For Blood Pressure Awareness Week, we're being asked a crucial question: "Do we know our blood pressure numbers?" High blood pressure often remains hidden, showing no symptoms until it's too late. In a similar vein, dehydration can also be a silent threat to our health. Here, we’ll discuss how dehydration can impact blood pressure and why it's essential to stay well-hydrated for overall health and wellbeing.

The link between blood volume and dehydration

To understand how dehydration affects blood pressure, we need to first understand what blood volume is. Blood volume refers to the amount of fluid circulating in our blood vessels. A normal blood volume is essential for ensuring blood can adequately reach all the tissues in our body.

When we become severely dehydrated, our blood volume can decrease. Low blood volume leads to low blood pressure, which means your organs won't receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to function properly… and we can potentially go into shock.

It’s particularly important for the elderly, who often have reduced thirst signals and are more susceptible to high blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension. Hydration plays a crucial role, making it essential for elderly adults to drink eight glasses of water every day.

How dehydration leads to high blood pressure

High blood pressure is a health condition that can quietly wreak havoc on our bodies without us even realising it. We may feel perfectly fine until it's too late, which means the only way to detect it is through regular check-ups and proactive steps to maintain healthy blood pressure numbers.

Similarly, dehydration can take a toll on our health when we fail to pay enough attention to our hydration levels. Often enough, we only become aware of being dehydrated when we start feeling weak and dizzy. By then, our bodies are already struggling to cope with the lack of fluids.

While the relationship between dehydration and high blood pressure is not yet fully understood, research suggests a connection is a hormone called vasopressin. Vasopressin is released in response to high blood pressure, and even when our blood volume is low. Both of these situations can occur when we lose too much fluid and need replenishing.

Vasopressin's role is to help our bodies retain water, but it also has the side effect of causing our blood vessels to constrict. When blood vessels tighten, blood pressure rises. This mechanism might explain why dehydration leads to high blood pressure in particular.

How to maintain healthy blood pressure

It’s clear that staying hydrated is essential for our overall health and wellbeing, especially for our blood pressure. Hydration drinks provide a convenient way to replenish lost fluids and electrolytes, and give us extra carbohydrates to produce natural energy. They can be particularly beneficial during intense physical activity, recovery from illness, or when travelling.

But when it comes to choosing a hydration drink, it's important to look for healthier options that provide the right balance of nutrition. iPRO Hydrate is a healthy hydration drink made with natural ingredients. The range is high in vitamin C and contains metabolism-boosting vitamins B5, B6, B7, and B12. It’s also naturally sweetened with Stevia and caffeine-free, as caffeine is known to cause a short but dramatic increase in blood pressure.

Curious to try iPRO’s all-natural hydration drink? Experience its health benefits for yourself from the parkrun Shop.