What are the symptoms of drinking little water?

Since most doctors are unlikely to ask you about your water intake (unless you have a kidney problem), it will be useful for you to find out for yourself if you are drinking enough water and if the discomfort you feel is due to the fact that you drink little.

If you already have a chronic disease or suddenly develop symptoms acute ones like headaches, difficulty concentrating, cold symptoms, gas, stomach ache, heartburn or whatever, chances are you can fix them by drinking more water.

Symptoms that may indicate that you do not drink enough water

There is talk of lack of water or dehydration when 1 to 3% of body weight has already been lost in the form of water. Next, we present a selection of symptoms and diseases that could indicate a lack of water and we explain why water can have a calming effect in each case.

Bad breath

Water is necessary for the production of saliva, and enough saliva is needed to prevent bad breath.

If you drink water regularly, you will produce enough saliva, which will prevent harmful bacteria from settling in, and teeth and gums will remain healthy.

Harmful bacteria take over in a dry mouth, multiplying in the gum pockets, causing inflammatory processes and forming a coating on the tongue. Bad breath develops quickly.

Even the best dental hygiene can’t do anything if it is not recognized that the body suffers from a lack of water and simply needs more than what is offered.

The first step to take in case of bad breath is to drink more water. Only if this step does not bring any improvement after a few days, you can start looking for other possible causes.

Chronic tiredness and difficulty concentrating

Blood is made up of 90 to 95% water. How is blood supposed to flow when you don’t drink enough? When there is a lack of water, the volume of blood in the body decreases, it becomes thick and does not flow easily through the narrow blood capillaries that supply the brain.

Thick blood means that your heart has to pump more, that is, increase blood pressure, to send the viscous blood through the circulation at the usual rate and still supply enough oxygen to all organs.

If this is unsuccessful, the organs suffer from a lack of oxygen. Can feel the lack of oxygen in the brain and muscles especially quickly. You get tired, you can no longer concentrate and you lack the motivation to move.

So if you’re constantly tired or having trouble concentrating, review your drinking habits and you may want to drink more water.

High blood pressure

We have explained it in the previous point. Higher blood viscosity increases blood pressure and with it the risk of vascular and cardiovascular diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, thrombosis or embolism.

If you suffer from high blood pressure or other cardiovascular problems, including varicose veins or high cholesterol, you should drink more water. Because water scarcity contributes to all these problems.

If you have advanced cardiovascular disease, remember to ask your doctor how much water you can drink each day. You may need to slowly increase your water intake to allow your circulation, heart, and kidneys to adjust.

Headache and migraines

Even a slight loss of water from 1 to 3% of body weight can affect many functions of the brain and trigger headaches and migraine attacks.

In a study conducted with athletes, a 1.4% fluid loss after training was found to affect mood and reduced ability to concentrate in addition to increasing the frequency of headaches.

One study found that 47% of participants with headaches improved their headaches by increasing their water intake to as little as 1.5 liters per day.

If you have a headache, drink two large glasses of water first (before taking the headache pill) and another two large glasses every two to three hours. Do the same with migraines.

weakened immune system

If you have a weakened immune system, you are more susceptible to infections. Drinking more water will help you drain toxins and the immune system will gain the ability to fight bacteria and viruses. In order for immune cells to do their job, they need tissues to be well hydrated.

Chronic constipation

A good intake of water favors intestinal activity If you forget to drink enough water, constipation appears quickly, since your body extracts as much water as possible from the stool when there is a lack of water to literally keep you afloat. The stool becomes dry and hard, making elimination very difficult.

Before resorting to a laxative, first increase the amount of water you drink each day. This measure alone is often enough to stimulate intestinal peristalsis, swell the fiber, increase the volume of the stool and, therefore, facilitate the bowel movement.

Hunger

Drinking too little water can trigger cravings for sweets and other carbohydrate-rich foods, because water shortage makes it harder for the body to convert carbohydrate stores (glycogen) into glucose. The likelihood of hypoglycemia increases and so do cravings.

Therefore, if you fancy chocolate, donuts, biscuits, etc., Drink a glass of water first. Then wait 10 minutes and during this time consider whether it wouldn’t make more sense to plan that next healthy meal, a move that, of course, also contributes to weight control.

Overweight

Drinking water regularly helps you lose weight, for various reasons. If you drink a glass of water several times a day, promotes your feeling of satiety and speeds up your metabolism.

The timing of drinking water is very important: it is most effective when done half an hour before meals.

Frequent urinary tract infections

When you are not drinking enough water, your kidneys retain as much water as possible to keep their own functions going, but if this drought continues, the risk of developing kidney disease increases. kidney stones.

The bladder also cannot be “flushed” properly if too little water is drunk. Bacteria can colonize LA and urinary tract infections can develop. Bladder stones can also arise.

If you drink too little water, your urine will turn dark and it will also have a strong odor. As soon as you drink water regularly again, your urine becomes almost odorless and colorless, and your risk of kidney and bladder stones, as well as urinary tract infections, drops to almost zero.

Avoid water shortage while driving

Anyone with a long journey ahead of them tends to drink lightly to avoid the not always pleasant toilets at rest stops. However, lack of water can impair mental and physical abilities andincrease the risk of accidents. Solution: drink before getting in the car and after, every two or three hours.

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