Seemingly simple, water is actually tremendously important. Among other things, getting enough water is crucial to allowing your body to maintain an ideal temperature and ensuring proper circulation of nutrients. If you aren’t getting enough water, you will feel the ill-effects. If you question whether your H2O intake is sufficient, listen to your body. You will experience signs if you’re not getting enough of this vital liquid.
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1. Dry Mouth
The most common – and usually first – sign of dehydration is a dry mouth. When you experience dry mouth, your mouth will feel – as the name suggests – dry. You’ll often experience a sticky feeling and develop a poor taste in your mouth. Drinking water will help alleviate the symptoms of dry mouth immediately. It will also prevent it in the future, as your body is capable of keeping your mouth moist if you are sufficiently hydrated.
2. Excessive Thirst
Your body knows what it needs – really, and it will tell you. If you feel thirsty, you need to drink water. A less obvious sign is waking up to thirst throughout the night or at the start of each morning. If you’re continually thirsty after a good sleep, you didn’t properly hydrate your body during the day. When you drink enough water during the day, it holds you through to the a.m. If you find that you’re always thirsty when you wake, upping your water intake can help.
3. Reduced Urination
As you start to become dehydrated, your body goes into emergency mode. One of the things it does during this time is try to hang on to any drop of water it has. This often results in less frequent urination. Generally, you should visit the restroom between four to seven times a day. If you’re visiting less frequently, you’re most likely dehydrated.
4. Increases Urine Concentration
The quality of your urine can also provide clues as to your hydration level. If your urine is bright yellow or dark mustard color, you are probably dehydrated. When trying to make sure you drink enough, your urine color can be a very helpful tool. Aim for urine that is light yellow. This means that you are maintaining the ideal levels of hydration for your body.
5. Dry Skin And Lips
If you’re not drinking enough water, the evidence could be visible on your face. If your skin – both facial and otherwise – is dry, you might be suffering from dehydration. Similarly, if your lips are continually chapped and cracking, despite your investment in lip balm, you’re probably feeling the effects of dehydration.
6. Dry Eyes
Your eyes are naturally moistened by your tear ducts – if you have enough water in your body, that is. If you’re dehydrated, your body can’t keep your peepers comfortably moist, leading to uncomfortable dry eye symptoms. This can include the development of bloodshot eyes. If you’re constantly reaching for the eye drops, you’re only putting a bandage on the problem. Instead, fix it at the root by drinking more water.
7. Frequent Illness
While dehydration isn’t the only reason you could be coming down with colds more frequently, failure to drink enough water can increase the regularity of your illnesses. Because drinking sufficient water is necessary for nutrients to properly flow through your body, not drinking enough will most likely lead to nutrient deficiency, which leaves you at greater risk of experiencing illnesses, ranging from the common cold to the ‘flu.
8. Joint Pain
Although it may seem that your water intake has nothing to do with pain in your joints, or lack thereof, it actually does. The cartilage that fills your body – and prevents pain – is composed from 80 percent of water. If you don’t have enough water in your body, this cartilage will start to break down and you will feel joint discomfort. Taking a sip of water right after experiencing joint pain won’t remedy the issue. To avoid this, you need to maintain your hydration regularly, as once your joints start to hurt, fixing the problem is excessively difficult.
9. Fuzzy Thinking
If you’re usually sharp as a tack but suddenly unable to work through mental problems, a deficiency in water intake could be to blame. Proper hydration is necessary for optimally effective mental functioning. When you become dehydrated, your thinking naturally slows down. Not only is this frustrating, but it should also be a signal to you that you need to grab a bottle of water.
10. Irritability
Just as your hydration level can impact your ability to think, it can impact your level of irritation. If you are constantly tense and easily annoyed, you could be experiencing dehydration. Try increasing your water intake and see if your moods level out. If not, see your doctor for an alternate explanation for this mood issue.
11. Unexplained Weight Gain
You’re watching what you eat, but you’re still packing on the pounds. What’s the deal? It could be that you’re not drinking enough water. Your body often sheds pounds through urine. If you’re not drinking enough water, you’re not allowing your body to do this. Additionally, if you’re thirsty you are more prone to mindlessly snacking. By drinking water, you keep your mouth busy and reduce the likelihood that you munch away without thinking.
12. Constant Hunger
When you’re thirsty, your body knows it – and it tries to tell you. Often, the way in which it tells you can be confusing. Many experience hunger pangs when they are really just thirsty. These non-stop pangs can leave you feeling like you’re never full. Logically, this can increase your likelihood of overeating.
13. Constipation
Lots of things can cause constipation, including not drinking enough water. When you fail to consume sufficient water, you hinder the functioning of your digestive system. This makes it more difficult for your body to pass waste. While it may logically seem like the last thing you want to do when battling the bloat is sip away at water, taking in more water can actually alleviate your symptoms.
14. Experiencing A Hangover Without The Alcohol
That awful I-wish-I-were-dead feeling you experience after a night of heavy drinking is the result of one thing – dehydration. If you wake up one morning feeling like this even though you haven’t drunk alcohol in weeks, you are probably severely dehydrated. Do your body good by heading to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of ice-cold water.
15. Exhaustion And Lethargy
If there isn’t enough water in your body, your organs respond by stealing some hydration from your blood. When this happens, your circulation suffers. This means that you don’t get enough oxygen throughout your body. When your body feels oxygen deprived, you start to feel sleepy. If you’re always ready to go back to bed, regardless of how many hours you got between the sheets the night before, your water intake regimen could be to blame.
