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You’re taking a walk in the park on a cold winter morning, when it’s your turn – the need to find a bath, and fast! This did not happen in the summer.
Is there anything in the winter that makes us need to pee more?
We study the bladder and the lower urinary tract. Here are two main explanations for what is happening.
1. Our lifestyle changes
In the summer we tend to be outside and more active. We sweat more (to lose heat) and it is easy to become dehydrated if we do not drink enough water.
This affects the amount of free fluid our body is willing to excrete, and our urine volume is often reduced as a result.
In the winter, we are often indoors, around springs, so we are more likely to be hydrated, less active, and sweat less. As such, we tend to have more free fluid to excrete through our urine.
2. Our body wants to avoid losing too much heat
If we catch a cold very quickly, the body protects our internal organs in a number of ways.
One is “cold-induced diuresis,” or an increase in urine excretion in response to cold.
Initially, the blood is diverted away from the skin to avoid losing its heat to the outside air. This means that more blood ends up flowing through the internal organs.
In particular, blood flows to the kidneys in a larger volume and at a higher pressure. This increases the amount that the kidneys need to filter. As a result, your urine excretion rate increases.
What should I do?
Our diet, age, blood pressure and personal situation can affect the amount of urine.
Producing more urine can also be a sign of hypothermia. This is your body responding to the cold as a stressor, so act quickly. Find a place away from the cold and warm your body slowly.
If the increase in urine is also accompanied by other symptoms, such as severe tremors, difficulty breathing, or confusion, seek medical attention immediately.
Could you have a small bladder? Or a hyperactive bladder?
Keep fluids in the winter as well
If you’re out in the cold, you may not be thirsty. However, be sure to drink plenty of fluids during the day. While it may be tempting to avoid drinking to avoid running in the bathroom, this can lead to dehydration.
If you are often cold with light equipment and find that this increases your urine output, there may be long-term impacts.
Frequent urination can be detrimental to your body’s natural salt balance (especially sodium and potassium). So make sure you keep a healthy diet.
Sounds like a bit of a balancing act. The key, however, is to avoid stressing your body in this way when it is cold. To do this, make sure you dress appropriately and stay warm.
What if you don’t notice a difference?
Although the body has mechanisms to make you urinate more in the cold, not everyone realizes to pee more in the winter.
If you stay warm, there’s no reason to think that your body would often be “shocked” to respond to cold temperatures.
In fact, when research is followed up, it is common for researchers to find no difference in urine production between stations.
What about urine?
Not only urine volume can be different in winter. The composition may also change.
The body excretes more calcium in the urine during the winter.
This is most likely due to the lifestyle during the cold seasons rather than nothing internal. We tend to be less active in the winter, gain extra weight, and eat more salty, canned, and processed foods.
This means that there may be an increased risk of developing kidney stones during the winter for susceptible people.
So as the weather cools down, make sure you maintain a healthy lifestyle, stay warm, and don’t forget to stay hydrated, even when it’s cold.
Why do my hands and feet always get cold? And when should I worry? Provided by The Conversation
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