We've all heard the same ask from our doctors. We're told to drink 6–8 glasses of water a day to maintain a healthy body, but that isn't always ideal and life gets in the way sometimes. What if I told you your body is a walking dehydration tester? More specifically your skin!
Your skin loses some elasticity when you're dehydrated, so pinching your skin and seeing if it goes straight down or not is an indicator of the fluid level in your body. When you're dehydrated, your extra cellular space contracts, and that reduces your skin elasticity, So when you pinch your skin and it stays up, that tells us you're dehydrated.
Other common signs of dehydration:
- Feeling thirsty
- Dark yellow pee with a strong scent
- Peeing less than normal
- A dizzy or lightheaded feeling
- Tiredness
- Sunken eyes
- Dry mouth, lips and tongue
If you'd like to see an example of how to test your skin, we provided one down below!
Photo: d3sign / Moment / Getty Images