Think You're Drinking Enough Water? Try the Skin Test

Updated: 3/18/22

It's easy to forget to drink enough water during the colder months, but now that summer is here, it's especially important that we keep our bodies hydrated. If you don't drink enough, you can get headaches, feel nauseous, or find it hard to concentrate. The NHS recommends six to eight glasses of water daily, but you may lose track with everything else that goes on in your life. You can easily conduct a simple skin test  to determine if you're hydrated enough.

It relies on "skin turgor," which is your skin's elasticity, or how easily it changes shape and returns to normal when pulled or pressed. Skin with normal turgor should be able to snap back very quickly.

You can test your skin turgor if you pinch the skin on the back of your hand for a few seconds. If it immediately returns to normal, you are hydrated enough; if it doesn't, you need to drink more water.

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When you enroll in a Medical Weight Loss Clinic program, the length of your program will be determined by you and the staff based on the amount of weight you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it. Your actual weight loss will be determined by many factors, including, but not limited to: your medical circumstances, the plan you choose, adherence to the meal plan and use of nutritional supplements. Your goal and program duration information will be given to you in writing at the time of enrollment. As your program progresses, the rate you lose weight may change and you will have the opportunity to discuss this at every daily visit with your weight loss consultant, where changes to your meal plan and/or program can be made.