Four seemingly inconsequential everyday signs are actually sent by your body demanding water.
One of the body’s engines is water. During sports exercise, by producing saliva and of course through urine, the body gradually becomes dehydrated. However, since it needs water for each of its actions, it sends more or less unpleasant signals. According to Sanne Mouha, a nutritionist at the University Hospital of Antwerp, there are several signs, other than the feeling of thirst, that indicate that the body is dehydrated. These indicators sent by the body, everyone has already experienced them, sometimes without even realizing it, because they seem harmless. And yet they indicate a deficiency.
One of the signs described by the nutritionist is the lack of elasticity of the skin. “When you lack fluid, your body gives priority to primary functions like your heart and blood pressure,” she says in the Belgian daily HLN. In case of dehydration, the health of the skin is no longer a priority for the body, which concentrates the use of water present in the body on vital functions. However, skin hydration ensures the skin’s suppleness and softness. Conversely, if it lacks water, the skin dries out and becomes tight. This is noticeable by the presence of fine streaks or redness on the skin, or when, after a shower, the skin lacks softness. Pay particular attention to your heels!
Just as discreet as the first sign, blinking very often is a marker of dehydration. The same phenomenon happens when we are tired and for good reason: a high level of general fatigue tends to dry out the eyes. Whereas to function properly, the eyes need to be moist. This is where blinking comes in, this action helps spread the tear fluid over the surface of the eye, which prevents the cornea from drying out.
While the first two signs may seem anecdotal, the last two presented by Sanne Mouha can cause more problems in daily life. The first of these is the appearance of headaches. According to the nutritionist, a lack of water would lead to an increase in blood pressure as well as internal temperature. It is exactly the same when an individual produces significant physical effort and suddenly has a headache. In reality, it is a maneuver of the brain to alert about the lack of water. But you still need to know it.
Finally, going to the toilet less and less to evacuate waste could be a sign of dehydration. But besides the beginning of constipation, it means that the body is storing toxins. This phenomenon of constipation is linked to the dehydration of the body. It pumps the water present in the stools to transmit it to the blood, which then makes them more difficult to evacuate and can lead to other problems. So you have to drink, drink and drink some more. The usual recommendation is 1.3 to 2 liters per day, but in reality it depends on weight, age and level of sedentary lifestyle.