atypical connection that forms between two bodily areas or organs
  • using laxatives
• Other medical conditions: Other medical conditions that cause water loss in the body include:
  • pancreatitis
  • peritonitis, a disorder in an area of tissue around the inside of the stomach wall
  • sepsis
  • severe hyperthyroidism, when the thyroid gland produces too much hormone
  • asthma
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

As such, it is particularly important for a person with diabetes to monitor their blood sugars when they are ill, exercising, and in warmer climates. Over time, high blood sugar levels can cause long-term, serious health problems.

Hyperglycemia is the medical term for high blood sugar levels.

When a person has dehydration, the amount of water in their bloodstream decreases. This causes a person’s blood to contain a higher concentration of blood sugar.

This does not mean there is more blood sugar in the bloodstream. It means that the ratio of blood sugar to water has increased, causing the former to rise. Dehydration can cause both mild and significant spikes in blood sugar levels. If it causes a more significant increase, it may lead to hyperglycemia.

Hyperglycemia may also affect the hydration of someone with type 1 diabetes. A 2018 study states that during exercise, people with type 1 diabetes may have a higher risk of dehydration than those without the condition. This may occur due to a combination of fluid losses from sweat and increased urine output relating to type 1 diabetes.

Symptoms of dehydration include:

• feeling thirsty
• dry skin and lips
• fatigue
• dark urine
• decreased urine output
• headaches
• muscle cramps
• lightheadedness
• dizziness
• fainting

Significant dehydration can cause a person to experience low blood pressure, or hypotension.

Symptoms of hyperglycemia include:

• feeling thirsty
• feeling tired or weak
• headaches
• increased urination
• blurred vision

If a person has hyperglycemia for a long time and does not treat it, they may develop diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This term refers to a potentially life threatening complication, where the body begins to break down fats too quickly. While DKA can occur in people with type 2 diabetes, it is more common in those with type 1 diabetes.

DKA occurs when the body does not produce enough of the hormone insulin or if cells stop responding to it. Without insulin, the body cannot use blood sugar for fuel. This means it instead breaks down fat into acids called ketones for energy. However, this causes the blood to become acidic.

If a person shows the following symptoms of DKA, they should seek immediate medical care:

• shortness of breath
• fruity smelling breath
• nausea and vomiting
• a very dry mouth

A person can follow these steps to help maintain optimal blood sugar levels:

• eating a nutritious diet containing plenty of fruit and vegetables
• maintaining a moderate weight
• getting regular physical exercise
• drinking enough water
• monitoring blood sugar levels to see what causes them to go up or down
• eating meals at regular times and not skipping meals
• eating foods that are lower in:
  • calories
  • saturated fat
  • trans fat
  • sugar
  • salt
• drinking water instead of fruit juice or soda
• limiting alcoholic drinks
• controlling food portions

Dehydration occurs when the water losses from the body are greater than the water someone takes in from drinking. It can cause a person’s blood sugar levels to rise. This occurs when the amount of water in the bloodstream decreases, increasing the concentration of blood sugar in the blood.

Symptoms of dehydration include feeling thirsty, dry skin and lips, fatigue, and dark urine. Hyperglycemia is the medical term for high blood sugar levels. Symptoms of hyperglycemia include feeling thirsty, feeling tired or weak, headaches, increased urination, and blurred vision.

HIGH GLUCOSE? JUST ADD WATER! — Diabetmed.net

DIABETES FROM A TO Z

03/27/2022

Convincingly established for the first time that there is an association between dementia and elevated blood sugar in the non-diabetic range .

Researchers found that any gradual increase in blood sugar was associated with an increased risk of dementia—the higher the blood sugar, the higher the risk. But, not everything is so simple!

Dehydration is also an increased concentration of plasma, changes in the extracellular matrix, which can be used (we conduct this as a licensed medical procedure) as a treatment strategy for both diabetes and anti-aging interventions due to fractional “dilution” with special formulations, including t .n.: “young plasma” with albumin and saline solutions: https://equilibr.ru/

The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine determined that adequate daily fluid intake is:

• Approximately 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluid per day for men
• Approximately 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluid per day for women
• These recommendations apply to fluids from water, other drinks, and food .
• About 20% of your daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks.

studies show that most people do not drink enough and are constantly in a state of mild dehydration, which can have a significant impact on blood glucose levels.

When you don’t drink enough water, your blood glucose becomes more concentrated. And this leads to an increase in blood sugar levels. Both mild and severe dehydration can have a noticeable effect on your diabetes. Even mild levels of dehydration—something you may not even feel—can easily raise your blood sugar levels 50–100 mg/dL higher than if you were drinking enough water. More severe levels of dehydration can lead to very high blood sugar levels very quickly. For example, repeated vomiting as a result of food poisoning or a stomach virus can lead to a very sudden rise in blood sugar levels. But after IV fluids in the emergency room, you’ll likely see your blood sugar quickly drop to normal levels without additional insulin.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1215740

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Diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents

Category: Useful information.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (insulin-dependent) predominates among children. Although in recent years, type 2 diabetes occurs in obese children older than 8 years. A child can get sick at any age, often diabetes develops in children under 5 years of age.

What contributes to the development of diabetes in children?

• genetic predisposition.
• Early refusal of breastfeeding, improper introduction of complementary foods,
• Overweight.
• Infectious diseases transferred in early childhood.
• Stress.

The symptoms of diabetes mellitus in children are almost the same as in adults: severe thirst, bedwetting appears, the child loses weight, fatigue, poor performance at school, skin infections (boils, barley) often recur, and vaginal candidiasis in girls.

Diabetes in children of the first year of life is rare, but it still happens sometimes. An infant cannot complain. If the baby is in a diaper, then parents are unlikely to notice that he has begun to excrete much more urine. Diabetes can be suspected if the child is not gaining or losing weight; greedily drinks water; frequent diaper rash; after the urine dries, the diapers become as if starched; if urine gets on the floor, then sticky spots remain there. Acute symptoms of diabetes in children: vomiting, intoxication, severe dehydration.

The diagnosis is usually quickly confirmed by detecting an increase in blood glucose (greater than 11.1 mmol/L). If ketone bodies are detected in the blood or urine, urgent therapy is indicated. Waiting the next day to confirm hyperglycemia can be life-threatening. Children with diabetes need lifelong hormone replacement therapy. Diabetes never goes away. A child with diabetes will need maintenance treatment with insulin for the rest of his life.

Prevention of diabetes.

• Control of blood glucose levels, if among close relatives there are patients with diabetes mellitus.
• Breastfeeding up to 12 months, timely introduction of complementary foods.