A good number of people deprive themselves of the many benefits of water by not drinking enough on daily basis.
This damages their bodies in ways they might not even realise.
Following are 9 signs to help identify when you are dehydrated and may need to drink some water.
Dry mouth
If your mouth is always dry, it’s a clear sign you might not be drinking enough water. However, there are certain medications that cause dry mouth. In this case, the dry mouth might be a side effect of the drug and not caused by dehydration.
Headaches
If you are experiencing slight headaches, check yourself. Assess your water consumption in the past hours and determine if it has been less than adequate. Dehydration may be the cause of the slight headaches. A glass of water, preferably cold but not too cold, may help get rid of that headache.
Reduced urination and dark-coloured urine
If in a day, you rarely have to pee, it is likely you are dehydrated. Also, when you eventually pee, if your urine is dark yellow or worse, dark brown, it is a sign you are probably dehydrated and need to drink more water.
Slight hunger pangs
Slight hunger pangs especially after just eating not too long ago may be caused by dehydration. Before grabbing a snack, try drinking a glass of water. If the hunger pangs recede, then chances are you were actually thirsty not hungry.
Drowsiness
This can be caused by many things but one of the causes is dehydration. In a bid to conserve the water in your body, your body slows down; this leads to lethargy and overall sleepiness. A cool glass of water can help perk your body up and give it what it needs to remain active.
Dry skin
Dry skin is one of the early signs of dehydration. If your skin always feels flaky and dry, and you seem to always have to apply lotion or lip balm to moisturise your skin when the weather is relatively humid, you could be dehydrated. This is also accompanied by lack of sweat, which leads to the body’s inability to wash away excess dirt and oil accumulated during the day.
Dry eyes
Without water in the body, your tear ducts dry up, a lack of or inadequate water in the body thus leads to dry bloodshot eyes. If you always experience dry eyes, a likely cause of this is dehydration.
Digestive problems
Without proper hydration, the amount and strength of mucus in the stomach tend to reduce. This allows stomach acid to eventually damage your insides, leading to heartburn and indigestion.
Constipation
When there isn’t enough water in your body system, the water that should be used by the intestines in the digestive process is used up by the colon. This lack of lubrication in the intestines leads to constipation.