Dehydration occurs when the body gives away more water and fluids than it gets. This imbalance disrupts the usual level of salts and sugars present in the blood which can interfere with the way the body functions.
70% of the human body is mostly water, this aids in numerous activities such as flushing out waste and toxins and also lubricating the joints, eyes and digestion. Dehydration is caused by a number of things such as climate, physical activities, diet and unhealthy life choices. It may also be caused by illnesses that may lead to loss of fluids such as diarrhea and vomiting. People who are diabetic or who suffer from alcoholism are at a great risk of suffering dehydration. Infants and babies also face the risk of suffering dehydration because their body weight makes them sensitive to even a small loss of fluid
Here are symptoms to look out for;
Bad breath
When your body isn’t taking enough water, it generates less saliva. Saliva washes away food particles and bacteria that can cause bad breath, but because you’re dehydrated your body cannot produce enough saliva to keep your mouth clean.
Headache
When you’re dehydrated, your brain prioritizes the remaining water in your body, but it can’t take all the water because other vital organs also need water so the brain cuts back. Considering that the brain is mostly made of water, the cutting back forces the brain to shrink and squeezes the blood vessels in the brain. When the pressure gets too tight it results in a headache, and in severe cases leads to a migraine.
Dry skin
Dry skin as a result of genetics or hormonal imbalance is different from dry skin as a result of dehydration.
Dehydrated skin is a skin condition caused by lack of moisture on the skin.
When your skin is dehydrated it produces lots of oil to compensate for the missing water as opposed to dry skin which is caused by lack of oils. The excess oils produced by the skin causes breakouts, irritation and dry patches.
Fever
Dehydration can lead to hyperthermia and fever-like symptoms such as chills because the body over-heats and alters the body’s normal temperature.
Lack of sweat
This is a serious sign of dehydration. Sweating helps in removing toxins from the body and from your skin, it also regulates temperature. So if you’re not sweating it means your body doesn’t have enough water to produce the sweat you need.
If after reading the symptoms and you’re still not sure if you’re dehydrated then try this skin test; using two of your fingers, pinch the skin at the back of your hand, if it doesn’t spring back to position in less than a couple of seconds, you might be dehydrated
Also if your urine is dark yellow or orange, you might want to start drinking a lot of water.
The only way to treat dehydration is by re-hydrating the body by drinking water and rehydration fluids.
