Do you feel thirsty even though you drink a lot of water? Maybe your body is "warning" you! Check yourself →

Just drink water when you are thirsty, but if you always feel thirsty, you need to pay attention, because it is very likely that your body is sending you signals to call for help.

01

Is frequent thirst a disease?

Generally speaking, thirst is caused by your body's lack of water.

1. Physiological thirst

1) Excessive exercise causes the water in the body to evaporate too quickly. Generally speaking, drinking water in time can relieve it.

But it is also important to note that even if you are thirsty, you should not consume a large amount of water at one time, as this can easily cause an imbalance of electrolytes in the body.

2) The diet is too salty or too dry, and the body consumes too much salty seasonings.

Generally speaking, an adult should consume no more than 5g of salt per day , which is the amount of "a beer bottle cap without the rubber pad inside."

Once you exceed the intake limit, it will not only cause physiological thirst, but also cause edema, hair loss, weight gain, freckles, etc.

Because salt needs water in the body to metabolize it. When you take in too much salt, the water in your body is not enough to metabolize it, and you will feel thirsty.

If it is still not metabolized successfully, it may even cause water and sodium retention, leading to facial swelling.

3) Elderly people have less saliva secretion. As the body functions of the elderly gradually deteriorate, the glands that secrete fluid will atrophy, and the reduced saliva secretion will easily cause dry mouth.

2. Pathological thirst

1) Respiratory tract infection. For example, common colds and fevers can also make us feel dry mouth. High fever causes water loss in the body, which can cause dry mouth symptoms. Generally, the symptoms will return to normal after the illness is cured. So telling sick people to drink more water is not a useless saying. It does have a scientific basis.

2) Diarrhea: Pathological thirst caused by a large loss of body water.

3) Oral diseases. For example, mumps, oral gland stones or submandibular gland inflammation, etc., all of which can reduce the body's saliva secretion, resulting in dry mouth.

4) Depression and anxiety. It should be noted that taking medications can also cause thirst. For example, antidepressants such as amitriptyline and imipramine, as well as antihypertensive drugs such as prazosin and clonidine. Other symptoms such as menstruation, vomiting, and burns can also cause thirst, which is a reminder for you to replenish your body with water in time.

02

What dry mouth symptoms should you be alert to?

Frequent thirst may be a precursor to these diseases.

1. Autonomic nervous system disorders

The salivary glands are governed by the autonomic nervous system. Once out of balance, dry mouth and thirst are likely to occur. In severe cases, people may even experience a foreign body sensation in the throat.

2. Diabetes

Dry mouth is one of the symptoms of diabetes, and about 30%-50% of patients will experience this symptom. If blood sugar is not properly controlled, it will increase the degree of thirst, and even to the extent that you need to get up in the middle of the night to drink water to relieve the discomfort.

3. Inflammatory diseases

For example, common pharyngitis and tonsillitis can affect the oral mucosa, leading to a decrease in secretory function, thus causing dry mouth.

4. Sjögren's syndrome

Sjögren's syndrome is actually a systemic rheumatic immune disease. Due to the disorder of the immune system, immune cells attack the body's salivary glands and tear glands, which can easily cause symptoms of thirst. In severe cases, people may even wake up in the middle of the night to drink water, affecting their sleep quality. This disease is often more common in women, especially those between 40 and 50 years old.

5. Diabetes insipidus

Polyuria caused by abnormal water metabolism in the body, such as daily urine output exceeding 5000cc, which is the amount of 9 standard bottles of mineral water. Common symptoms include polyuria with light urine color and abnormal dry mouth.

6. Hyperthyroidism

This is because patients with hyperthyroidism have higher thyroid hormone concentrations, which causes the body's metabolism to speed up, increase heat generation, and accelerate heat dissipation. As a result, the body needs more water, which can easily lead to dry mouth.

7. Kidney disease

Pyelonephritis and hydronephrosis can cause thirst as the kidneys lose their ability to retain water. Especially for patients who need dialysis, dehydration during hemodialysis can also cause thirst.

8. Anemia

This is because the loss of red blood cells in the body is much faster than its production, which causes thirst to compensate for the loss of body fluids. This situation is also more common in women during menstruation. Many women tend to ignore the symptoms of anemia because of thirst caused by heavy menstruation.

9. Low Blood Pressure

Thirst is the body's way of adding more water to the blood in an attempt to raise blood pressure, so low blood pressure can bring on the feeling of thirst.

10. Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease

For the elderly, if you have frequent dry mouth, you need to pay attention to it, as it may be a precursor to Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease. Although the cause of these diseases is chronic central nervous system degeneration, the symptoms are not obvious and not easy to detect. However, the salivary glands also belong to the nervous system, so thirst and dry mouth are one of the symptoms that can be noticed in the early stages of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

11. Depression and anxiety

Such patients may become thirsty due to long-term use of drugs such as amitriptyline and imipramine. Or it may be due to psychological factors, suggesting that they are thirsty and dry mouth, and forcing themselves to drink water, otherwise they will feel uncomfortable all over.

Of course, not all thirst requires attention, because thirst is a normal physiological phenomenon. There is no need to worry too much about whether it is a precursor to a certain disease.

03

Teach you the correct way to drink water

1. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water

When your body sends you a thirsty signal, it is already in a state of dehydration, so in daily life, you should drink plenty of water and drink water frequently. Adults need to consume about 1500ml of water every day to keep the body in a balanced state.

2. The first glass of salt water in the morning is not suitable for everyone

Drinking salt water will aggravate the body's dehydration, making you thirstier. It is more dangerous for the elderly and can easily increase blood pressure. Generally speaking, only people who have undergone strenuous exercise or diarrhea that lead to dehydration need to supplement with so-called "light salt water" to maintain electrolyte balance. Ordinary people do not need to drink it.

3. The best option is to drink boiled water

If you don't like drinking plain water, you can choose lemon water or tea with a lighter taste. However, you still need to maintain a certain amount of pure water intake.

4. Drink less carbonated drinks and milk tea

Don't fall into the misunderstanding of replacing water with carbonated drinks. Although these drinks taste good, their functions are very different from those of water and cannot be counted as water intake. In particular, some young people love fat boy happy water, but if you drink these drinks when you are thirsty, not only will they not quench your thirst, but they will also aggravate your dry mouth.

Drinking water can only solve immediate thirst. If the thirst is persistent, you should consider whether it is pathological thirst and cure it by seeking medical treatment or changing your lifestyle habits.

For example, stop staying up late, stop eating oily, salty and heavy-tasting foods, keep your diet as light as possible, don't consume too much salt, drink more water and drink water frequently in daily life to keep yourself and your family healthy.

Author: Zhong Yike

Reviewer: Gao Chao, Associate Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention