5 Unusual Ways Of Your Body To Tell You That You Need To Hydrate

Most people associate dehydration to yellow pee, feeling thirsty and dry mouth. That’s because those are the obvious signs, but did you know that there are other strange ways our bodies try to tell us that you’re in desperate need to of fluid in your body?

Drinking water can be challenging, when you think you’re properly hydrating yourself, there are times that your efforts are not enough. This is especially true when you’re taking the same amount of fluid you usually taking but then your physical activities have increased and the temperature has been higher. In such cases, you’ll need more fluid to not just to avoid dehydration but to maintain all your body’s processes to function normally, avoid heat stroke or exhaustion and seizures in some cases.Keeping properly hydrated is even more important for patients who undergo chiropractic treatments. Patients may experience a variety of mild side effects for the first 24 hours following an adjustment, ranging from headache, to nausea, to dizziness. This is actually perfectly natural. When the body is put into proper alignment from a chiropractic adjustment, it releases all the tension it has been holding. At the same time, it will release various toxins that may have built up as a result of that tension and keeping hydrated following any chiropractic adjustment help make that happen faster.

So make sure you pay attention to your body more closely, because aside from the obvious signs, here are other red flags that say you’re already dehydrated.

1. You Have Bad Breath

Bad breath and dehydration don’t seem connected? Well, not really. Your saliva production goes down when you’re dehydrated. When that happens, your mouth’s ability to fight odor-causing germs becomes less efficient since the saliva bacteria-fighting property is the one doing that job. Unless you’re completely positive that a cavity isn’t the one causing your bad breath, then it’s safe to assume that you’re dehydrated. Try drinking more water and see if that clears up.

2. You Get Headaches And Feel Confused

Did you know that even the slightest drop in your body’s fluid level can trigger headaches? If the slightest dehydration can make your head hurt then it can also make you feel out of it. You’ll notice this especially when you’re working out on a hot day and you’ll suddenly feel like you blocked out for a second. Sometimes it may happen when you’re very busy or trying to do something but for some reason, your brain won’t cooperate.

3. You Suddenly Have Food Cravings

Do you ever crave food out of nowhere when it’s not even time to eat yet? Sometimes that’s not because you’re hungry but because you’re body needs fluid. When it doesn’t get it, it sends a signal to your brain that it needs fuel which tend to make you think you’re hungry. So before you grab a snack, try drinking water first.

4. Your Skin Doesn’t Bounce Back

Try grabbing the skin at the back of your hand, pull it up and let it go, does it quickly snap back into place? If not, that may mean you’re dehydrated. Our skin needs moisture to maintain its elasticity, so when you become dehydrated it either stay tented or resumes its shape slower than usual.

5. You Stop Sweating

You may think that not sweating is a sign that you’re not dehydrated since people tend to associated sweating to losing fluid in the body. However, in cases where you should be sweating like when working out or being out on a hot day and you’re not perspiring, be alarmed. This could mean you’re extremely dehydrated that your body is trying to hold on to what you still have in your body. Same goes if people say you’re not acting like yourself, you feel like you’re going to faint, or you actually have fainted. In those cases drink water immediately and head to the ER to get evaluated. You may have reached a point where you need IV fluids to get rehydrated.

All of these are signs that you’re already dehydrated. But it doesn’t mean that these are the only times that you should drink water. Do not wait for these signs before you drink water. You should drink a glass of water at least every hour.

You lose water throughout the day through your breath, sweat, urine, and bowel movements. If you live in a hot climate, you lose even more fluid.

You need to replace this lost fluid to stay healthy. If you don’t get enough water, you could become dehydrated. If you get very dehydrated, your body no longer has enough fluid to get blood to your organs.