Suffering from an afternoon slump? While you’re reaching for a cup of coffee to power through, it’s your diet talking. Yup, the real culprit behind that fatigue and headaches could be hiding in your lunch. We all know the importance of completing your daily water intake, but what about the foods that are quietly working against our hydration efforts? Today, we’re bringing you 11 foods that leave you dehydrated.
11. Smoothie
While they’re packed with fruits and vegetables, the blending process releases all their natural sugars at once, creating a sugar bomb. This sudden sugar rush forces your kidneys to work overtime to filter it out by pulling water from your body to do so. The concentrated sugars in smoothies can have a mild diuretic effect, making you lose more fluid than you gain. Remember, it’s not a replacement for water.
10. Asparagus
Who knew asparagus would end up here? It features an amino acid called asparagine, which tells your body to flush out water. While eating a few spears with dinner won’t hurt, if you’re feasting on a large one, you might find yourself making extra trips to the restroom throughout the evening. This can be problematic as you’re low on fluids.
9. Bread
Your go-to sandwich might be the one causing you dehydration. While a single piece of bread won’t hurt, it depends on how frequently we consume it throughout the day. This “sneaky salt” spreads fast, and before you know it, you’ve consumed a significant amount of sodium without ever touching a salt shaker. This excess salt requires your body to draw water from your cells to flush it out through your kidneys, leaving you feeling fatigued throughout the day.
8. Can of Tomato Soup
That can of tomato soup is a smart choice. Yup, they’re loaded with sodium to preserve them and enhance their flavoring. Just a single serving pack is half of your recommended daily sodium intake. When your body overloads with salt, it pulls down water from your cells to help the kidneys flush it out.
7. Energy Drink
That temporary jolt of energy from an energy drink comes at a serious cost in terms of hydration. It features a double whammy of dehydration as the drink is filled with high doses of caffeine and sugar. Consuming more than 500mg of caffeine acts as a powerful move, while the sugar content in most can exceed 25-30 grams per can. This combination sends your kidneys into flushing out water, leaving you more tired and less focused.
6. Fried Foods
That satisfying crunch is working overtime against your hydration goals. Why? It’s because most fried foods are loaded with fat and sodium. It’s a combination for disaster as it puts a strain on your body’s water supply. Your digestive system needs a substantial amount of water to break down the fat. Meanwhile, it also deals with the high sodium content that triggers the same cellular dehydration as any other salty foods.
5. High-Protein Diet
A high-protein diet is good for muscle-building, but you pay the price of dehydration. When your body consumes protein, it produces nitrogen waste that needs to be filtered out by your kidneys. It requires a whole lot of water to function, and if you’re not drinking enough, that’s dehydration waiting to attack. The problem gets more intense when you combine the diet with intense exercise, as it increases your water needs.
4. Soy Sauce
That umami flavor comes from a salty source of soy sauce. Even just a small tablespoon can contain 900-1000mg of sodium, which is nearly half of your entire recommended daily intake. As we all know, salty foods cause your body to dilute the sodium in your bloodstream. Of course, your body needs enough water to perform the task. Beware, as even the so-called “low-sodium” versions can still contain 500-600mg per tablespoon.
3. Sugary Treats
That sweet treat may be working to dehydrate your body in ways you probably never imagined. A large amount of refined sugar can make your body go into crisis mode to process and eliminate it. With this, your kidneys work overtime to flush out excess sugar through increased urine production. It all leads to a rapid loss of body fluids. The result? You end up sluggish and mentally foggy.
2. Processed Snacks
Ultra-processed snacks like potato chips and flavored popcorn are loaded with sodium. It means that it can overwhelm your body’s natural balance, as high concentration can cause your body to pull water from every available cell. It leads to persistent fatigue and pounding headaches that impact your work performance. Instead, opt for healthier snacks like fruits.
1. Cured Meats
Cured meats refer to the likes of bacon, salami, and beef jerky, which are all dehydrating foods for your body. The traditional curing process involves coating these meats in massive amounts of salt to eliminate every drop of moisture and preserve them for extended periods. This means that each bite contains sodium of about 300-400mg or more per small serving. With this, your body gets flooded with sodium, calling for a diluting system. Again, water gets immediately pulled from every well available to do the job.