While there are numerous negative side effects from dehydration, for the purposes of this hub, we'll talk about dehydration from a natural skin care perspective.

If your skin is chronically dry, it's probably due to dehydration. One of the best antiaging tools you have at your disposal is water. People spend a ton of money on moisturizers, lotions, and wrinkle creams every year to combat the effects of aging, dry skin. However, your skin will remain dry if you don't address the underlying problem is simply not drinking enough water.

Your body is not made up of soda or sports drink. You have to replenish it with water or you will be constantly fighting the symptoms dehydration.

Water is a natural solvent. It helps to dissolve toxins and move them out of your body. Without sufficient water, your body functions will not be normal. Waste will stay in your digestive tract for longer periods of time because there is no water to move it along. Likewise, excretions from your kidneys will be more concentrated.

You should be concerned about this because waste in your body affects how your skin looks. It is beleived that cystic acne is caused by a buildup of toxins in the liver. Remember that these toxins are circulated throughout the body. Keeping them around longer than necessary is a recipe of bad health.

Another way that water helps move toxins along is by sweating. You excrete toxins through your pores when you sweat.

So what happens to you when you don't drink enough water? The toxins that should be eliminated from your system get recirculated through your body. Chronic dehydration will cause your skin to be dry, toxins will cause breakouts, and overall your skin will appear unhealthy.

Most likely you depend on a sense of thirst to tell you when you need a drink. Actually, by the time you feel thirsty you're already dehydrated. You should be drinking water throughout the day so that you don't feel thirsty.

An occasional soft drink is reasonable, but this should not count toward the amount of water you consume each day. Soda or sugary soft drinks do not rehydrate you. Sugar actually causes your skin to age faster. Try using stevia as a sugar substitute. Stevia is much sweeter than sugar so you need a lot less of it to sweeten your drink.

For soda addicts, try this as a bridge. Along with stevia, try natural water flavors which have no sugar or calories.

So how much water should you be drinking? There are several variables that go into answering ths question. Are you pregnant? Lactating? Do you live at a high altitude or dry climate? Male or female? How much do you exercise? How much do you weigh? Use this water calculator to find out how much water you should be drinking.