When you see water flows in the river, do you ever imagine that 70% of our body weight is made up from water? Water is an essential medium for chemical reactions occurring in our body; it lubricates the moving part of the body such as joints and eyes; it brings nutrients for our body needs; and it takes away wastes produced in our body. Water is constantly lost from our body through sweat, urine and breath. Without regular top-up water, our body can only survive a few days. If we don’t drink enough water to replace the lost, we became dehydrated. It causes a problem, such as minerals (salts and sugar etc) imbalance.
The early sign of dehydration is thirst. If you are thirsty, you are in dehydration. The other common signs of dehydration include: dark yellow coloured urine and not passing much urine when you go to the toilet, headaches, tiredness and feeling lightheaded. How much water do we need a day? We need 1.5 to 3 litres to make up to the water that we loss every day in moderate condition. This is about 8 medium glasses of water. We may need more water during hot weather or physical activity. You can tell if you drink enough of water by the colour of your urine. If the urine is pale straw colour, you have enough water intakes. The skin also contains plenty of water, and functions as a protective barrier to prevent excess fluid loss. Keeping skin hydration makes skin looking good. Dehydration makes skin dry and wrinkled.
The risk factors that cause dehydration include diabetes, vomiting, diarrhea, prolonged exposure to the sun, drunk too much alcohol, sweating too much, being in a high temperature environment, such as heat waves.
