Symptoms of Dehydration
What Happens When We Don't Drink Enough Water

The Symptoms of Dehydration are related to the attitude of drinking water, or better said: the attitude of not drinking water.

The fact is that if we don't feel thirsty, we tend not to drink enough water.

According to Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, our thirst sensation, is understood as a "dry mouth" - which is not an accurate indicator of the body's water needs.

The human body has many different ways of showing its general or local water needs and from his perspective, most of so-called incurable diseases are nothing but - signs of dehydration.

1. First Signs of Dehydration

The general perceptive symptoms of dehydration include:

• Smelling or dark urine and skin odor
  - if you feel that a bad odor persists on your skin even after bathing, this is the result of too much accumulation of toxins. Drinking more water will aid in eliminating them from the system.
• Dry skin
• Fatigue - water is our main source of energy
• Anxiety, Irritability, Depression
  - when you body is missing the most important thing in order to function well, your brain translates this to you by feelings of frustration and not feeling well without any obvious reason
• Headache - our brain first needs water - headaches are in fact signals to us to supply the needed fluid. This is especially important in children
• Heartburn
  - when we don't drink enough water, we cannot digest well the food, and acidity busts in the stomach.
• Sleep disorders - as the brain does not have enough water, our nervous system becomes alert and we cannot relax and sleep well.
• Cravings
  - by not understanding the need for drinking water we are often tempted to replace it with alternatives, like drinking other beverages, eating, even smoking.
• Cramps
  - the lack of water in the body produces accumulations of acidity in our muscles which often lead to cramps
• Morning sickness during pregnancy
  - New mothers to come have to be conscious that the fetus asks for increase demand of water to satisfy his growing needs, taking this water from his mother's body. The shortage of water is signaled by the regulatory action of histamine. Pregnant women have to adjust their intake of water to adapt to the new situation.

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2. Persistent Symptoms of Dehydration

The second group of persistent dehydration symptoms are related to body's drought.

The water shortage produces acid buildup inside cells, which can genetically damage in our body, like:

• Asthma
• Allergies
• Hypertension
• Joint, Back Pain and Arthritis
• Anginal pain
• Coronary thrombosis
• Heart failure
• Obesity
• Increase of cholesterol in the blood circulation
• Constipation
• Autoimmune diseases
• Muscular dystrophy
• Alzheimer's disease
• Osteoporosis
• Cancers

Fortunately, as shown on the Benefits of Drinking Water page, the symptoms of dehydration can be regulated by the proper water consumption

Causes of dehydration

The main cause of dehydration is obviously the failure of drinking water.
- but there are other situations that can produce dehydration:

Replacing water with other liquids like alcohol, coffee and sodas (which are diuretics) is another habit that you should be careful about...

Intensive exercise or endurance sports can also cause dehydration, not only by sweating and breathing, but also by the internal consumption of water to provide necessary energy to the body.

There are also some medical conditions that cause water loss, for example: colds, flu, high fever or diarrhea. In these cases you should always keep your body well hydrated.

Check out some tips on drinking water!