Living with a Urinary Catheter - Hydration Guide - Flipbook - Page 13
What counts as hydrating fluids?
Alcoholic drinks increase urination and can over-stimulate the bowels, therefore alcohol
cannot count as one of your hydrating 6-8 cups of fluids a day. It’s best to keep within
the government’s recommendations of 14 units a week, spread across 4 or more days
and having 2 days a week alcohol-free. A unit of alcohol is 1 x 25ml spirit measure e.g.
gin, whereas a standard glass of 12% abv. wine or regular strength beer is 2 units.
This is what 14 units looks like:
6 pints of
4% beer
6 (175ml)
glasses of
13% wine
14 (25ml)
glasses of
40% spirits
It’s recommended that you check with your Doctor or Pharmacist
whether your medications or immediate health may be affected
before drinking alcohol.
There is mixed research regarding the
hydrating effects of fizzy, sugary drinks
like cola/lemonade etc. We absorb fluid
from our gut into our blood through
osmosis, where water will move from the
least concentrated fluid to the greatest
concentration i.e. from our guts to our
blood. Sugary drinks (including fruit juices
or smoothies) are ‘hypertonic’, meaning
that they have a higher concentration
compared to our blood. Hypertonic fluids
can be more difficult to absorb and can
cause water to leave our blood, causing
a loss of fluid or electrolytes. It’s best to
choose ‘hypotonic’ (less concentrated) or
‘isotonic’ fluids (a similar concentration to
our blood) most of the day.
Refer to the table on page 8 for a list
of hypotonic/isotonic fluids.
You shouldn’t need to choose sports
or electrolyte drinks most of the day,
but when it’s hotter weather or after
sweating you may need to drink more
because of the electrolyte and fluid losses.
Sports drinks labelled as ‘electrolyte’
or ‘rehydrating’ can be helpful, but be
careful as they can sometimes contain
lots of sweeteners. If you do choose to
consume sports or electrolyte drinks, have
approximately 500ml either during or after
the heat/sweating, or throughout the day,
and choose other hypotonic/isotonic drinks
the rest of that day.
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