Water makes up most of our bodies so, needless to say, it’s pretty important. While it may be something you shrug off when you’re told that you need more of, read on for some surprising reasons why drinking more water can improve your life fast and easily.
Brain Function Booster = Water
There is one word to describe the relationship between your brain and water: essential. Your brain is made of more water than the rest of your body is. Your total percentage of H20 in your body is 60%. While just your brain is made of about 75% water. It helps to keep the mind sharp while also helping the brain itself stay healthy and strong. The reason being that when your brain is hydrated and healthy, water plays an essential role to carry nutrients in and carry toxins out.
What about the flip-side?
Dehydration can lead to terrible brain-related side effects and can affect how you think and physically function. There’s a long list of the mental symptoms caused by not having enough water in your system. They include brain fog, afternoon fatigue, focus issues, depression, anger, exhaustion, headaches, sleep issues, stress, and a lack of mental clarity and acuity. Source: Your Brain on H20.
These are things we all experience from time to time, and frankly, could do without. What’s a super simple solution that’s backed by science, you ask? Drink water until you see signs that you’re drinking enough! I’ll tell you more on how to tell if you’re well hydrated later.
Energy & Mood Improvements, Brought to You by Water
Scientific studies have been conducted to reveal that increased water consumption resulted in a significant decrease in fatigue, confusion and thirstiness, plus a trend of subjects feeling less sleepy. Next time you get that “2:30 feeling” at work, maybe the results of grabbing a glass of H20 will beat out your afternoon coffee.
A study isn’t needed to figure out that when people are lacking food or water, they can get pretty cranky. So naturally, drinking water can improve your mood as it hydrates you and can help you feel more full when it’s consumed before eating a meal. When you’re fully hydrated, the chances of your mood swinging for the worse are diminished by far.
Help With a Heart as Strong as a Lion
Your heart is an incredible organ that is always working, pumping around 2,000 gallons of blood a day. This superstar body part is more easily able to do it’s thing when you’re well hydrated. Meaning it can pump blood to your muscles and all over your body more efficiently. This is critical to your overall health as the muscles and organ systems that are receiving more blood are more effective when you need to use them.
Can Drinking Water Result in Disease Prevention?
Well, yeah it can actually. Did you know that drinking water at certain times in the day, such as right before bed, can help to prevent a heart attack? An American Journal of Medical Epidemiology study found that subjects “who drink five or more glasses of plain water per day have a much lower risk of fatal coronary heart disease, compared to those who drink less than two glasses per day.”
The importance of water in our lives goes far beyond staying hydrated, it can help to prevent a list of sicknesses and diseases. This magical liquid is the basis for all toxin release in your body, the more water you drink, the more bad stuff comes out. Drinking water regularly can help prevent and lower the risk of colon and bladder cancers. You can also lower your risk for hypertension, or high blood pressure, with enough water. When you drink water it thins your blood making it easier for your body to keep it regulated in terms of pressure.
You can prevent kidney, bladder and gallbladder by keeping the water flowing. Methods of removing these stones can involve pain, medicine and sometimes even surgery. Prevent them from being a problem in the first place by drinking up. Consuming more water and eating more moisture rich foods can also help promote the healthy growth, survival, and reproduction of your body’s cells.
So, How Much is Enough?
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has determined what the adequate daily fluid intake for the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate is. For women it’s about 11 cups (~2.7 liters), and for men the daily total is about 15.5 cups (~3.7 liters). Before you run to the water cooler, know that about a quarter of that comes from the food and beverages you already consume.
Drinking water is especially important to athletes, people who consume a lot of sugar and/or caffeine, and those who are sick. Since they are at the most risk of water loss.
If plain drinks are something that makes you frown, never fear! There are lots of alternative methods to staying just as hydrated as the next guy. You can try adding fruit to your water via an infuser bottle or a pitcher in your fridge. Some popular mix-ins are lemons, limes, raspberries, strawberries, and cucumbers.
There is also the option of adding more hydrating foods to your diet such as fruits and veggies. Watermelon is an excellent example, consisting of about 92% water.
Whatever your way of drinking more H20 is, more power to you! It’s the liquid that makes the world go ’round, more than just figuratively. Try drinking a few more glasses of this good stuff each day and see how your life and health improve.
