1. Dry and Cracked Body Parts
When your body is severely dehydrated, you'll experience symptoms like dry mouth, dry eyes, reduced saliva production, and even more severe skin peeling, with your lips frequently cracking,...
One of the primary causes of severe skin dehydration is not drinking enough water as recommended daily. According to experts, you should drink between 1.5 to 2 liters of water every day to support metabolism, increase elasticity, stimulate regeneration, and keep your skin hydrated and firm. Inadequate fluid intake can cause your body to lose water easily, leading to dry, rough, and cracked skin. This can also result in skin-related conditions like acne. Since our bodies need plenty of water for hydration, drinking water promotes overall health, smooth skin, and efficient toxin elimination through sweat, eliminating pimples as well,...
If severely dehydrated, your eyes may become dry, difficult to blink, and even red, with depleted lubricating and tear gland systems leading to blurry vision, affecting your daily life.
2. Constantly Craving Water
Feeling excessively thirsty can occur frequently but usually doesn't last long and easily disappears after your body absorbs enough water.
Severe dehydration leads to intense thirst, as if you're stranded in a hot desert, no matter how much water you drink, the thirst feels insatiable, making it impossible to stop drinking as your mouth always feels dry and uncomfortable. So, make sure to drink water regularly to avoid constantly feeling thirsty.
You'll feel thirsty when you fail to replenish enough water for your body. Even if you adequately hydrate your body and the symptoms above persist, you should see a doctor to check for possible diabetes symptoms.
3. Feeling bad breath
Bad breath is a condition of having an unpleasant odor in your breath, originating from the mouth. People with bad breath often feel embarrassed and lack confidence when communicating. Dehydration affects the functioning of organs.
When the body is dehydrated, saliva production decreases, causing dryness and foul odor in the mouth. Dehydration leads to a constant bad breath due to reduced saliva that fails to neutralize acids from food and drinks, leading to bacterial fermentation between teeth and gums, making the mouth smell worse than usual. Even if you drink water immediately afterward, your mouth still feels bad and uncomfortable due to the constant craving for water.
4. Low blood pressure leading to headaches, dizziness
Dehydration occurs when your body loses more fluids than it takes in. Hot weather, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and certain medications can all lead to dehydration.
During this time, you may experience headaches, dizziness, constant thirst, dark urine, fatigue, etc. If you don't replenish fluids in time, you may become lethargic and fall into a coma, lose consciousness, and require intravenous fluid replacement.
For blood pressure to function effectively, your blood also needs to be supplemented with 83% water. If your blood is dehydrated, your body will struggle to transport blood to organs, causing your blood pressure to drop, leading to headaches, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and increased activity to pump more blood.
5. Poor Digestive System
The digestive system plays a crucial role in overall health, responsible for absorbing nutrients and eliminating waste. A weak digestive system means an unhealthy gut, which can adversely affect your entire body and lead to issues such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, and poor absorption...
The mucous membranes and mucous layers also need water to function properly in the digestive system. Dehydration can cause these mucous layers to function poorly, allowing stomach acids to attack organs, resulting in reflux and indigestion, making your stomach uncomfortable. If dehydration occurs frequently, it can lead to stomach pain.
6. Difficulty in Movement and Joint Vulnerability
Your activities will become challenging when your body is constantly fatigued due to dehydration. The joints in your legs are more prone to injury because cartilage and joint discs need up to 80% water to help you move effectively and flexibly.
If you keep your body hydrated, your bone joints will certainly function properly, making your life return to normal without the discomfort of bone pain during daily activities like running and jumping.
Providing enough water to your body is crucial for overall health, but for individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), consuming enough fluids is particularly important to maintain smooth joint movements and prevent symptoms.
Symptoms of low-grade joint inflammation may increase when not drinking enough water or when in excessively hot conditions. Joints become stiffer, individuals feel tired, sluggish… Water plays a vital role in helping various parts of the body function optimally. Dehydration can exacerbate inflammation and reduce the amount of fluid cushioning the joints.
7. Prolonged Illness
Water accounts for about 75% of our body, in cells, between cells, in the bloodstream… The required amount of water varies from person to person. On average, an adult needs to drink 2 liters of water a day. Every day, the body loses water through sweat, tears, saliva, urination… Normally, this water loss is compensated for through diet and hydration.
Dehydration occurs when our bodies use or lose more water than is supplied daily. If the deficit is not replenished sufficiently, the body will enter a state of dehydration. Dehydration prevents organs from functioning normally. It weakens the body's organs, and the immune system also weakens, leading to prolonged illness that cannot be overcome. Therefore, continuously replenish water for your body if you feel sick for a long time.
8. Infrequent Urination
When the body lacks water, it exhibits the following signs: Urinating infrequently, decreased urine volume: The frequency and volume of urination vary depending on the amount of water supplied to each individual. If you urinate only about 2 - 3 times a day or do not urinate for several hours, it is a sign that your body is lacking water.
This may seem obvious, but medical researchers have proven that urinating infrequently can make you more prone to urinary tract infections.
So if you hate having to use the bathroom frequently, you still have to drink plenty of water now to avoid urinary tract infections. You'll have to endure if you still want to urinate less often.
9. Constantly Feeling Sleepy
Feeling sluggish and sleepy is a sign that you're not drinking enough water. When you're dehydrated, your body has to 'save' energy, slow down its activities to conserve water. This condition can be significantly improved, at least you'll feel more alert, if you meet your body's needs with a refreshing glass of water.
Without enough water to supply to other organs, your body has to draw water from the blood, causing the blood to be low in oxygen during transportation, which is the main reason why you always feel sleepy and tired all the time, affecting your daily life. Try treating your sleepiness with water and see how it goes.
10. Decrease in Muscle Mass
Many gym-goers often have the bad habit of drinking little water during workouts, or even exercising without adequately hydrating themselves. This is very dangerous, as dehydration can disrupt muscle function, reduce stamina, and increase the risk of cramps. Moreover, when dehydrated, it's difficult for the mind to focus on daily tasks outside the gym.
Muscle mass also consists largely of water. You probably already know that less water in the body means decreased muscle mass. Drinking water before, during, and after exercise not only helps continuously hydrate the body, making you feel comfortable, but also ensures water reaches the right places in your body, reducing the risk of inflammation and pain associated with exercise and weightlifting.
Regularly monitor the signs of dehydration in your body to timely replenish the necessary water, helping your body stay healthy and function, study, and work more effectively.