How you can tell your dehydrated and how can you combat?

Dehydration means the excessive loss of fluid or intake is inadequate. When fluid exceeds, dehydration sets in. The symptoms of dehydration include dryness of mouth, dark colored urine. It causes weakness, syncopal attacks, exhaustion, muscular cramps and kidney damage. It can be caused due to electrolyte imbalance and cardiac arrest.

Here are some symptoms of dehydration:

• Bad breath: Bad breath is a sign of dehydration. Dehydration is responsible to produce saliva. As saliva has antibacterial properties, it stops bacterial growth. When there is less production of saliva occurs the side effect of bad breath happens.
• Dry skin: Dry, flushed skin could be a sign of lack of water in the body. The skin of dehydrated person remains tented when it is pinched.
• Muscle cramp: Muscle cramp could be a symptom of dehydration. When you exercise during hot weather, your body loses enough fluid. It causes heat illness. Higgins says, “The hotter you get, the more likely you are to get muscle cramps, and that's form a pure heat effect on the muscles. As the muscles work harder and harder, they can seize up from the heat itself. Changes in electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, can lead to muscle cramping as well”. It doesn't mean that dehydration cannot occur during the winter season. Dehydration is possible if you don't take enough fluid.
• Fever is a sign of heat illness, causes of dehydration: Fever can cause dehydration. The higher the fever, the more dehydrated you may become. Your skin gets hot and dry to touch. It is really important to cool yourself down.
• Craving for food: Higgin says,”When you are dehydrated, it can be difficult for organs such as liver, which uses water to release glycogen and other components of your energy stores, so you can actually get craving for food.” People usually feel craving for sweets when they are dehydrated.
• Headaches and migraine attack: Lack of water can also cause migraine attack. Besides dehydration, there can be other reasons for headache.
• Urine test: If you are well hydrated, your urine will be clear, while the dehydrated body has darker yellow urine.

Here are some tips to combat the dehydration:

• Water bottle: You should keep a handy water bottle with you, so that you may not feel thirsty.
• Favored the plain water: If you don't like the taste of plain water, add some flavors in it. You can add some fruits or vegetables in it.
• Prefer fresh options: You should choose the fresh products rather than the dry packed products. Because the dry packed products have low water content.
• Fruits and Vegetables: Dehydrated person should eat fresh green leafy vegetables and juicy fruits in a meal as a salad.
• Humid weather: You need to drink extra water during humid weather as there is more sweating occurs in this weather. So the amount of fluid you lose increases as the humidity increases.

Older people are at high risk of dehydration. Water also helps you to look younger. So it's really important to hydrate your body to feel good and look good.