4 Signs of Dehydration to Look Out For (Beyond Thirst)
Dehydration is a very serious matter and most of us don’t take it seriously enough. A lack of adequate water intake can cause many bodily processes to break down. Dehydration will affect internal health and can impact your external appearance. You may be dehydrated even if you don’t recognize the signs of dehydration. They go well past thirst.
Boost your health and your beauty by making sure to get enough H2O. And know these less common signs of dehydration:
1. Dry Skin
It’s not just the sun that may be giving you dry skin this summer. One of the most obvious signs of dehydration is when your skin feels and looks dry. When dehydrated, you don’t have enough blood volume, which makes your skin dry.
2. Muscle Cramps
Don’t just cast off muscle cramps as a result of exercise the day before – it could very well be that you are dehydrated. The hotter, more dehydrated you get, the more your muscles cramp. A lack of adequate intake of electrolytes and changes in the sodium and potassium balance in your body lends to muscle pain.
4. Craving Sweets
When your body is dehydrated, it’s hard for organs, such as the liver, to release glycogens and other parts of your energy stores. This causes food cravings, especially for sweets, in order to fill in for the body’s difficulty in producing glycogen.
5. Bad Breath
Of all the signs of dehydration, this one may be the most convincing – who wants chronic bad breath when it can so easily be fixed? If you are dehydrated, your body isn’t producing enough saliva, which has natural antibiotic properties. A lack of saliva could get to bacterial growth and, thus, bad breath.
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Photo Credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
