Water is life! Water is necessary for the survival of all living organisms. 60% of our body is made of water. This means that every cell, organ, and tissue is made from water and depends on it.
Water helps in digestion, removal of toxins, keeping skin healthy, keeps the normal temperature in the body, and lubricates eyes and joints.
Obviously, many people are not aware of the fact that they lose water on a daily basis and need to replenish it. Diabetics, burn victims, and sports people are more likely to experience dehydration.
It is very important to understand all the symptoms of dehydration. If you have some of these symptoms, this means that you should increase your water intake immediately! Your body will thank you!
Symptoms of dehydration:
1. Headaches
This is the first symptom. When you don’t drink enough water, your body has less fluid in the brain. With reduced brain fluid, the brain actually pushes on the skull.
This causes headache and makes your brain prone to various health issues. Dehydration also means less oxygen and blood flow to the brain!
2. Foggy brain and no focus
The fact that the human brain is made of 90% water shows that any dehydration in our body can slow its function. It may cause mood swings and cognitive problems.
A mild dehydration will reduce the perception, short term memory, tracking visual and motor, arithmetic abilities, and psychomotor skills, regardless of the age of the person.
It can also lead to confusion, anger, mood changes, hyper-energy, and exhaustion.
3. Heart problems
The deficiency of water will damage heart and physical condition. If our body has less water than it requires, this may reduce the volume of plasma and make our blood more viscous.
Lack of water will impair heart rate and blood flow as well. Dehydration causes imbalance of the minerals, which in turn leads to hypotension. Low levels of potassium and sugars cause palpitation.
4. Bad breath
Bad breath is another symptom that occurs as a result of dehydration. Our body makes less saliva which is known to be antibacterial. In other words, bacteria grow more and lead to bad breath.
The saliva has the ability to protect our teeth from cavities or decay. It creates a protective layer in order to clean the teeth from the food remains between them.
5. Constipation and digestion issues
Water breaks down food and you get nutrients. If the water breaks down water-soluble vitamins, that is good, like vitamin C and B.
Also, it lubricates digestive organs and keeps the system clean and flexible. This means good bowels and no constipation. Lack of water will cause you heart burn and indigestion too.
6. Food cravings
If you experience a lot of cravings, just drink water before this. Our body is not able to send a message to the brain about thirst, so it signals it as hunger.
When your body is deficient in water, it is difficult for nutrients or organs like liver to function properly. Such organs require water to release glycogen from energy reserves, so this is the main reason why you crave food.
Because of the body’s problem with glycogen making, you are experiencing the sweet cravings.
7. Joint and muscle ache
The fact that the joint cartilages are made from 80% water indicates that the dehydration will make the bones grind with each other and lead to pain. Low levels of magnesium can also cause cramps and pain in the leg muscles.
8. Fatigue
The loss of fluids will reduce the blood volume and lead to hypertension. The heart expands more and requires energy to send to the skin, muscles and brain – they require nutrients and oxygen. This will make you tired and lethargic.
9. Dry lips and skin
Our skin is the biggest organ therefore it requires a lot of water in order to be elastic. Dehydrated skin is not so elastic.
Deficiency of water means less sweating, which in turn inhibits the body’s ability to eliminate the toxins through the skin as well as to remove the oil dirt on the skin. Dehydration will lead to acne, psoriasis, eczema, and dry and chapped lips.
10. Dark urine
The kidneys are responsible to maintain our fluid balance. With enough water, our urine is clear to yellow. In other words, our body has enough water to effectively remove the toxins.
When our kidneys lack water, they are not able to maintain good blood pressure or mineral balance, and this leads to darker urine. This dark urine is full of toxins.
If you have a chronic dehydration, this will make your kidneys to store too many toxins, and lead to kidney stones.
Sources:
www.organichealthuniverse.com