One of the most common questions among wine enthusiasts is whether wine causes thirst and dehydration. Long story short, yes. Even though wine contains some water, it dehydrates you to some extent if you drink it without following each serving with a glass of water. According to studies, excessive alcohol consumption can result in brain impairment.
This causes the brain to send excessive impulses to the kidneys. This effect makes you want to urinate more frequently, causing you to lose a lot of water. Thirst and dehydration are caused by excessive water loss. Dehydration is expressed as dry mouth and tiredness from a lack of energy.
When we consume an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol level in our bloodstream can rapidly rise. When our blood alcohol level increases, a metabolic regulatory mechanism kicks in, and our pituitary gland stops releasing one of the hormones it stores, antidiuretic hormone (ADH).
When the release of ADH is inhibited, our kidneys are made aware to begin increasing the release of water from our bodies through increased urination. We will become partially dehydrated unless we compensate for this increased water loss. Alcohol metabolism can also interfere with our water balance in other ways, which points to increased dehydration. One of the most common causes of hangovers is dehydration.
Wine’s Dehydration Effects
To understand how wine dehydrates you, we must first look at the overall dehydrating effects of alcohol. In reality, there isn’t a single reason why alcohol is generally dehydrating; instead, several factors combine to make alcoholic beverages unsuitable for rehydrating yourself after a workout or several hours without water.
Intestinal Absorption
For starters, if you drink wine on an empty stomach, your intestines will quickly absorb the alcoholic content and the liquid. Because there is no food to get in the way, your body will absorb the water in the wine, leaving the alcohol in your system. You may need to urinate shortly after drinking wine on an empty stomach. Drinking wine on an empty stomach can give you a buzz in just a few minutes!
When this happens, you’ll urinate some of the water your body had previously stored, leaving you dehydrated. This is similar to how coffee can cause fast urination, though wine is generally more dehydrated due to the effects listed below.
Slowed Metabolism
While the intestines absorb alcohol quickly, it is metabolised much more slowly. Although your body’s metabolic rate can convert some alcohol into nutrients or energy, it only does so at a rate of about one glass of wine per hour.
As a result, even though alcohol contains carbohydrates that your body should be able to use for quick energy, you may feel sluggish, drained, or tired.
Reduced Vasopressin Production
Dehydration levels differ from person to person. As a result, you must understand how your body responds to wine consumption. Wine inhibits the production of vasopressin hormone, which is primarily responsible for water retention. This hormone works by constricting blood vessels throughout the body. As a result, less blood is directed to the kidneys. This hormone’s functionality is hampered by wine. As a result, the blood vessels dilate, allowing more blood to flow to the kidneys. This increases the desire to urinate, resulting in excessive water loss.
Increased Sweating
Wine drinkers tend to sweat a lot because the body expends a lot of energy breaking down the contents of the wine. the liver cleans the blood and eliminates toxins such as alcohol. This process expends a lot of energy, which results in excessive sweating. Sweating causes dehydration because it loses a lot of water.
How to prevent dehydration from wine?
- Drinking wine on an empty stomach is not recommended because some food components contain a lot of fluids that can compensate for water loss. A high percentage of water is derived from the foods you eat, so when drinking, make sure to eat succulent foods like watermelon and cucumbers, which are 90% water.
- Dehydration results in the loss of vital minerals such as zinc, sodium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. These minerals are essential in preventing dehydration, and a lack of them will have an effect on your body. As a result, frequent nutritional checks will assist you in determining your mineral deficiency and prevent severe dehydration.
- Wine causes thirst and dehydration by confusing the hypothalamus, causing it to fail to detect the body’s osmotic pressure. Wine consumption causes the brain’s osmoreceptors to send ‘fake’ signals indicating low osmotic pressure in the bloodstream. As a result, the antidiuretic hormone is unable to perform its functions. This then disables the kidney’s function of reabsorbing as much water as the body requires, resulting in dehydration.
As you can see, drinking wine on an empty stomach or drinking multiple glasses in a row without drinking water can dehydrate you. On the other hand, the specifics of wine and dehydration are highly dependent on individual metabolisms, whether you consume your wine with a meal and other factors.
Don’t expect a single glass of wine to dehydrate you excessively, but remember that wine is generally draining compared to other alcoholic beverages like beer.