Water is vital to the human body. It helps carry nutrients, aids in digestion and regulates body temperature. In fact, your body uses water every day to produce saliva, flush waste and impurities out of your system, transport nutrients to your cells and even cool your body down when you sweat. If you don’t consume enough water to replenish what your body loses, then you will start to experience dehydration.In addition, although mild cases of dehydration might produce few noticeable symptoms, more significant losses of water from your body could lead to some serious health issues. Some of the effects of not drinking enough water are discussed below:
You may feel tired and lethargic
Fatigue is the first symptom of dehydration. Your cells require water to be able to work, and the water is lost by sweating. Not drinking enough water, especially during exercise, will cause you to feel tired quickly. You may also get tired in hot weather conditions due to lack of protection against the sun.
You may see that your urine is dark in color
The easiest method of checking your dehydration is urination. The urine will be darker if you do not drink enough water. However, it is important for you to remember that the urine is not an exact indication of dehydration as the changes in urine color may occur for different reasons.
You may see that your mouth and skin are dry
Lack of water in your body means lack of moisture in your skin and mouth. Additionally, you may experience feeling thirsty as it is the signal that your body needs water. Thirst is the most reliable indication of dehydration. Nevertheless, thirst occurs less frequently in people older than sixty years old.
Your body may have trouble regulating its temperature
If you are dehydrated, your body will have a harder time regulating its temperature. Especially with intense physical activity or when it is hot outside, you need to drink lots of water to avoid heat injuries.One study at PubMed notes, “During physical activity, water loss due to sweating decreases core body temperature and increases cutaneous blood flow. In hypohydration, the ability to increase cutaneous blood flow and sweating capacity during heat exposure is reduced.”
You might find that you cannot perform physical activities as well as you normally would
Dehydration can negatively impact your ability to perform physical tasks, especially if you are exercising for an extended period of time According to one systematic review article and meta-analysis, “Fluid supplementation following dehydration improved performance during prolonged exercise … The beneficial effect was greater in hot conditions or as the duration of exercise increased.”
You may experience problems with your concentration and/or mood
The relationship between water consumption and mental performance is complex. Some studies have shown that dehydration can cause impairments in attention, working memory and inhibitory control, while others have shown that dehydration does not affect these measures at all.According to one systematic review and meta-analysis article, which included 33 trials with 3,636 participants, “The analysis revealed variable patterns of impairment across domains of executive function in partially dehydrated healthy adults, with inconsistent results across the 11 included cognitive domains. For example, whereas some trials reported significant impairments in attention, working memory, and inhibitory control after dehydration, others reported no such effects.”Meanwhile, a similar study published recently concluded, “These findings provide no evidence of consistent cognitive performance deficits after mild hypohydration challenges in otherwise healthy young adults; therefore, the assumption that mild dehydration causes severe cognitive performance deficits is not supported.”Also read:Which is better: Leftover rice or leftover rotiRosemary beyond hair growth: Exploring memory, focus and brain health benefits of this kitchen herb
How much water is enough?
The Institute of Medicine established daily water intake values for both males and females. It is important to understand that the numbers represent total water intake, and that not all of it comes from drinking water.Healthy males should consume approximately 3.7 liters of total water each day, while healthy females should consume approximately 2.7 liters each day on average.However, everyone’s needs are different, which means that you should listen to your body to determine how much water you need each day.
