Water is the source of life on our planet, for all living beings water is one of the main components in their organisms. As one of the most complex, the human body needs to replenish its water supply daily because it is constantly losing it. The modern pace of life is so addictive that it is easy to forget about the last meal, let alone the last glass of water. People have learned to overcome their feelings of hunger and thirst, but the latter is much more critical because dehydration immediately affects the body. People who regularly expose their bodies to a lack of water, and there are many of them even in modern metropolitan areas with a high standard of living, can have more serious consequences of dehydration.
For you, we’ve compiled 18 most common and easy-to-diagnose signs of a lack of water in the body that will tell you that you’ve become dehydrated and need to urgently replenish it by drinking a glass of water.
Feeling dry in the mouth
The simplest sure sign that you are lacking in water is a dry mouth. The sensation usually occurs even before you feel thirsty. It seems that everyone faces it regularly, and in the hot summer months almost every day. Sometimes the feeling even wakes you up at night so that you can make up for the lack of water. Sometimes dry mouth occurs after long conversations and talks, when the mucous surfaces of the mouth are exposed to abundant contact with air, not for nothing speakers at presentations and speeches take a bottle of water with them. In athletes engaged in prolonged physical activity, such as running, the mucous membranes of the mouth dry out constantly with some frequency, so many athletes do not drink water during competitions, but simply wet their mouths with water and spit it out.
The feeling of dryness in the eyes
You probably feel dry in the eyes, as if you have something in your eyes but nothing is actually there. An unpleasant sensation in which the eyes are red, blood vessels are showing on the surface and you have to blink more often. People who wear contact lenses feel it much more critically, because the lenses dry out and begin to fall out, move out of place and irritate the mucous membrane of the eye even more. All of these are sure signs of a lack of water in the body, the mucous membranes are always the first to respond to its shortage. When dry eyes appear, there is no need to immediately get eye drops, it’s enough to compensate for the lack of water in the body, as all the unpleasant feelings of dry eyes will disappear within minutes.
Feeling very thirsty
It is not a simple thirst, but a strong thirst, when you want to drink any liquid, no matter cold or hot, mineral water or a sweet soda. Thirst itself is already a sign of a lack of water in the body. A good example of a hangover, although it is a one-time event, when you are very thirsty, but after a while the thirst returns again. Chronic severe thirst means that you regularly consume less water than your body needs.
Dry skin
The skin is the largest organ of the human body and has many functions, among which the most important is protective. Dermatologists often call the skin the mirror of the body’s condition, because all diseases and lack of substances and microelements are very quickly projected on it. A huge amount of moisture evaporates from the surface of the skin, with a lack of water in the body dry skin is one of the serious signs of dehydration. The appearance of a dry feeling is a very alarming sign, so the body wants to tell you that you need to replenish your water supply immediately. In addition, dry skin is more prone to micro-injuries, sunburn and blisters.
Feeling of insatiable hunger
Mild dehydration can easily be confused with a feeling of slight hunger. When it occurs during the day a person intuitively tries to eat something small that will be at hand, in the evening and at night there is a desire to go to the refrigerator and see what there is for a quick snack. A feeling of thirst can transform into a feeling of hunger, from which even a full meal will not help, not to mention small snacks, which will only dull the feeling for a short time. If you are sure that the amount of food you eat is sufficient, then try to determine the amount of water consumed during the day. Maybe you can forget about different cookies and nightly trips to the fridge if you drink enough water.
Muscle mass is decreasing
Muscles, like the entire human body, are mostly made up of water, so reducing the amount of water in the body directly affects muscle mass. The body, realizing that it doesn’t need muscles as much at the moment as the rest of the vital organs, will immediately take away water from them. From the lack of water the muscles become smaller, lose their elasticity and are only able to take on a fraction of the loads that they could take on with enough water in the body. Athletes are necessarily advised to drink water during and after training in order to tone muscles and workout were as effective as possible.
Weakening of the immune system and prolonged sickness
Probably everyone remembers that since childhood everyone advises us during colds and flu to drink more water and this is quite reasonable advice. Water not only delivers micronutrients to the body, but also removes toxins from the body. If there is not enough water in the body, the excretion processes will start to slow down, the organs will take water away from the blood, which will slow down the metabolism, and thus the process of the body’s natural fight against the disease will also be delayed in time.
Sleepiness and chronic fatigue
Sleepiness is the body’s natural defense function when it lacks energy, is overworked and dehydrated. The body tries to go into resource-saving mode and retreat to sleep, in which some of the energy will be restored by prolonged rest. But, as a rule, sleepiness, which comes not late in the evening and not after prolonged physical activity, can be a sign of lack of water in the body. Its lack of the body itself can not make up for, but to save the remaining water for a longer period during dehydration by sleeping, which he is trying to do. Chronic fatigue and lethargy also indicates that the body is not getting the water it needs, and low energy levels in most cases are caused by dehydration.
