What happens if you get dehydrated? GP shares health risks

Water plays an important role in many of the body’s functions, including regulating temperature, breaking down solid food and waste excretion through urine and sweat, explains GP Neel Patel.

Not drinking enough water can affect our health in a few ways, including causing tiredness and constipation – here’s what we know about the importance of hydration and how much you should drink daily to avoid becoming dehydrated.

How much should you drink daily?

Whether you drink water or prefer tea, coffee or juice, the NHS advises that you drink six to eight cups or glasses of fluid a day.

It added: “Water, lower-fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count.”

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, in a hot environment, physically active for long periods or ill or recovering from an illness, you might need to drink more than six to eight glasses of fluid a day.

Surveying 1,000 UK adults, LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor found that the average Brit consumes four glasses of water, two teas or coffees, one fizzy drink and one glass of fruit juice each day. This totals the recommended amount of eight average-sized glasses.

What happens if you don’t drink enough water?

If you don’t drink enough water, your body will start to show the effects of dehydration.

Tiredness

You might notice that you get tired because when the body loses more fluids than it takes in, dehydration can set in, causing increased drowsiness and confusion.

How many cups of tea/coffee should you drink a day?

Serious dehydration can lead to seizures from an imbalance of electrolytes in the body, as well as kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

Constipation

You might also experience constipation. It's common knowledge to eat plenty of fibre to assist digestion, but the same also goes for drinking water.

Fluid encourages the passing of waste through the digestive system, but also helps the body to better digest the key minerals and nutrients from food.

Low blood pressure

Approximately half of our blood is made up of water, meaning that severe dehydration can cause problems in our heart and other organs.

Dehydration causes less blood to travel around the body, leading to low pressure, which can lead to dizziness and fainting.

Migraines

Dehydration is also a contributing factor to some headaches and migraines, especially tension-type, often making them worse.

The pain can range from mild to severe and may feel like a dull ache, throbbing or sharp pain.

How to make sure you drink more

GP Neel Patel has shared four ways you can increase your water intake.

Drinking from a water bottle allows you to better keep track of your daily progress - some popular travel cups can hold up to 1.2 litres of liquid, which is half of your daily intake.

Staying hydrated is important for our health (Image: Getty) With 56% of Brits feeling like they don’t drink enough water each day, this is the easiest fix, says the doctor.

If you’re not keen on the plain taste of tap water (like 38% of Brits), the GP suggests adding a small amount of diluted squash to give it some flavour.

This can also be achieved by adding some fresh fruit or cucumber, or switching to drinking sparkling water, as this doesn’t contain any added sugars or artificial ingredients.

You could also set yourself some regular reminders to keep you on track. Our daily fluid intake should be evenly distributed throughout the day and not consumed in one large sitting, which is roughly one glass of water every two hours.

GP Neel Patel adds that many fruits and vegetables are rich in water content, with watermelon having 92% content, strawberries having 91% and oranges with 87%.

Incorporating these into your daily diet is a great way to consume more liquid but also reap the wider health benefits.

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What to do if you are dehydrated

Bupa shared some advice for you to follow if you become dehydrated: “If you think you may be dehydrated, start by drinking more fluid. For mild dehydration, drinking water or other drinks may be all that you need to do.

“If you have more severe dehydration because of diarrhoea or vomiting, you’ll lose important salts and sugars from your body as well as water.

“If you’re older or have other health conditions, your doctor or nurse may suggest you use oral rehydration therapy as well. This is usually a powder that you mix with water which contains sugar and salts.

“If you think you may have severe dehydration, speak to your pharmacist straightaway.”