Dehydration usually occurs when the body doesn’t have sufficient amount of fluids and water in it. Our body is made up of at least 70% of water and when this level goes down, you can expect various symptoms to appear. Health experts often recommend that we consume up to 8 glasses of water per day to ensure that we stay hydrated but with our busy schedules, we tend to forget that we need to drink regularly.
How will you know when you are already becoming dehydrated? Here are a few warning signs that you need to keep an eye out.
- Pounding headache. The body is designed to use up not only the liquids in your body but salt and potassium as well. When your water levels are low, this will trigger a headache which only worsens as your blood volume goes down too because there is not enough oxygen getting into your brain.
- Bad breath. Another warning sign that you should keep an eye out is having bad breath and dry mouth. Without enough water, your body won’t be able to produce saliva to break down the food that you have eaten including the debris that are found in your mouth. This, in turn, will make your breath smell foul. Drinking water constantly will help your mouth stay moist so you won’t have trouble speaking.
- Poor bowel movement. If you are constantly constipated, chances are you don’t have enough liquid in your body. Keep in mind that water helps keep things moving along in your digestive system and once your water levels go down, your digestive tract will have a harder time moving things along.
- Brain fog. You’ve probably experienced brain fog from time to time. Stress can be a factor here but so is dehydration. When your body doesn’t have enough water, it can affect your mental abilities such as focusing, remembering, and analyzing what’s happening to you. Even if you are mildly dehydrated, you are still at risk from poor concentration and other cognitive issues.
- Frequent hunger pangs. Another sign that your body needs water is when you feel peckish even though you’ve eaten sufficient amount of food during the day. If you are leaning towards foods that contain water, then it is your body’s way of saying that it needs more liquid. Drinking more water will help alleviate this issue.
- Fatigue. There are probably some times when you feel lethargic or too tired to do anything. You can chalk this up to plain laziness but it might be a sign that you are not giving your body sufficient amounts of water. When you’re not drinking enough liquids, your blood pressure tends to go down which can cause those lethargic moments.
These are just a few known signs of a person who needs to hydrate quickly otherwise these symptoms will worsen throughout the day. As a rule, make sure that you drink up to 8 glasses of water or more if you are an active person.