Rapid fatigue
If after a short period of physical activity the body feels tired, most likely it is not a lack of exercise habit, but low muscle tone caused by lack of water. If in a person’s low activity mode a little dehydration does not make itself felt, when physical activity appears, even if very little, dehydration immediately becomes evident, because the water consumption increases many times over.
Unexplained digestive problems
It would seem that the whole diet was normal, but for some reason is appeared problems with digestion, upset stomach, sometimes even heartburn as a consequence. Like all mucous membranes, the walls of the stomach also need enough moisture. Gastric juice and its structure are also strongly tied to the amount of water in the body and can thicken if there is not enough.
Constipation and discomfort when defecating
Perhaps another easy way to tell if there is a lack of water in the body. As a rule, even doctors advise in such situations not to try to solve the problem immediately with medications and other external influences, but simply to drink a couple of glasses of water and wait, because dehydration is one of the most common causes of constipation. In addition, the lack of water can cause problems in the intestines, his surface may lose its properties and he will be much harder to cope with their functions, hence the possible discomfort when defecating. With these regular bowel conditions, there can be more serious consequences than just discomfort.
The appearance of signs of premature aging
As we age, our body gradually loses various abilities, including a decrease in the amount of water it can hold as a reserve. If the body has begun to show signs of premature aging, then similar processes are taking place inside the body, which are much more detrimental to the body and its productivity than those that are visible externally. Regular dehydration only aggravates and accelerates the aging processes, which can only be slowed down. That’s why it’s important to keep your water balance at a normal level and not to deny yourself a few sips when you feel like it.
Inadequate urination
Observe how many times you go to the bathroom in a day. If you urinate less than four times a day, consider whether you are drinking enough water, the color of your urine, and your diet for more watery foods. Infrequent urination leads to bladder problems and urinary tract infections.
Weight gain
When the body lacks water, it tries to retain it by all available means, including accumulation. Therefore, when the body is constantly in a state of dehydration, weight gain can be observed just at the expense of that stored water. There is nothing good in such an effect, because it is necessary to limit oneself even on diets in everything, but not in the volumes of water consumed.
Squeaking and pain in the joints
The main part of each joint is cartilage, which consists of 80% of water, thanks to which they are quite strong and elastic. Also in the joint capsule is synovial fluid, which acts as a lubricant, filling all the cavities between the cartilage and softening the friction within the joint. When the body dehydrates, the joints feel the lack of water, sometimes there is a creaking in the knees and elbows, painful sensations. Cartilage loses its elasticity, and synovial fluid becomes thicker and less able to cope with its function of preventing excessive friction and cushioning. Knees and spine are the first to suffer from dehydration, because even with a relaxed lifestyle, they are under the greatest constant strain.
Change in the color of the urine
Urine should be as transparent as possible, this indicates that the body is healthy and has sufficient water levels. As soon as the color of urine changes and becomes pronounced, it means that dehydration has occurred in the body, or, what is much less likely, some disease has appeared. Usually this phenomenon can be observed in the morning after sleep when first urinating, because the urine is stagnant in the body and it is dehydrated, because sleep usually lasts about 8 hours. In the case, if the urine has a rich color during waking – it means that the body lacks water and it needs to be replenished.
Dizziness and headaches
A headache is one of the warning signs of dehydration, which is triggered if the rest of the body’s signals about a lack of water are not triggered. Dehydration headache is similar to what a person feels in a hangover, as the nature of their occurrence is very similar.
Food poisoning, diarrhea and vomiting
In these states the body loses water at a monstrous rate and its volumes need to be replenished as soon as possible, only you should not drink some drinks, but just plain clean water as only it will be assimilated faster and will not harm the body in its current not very healthy position. For prolonged vomiting and diarrhea, it is recommended to salt the water a little and drink such a solution gradually in small sips, because the salt helps retain water in the body and will reduce the chance of dehydration.
So many problems with dehydration are solved with just a few sips of water, but it is important to remember that the appearance of most of the signs above means a constant lack of water in the body, so you need to take those few extra sips constantly, several times each day. Such clean drinking water available nowadays can help prevent so many serious negative consequences of its lack. You only have to watch the signals of your body, which is very sensitive to the balance of water and in every way signals about the lack of water. So you’ll always have clean drinking water at home and in the office, order water with free delivery on the day of order. Remember that you should never limit yourself in drinking water, because it is the foundation of your body.