9 (surprising) signs that you're dehydrated

Did you know that you’re made of mostly water?

It’s true!

In fact, by weight, your body is approximately 60% water. 60%! More specifically, there are a bunch of body parts and systems that are mostly water. For example, your blood is mostly water. So are your brain, heart and lungs. Your muscles contain more than 70% water and your skin contains over 60%. You’re really very … watery!

But those percentages are different for everyone. Your body’s water content is really personal to you. Here are some variables. Your total body water percentage is affected by sex. Men have more total body water than women. Age is also a factor! Specifically, children have a greater total body water percentage than adults. Your climate can also change the amount of water in your body. In general, you’ll lose more water, sweat more, when the temperature goes up. Same with physical activity. When you’re more active, you sweat more. That’s another water loss.

You’re constantly losing water.

Over the course of the day, your total body water percentage is always changing. More specifically, your total body water is constantly decreasing. For one, your body loses water constantly through your pores. Let’s call this perspiration. You don’t have to feel wet with sweat. It’s still happening all the time - even if you’re unaware. You also lose water with each breath. Yup, tiny, tiny amounts of water. It’s your saliva. Again, you don’t notice it but it’s happening - all the time. Finally, you even give up water for your personal waste system, in your pee and poop. Can you see how fluid your body’s water level is? (Pun intended.) Your body’s water level is always in flux!

Your body’s natural processes require water. And your body doesn’t make water. When your body needs a resource that it doesn’t make, the resource is called “essential.” Therefore, water is essential. You have to drink water to survive!

Believe it or not - water is more vital than food. It’s true! Have you ever heard of the wilderness survival rules of 3? These rules basically tell you what to prioritize if you’re stuck in the wild like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Here they are:

The Wilderness Survival Rules of 3

• You can survive for 3 minutes without air (oxygen).
• You can survive for 3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment (unless in icy water).
• You can survive for 3 days without water (if sheltered from a harsh environment).
• You can survive for 3 weeks without food (if you have water and shelter).

See? Water is greater than food.

So, how much water should you drink?

You know you need to drink water to survive, but how much? The classic recommendation is to drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water each day. That’s 64 ounces a day or about 2 liters. And that’s probably a fair estimate. But (1) that recommendation is for surviving, not thriving, and (2) the amount of water you need to drink really depends. It depends on some of the variables mentioned above: age, sex, climate, level of physical activity, and so many others!

Thankfully, it’s difficult to drink too much water. And truthfully, you can likely drink twice as much as the classic recommendation of 2 liters. So, visualize drinking one-and-a-half or two 2-liter bottles of water each day.

How do you know you need more water?

Hydration is the unsung hero of wellness. And dehydration is often the cause of a myriad of health complaints. In fact, approximately 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. The following are some signs or symptoms of dehydration. If you have one or many of them, consider drinking water the first step in your recovery.

9 (surprising) signs of dehydration

1. Bloating - When you’re dehydrated, your body tries to help by holding onto excess water. That’s bloating or swelling. When you’re drinking an adequate amount of water, you’ll actually drop water weight. You’ll lose the bloat.
2. Brain fog - Your brain is pretty much fat and water. And it’s bathing in a fluid of mostly water. The electric signals are simply not firing as well when you’re dehydrated.
3. Headache - Your head and brain are full of tiny blood vessels. When you’re dehydrated, your blood pressure goes down. So, your body tries to compensate by clamping down on your blood vessels. Your body’s trying to get your blood pressure up. But a side effect is decreasing the blood supply to your head. That can result in a headache. When you get throbbing at your temples or your forehead, try drinking several glasses of water as your first remedy.
4. Dizziness - If you feel dizzy when you go from lying down to sitting or from sitting to standing, you are almost 100% dehydrated. That’s not normal; so, don’t ignore it. This may be another sign of low blood pressure. Drinking more water can treat that lightheadedness and prevent it from coming back in the future.
5. Muscle weakness or fatigue - You read above that your muscles are mostly water. If you’re dehydrated, your muscles lose their power. This may also feel like fatigue or a total-body weakness.
6. Leg cramps - Getting a leg (calf) cramp when you’re in bed at night is a common sign of dehydration. Bananas get a lot of hype as a treatment for these cramps, but you’re more likely dehydrated than low in potassium. Try drinking more water before you reach for the banana or the medicine cabinet.
7. Constipation - While the frequency of bowel movements is different for everyone, it should be consistent for you. If your movements become less frequent than usual, you may be dehydrated. So, drink water before you start adding fiber supplements to your day. Fiber is important for your regularity. But it won’t help your bowels at all if you don’t have enough water to carry it through your body.
8. Urinary urgency - Your bladder has to fill properly in order to empty properly. If you’re not drinking enough water, your bladder get its signals all mixed up. And it may try to empty itself irregularly. That will send you to the bathroom frequently because you’re not emptying your bladder fully with each trip.
9. Dry skin and lips - Your skin’s elasticity is from a protein called elastin. And elastin is mostly … water! You guessed it! When you’re dehydrated your usually smooth skin (there’s skin on your lips too!), can become dry, rough and cracked. Think of drinking water before reaching for a new creme or balm.

