8 Signs that you're not drinking enough water

Dehydration Distress: 8 Signs that you’re not drinking enough water

Lim Han

22 May 2017

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Dry mouth, skin and eyes
Does your mouth feel dry and sticky and your skin rough and tight? A dry mouth and skin are often the earliest signs of dehydration, as they indicate a lack of fluid to produce saliva and insufficient moisture in your skin. Similarly, not drinking enough water can lead to uncomfortably dry eyes, as there isn’t enough water to fuel tear production.
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Concentrated urine
Ever got up from the toilet seat and found a ghastly yellow shade staring back at you? A darker, more concentrated urine is a telltale sign of a high waste content in your body. Due to the lack of water in your body, toxins aren’t flushed out as effectively, resulting in a more vibrantly coloured urine.
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Joint pains
As water is a vital lubricant in your body, making up a whopping 80% of your spinal and cartilage discs, drinking insufficient water will naturally lead to the harsh grinding of your bones and thus, joint pains. In addition, as water facilitates the cooling mechanisms of your body, a lack of water will cause your body to overheat and engender muscle inflammation.
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Hunger pangs
Feeling hungry although it’s barely lunchtime? Don’t be too quick to point fingers at your high metabolism – your hunger pangs could be your body’s response to a lack of water. When your body is dehydrated, it receives mixed signals of hunger and thirst, resulting in “hunger pangs” which are actually your body’s cry for water.
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Fatigue
Inundated with a feeling of lethargy halfway through the day? Food comas may not be the cause here. As your body fluids and blood is composed mainly of water, dehydration results in the thickening of your blood, causing your heart to expend greater effort to pump it through your circulatory system. Thus, your energy zaps up faster, resulting in chronic fatigue.
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Prolonged illness
Flushing out toxins is an inherent process to maintain a healthy body. But, this process can’t take place effectively without a steady supply of water, resulting in a buildup of toxic materials in your body. Thus, your body, high in waste content, succumbs easily to the authority of sicknesses, and remains weak under its wrath.
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Constipation
Have you been sitting on the toilet for the past half an hour with no end in sight? If papayas and bananas won’t do the trick, try a glass of water. Dehydration can cause slower, less efficient digestion, as your colon slurps up the water that would have been used by your intestines for digestion, resulting in a more arduous time in the bathroom.
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Mood swings
If it’s not PMS, it’s probably dehydration. As the saying goes, “A hungry man is an angry man.” But, a thirsty man can also be an angry man as well. Chronic dehydration throws off your hormone balance and stirs up havoc in your brain, which can result in heightened irritability and crankiness.

Does your body have the water content of that of the Sahara desert?

Admit it, not all of us abide by the eight-glasses-of-water-a-day rule, and there’s good reason for that. After all, a cup of hydrogen and oxygen atoms isn’t the most appetising beverage to drink. Come on, the liquid can barely brag of a colour or taste!

Nevertheless, we’re sorry to say that bubble teas and fruit juices as substitutes just won’t do. As you are essentially made up of 80% water, drinking water in its pure form is a must for a healthy, well-functioning body. Also, we think it’s time to break the news to you: the eight-glasses-a-day statement is more of a guideline than a rule. The amount of water you require each day differs from the colleague sitting opposite you or your next door neighbour, as it depends on various factors like the level of activity you engage in, your weight and more.

Since it’s hard to pinpoint the exact amount of water you should be consuming, we’ll just let your body do the talking. There are numerous ways your body can and will alert you of the fact that you’re not reaching for your water bottle enough. From mood swings to joint pains, there are a myriad of signs you can look out for that indicate dehydration. We’ve compiled them in our gallery above, so flick away! And, have a gulp of water while you’re at it.

Lim Han

Photos: Getty Images

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