How do you actually drink more water?

So, how do you go from drinking 3 sips of water each day to drinking 3 liters of water each day? The answer is to make it a habit. But how do you make it a habit? Here are two ideas:

1. Make it easy!

In order to build a new water drinking habit, make it easy on yourself! Keep it simple and so obvious you can’t miss it! I suggest that you buy a one liter stainless steel bottle. Anything bigger will likely feel too big to carry around. Want to make it even easier? Buy two bottles so that there’s always one bottle that’s clean and ready.

Tell yourself to drink the entire bottle - three times each day. So, setting up for this may start at night. Bring a one-liter bottle up to your bedroom as part of your nighttime routine. That way - you can start your day by drinking water - even before breakfast! You can drink while you’re getting ready, while you commute and all throughout your day.

Separate your day into three sections and mark the end of each section with an alarm. Each time the alarm goes off, check your water bottle. It should be empty. If not, … Chug! Chug! Chug! There are some apps, like Hydro Coach, that will do this automatically.

2. Make it good!

Do you even like water? If you do, you may love the simplicity of its taste. But if you don’t, you may really detest that water is so plain. Drinking water is an especially hard sell if you’re used to drinking sugary drinks like soda (diet or not), juice or sports drinks. So, you have to make drinking water attractive to you.

First, don’t forget the bottle! Get a good one that you want to use. Here are two popular ones: a 32 ounce Hydro flask and a 36 ounce Yeti.

Also, be open to add-ins! Here are a few ideas that can liven up your water without turning it into another beverage:

• herbal tea like chamomile, ginger, or cinnamon
• fresh mint
• fresh basil
• cucumber
• lemon or lime
• watermelon
• strawberries (or any other berries!)

How do you know you’re drinking enough water?

So, again, if you drink 3 liters of water each day, you’ll be doing very well. But if you’re looking for a little more physiological feedback, take a look at your urine. Don’t be shy!

You should be peeing pretty frequently, probably every 2 to 3 hours. It shouldn’t be a challenge to answer the question When’s the last time I went to the bathroom?

And don’t be afraid to look into the toilet bowl. Your urine should be light yellow. It shouldn’t be bright yellow. And it should not be any color other than yellow. It should be clear, not colorless, like colored glass. It shouldn’t be cloudy and it shouldn’t contain any … stuff.

Guys, it shouldn’t have an odor. I’m just gonna leave that one right there.

The last thing is - if you were suffering from any of the signs and symptoms up above, and you’re drinking enough water now - those issues should be gone! That’s the simplest and most powerful way for you to know that you are well-hydrated.

Think of water as your most important nutrient. So, drink up, my friends! And one last thing - you can level up your water intake by eating several choice foods too. There are lots of veggies and fruits that are full of water. Blending up a delicious mix of these water-rich foods is a fun way to stay hydrated. So, try making a healthy smoothie! Smoothies are nutritious, tasty and portable. So, I’ve got 5 simple whole-food, super-hydrating smoothie recipes for you here!