5 REASONS IT'S IMPORTANT TO STAY HYDRATED
Staying hydrated is essential to your body functioning and its survival. So why is it that (especially if you’re in a hot climate) we’re giving our bodies the minimum about of water to function on and expecting it to perform at its best. Here I share five key reasons to stay hydrated and how you can build this habit into your daily life to ensure you’re performing at your best.
1. You cannot live without water for more than 4 days!
Our adult human body is made up of approximately 60% of water and that includes the water in our vital organs that they’re made up of and need to function optimally. In children, water makes up 75% of their bodyweight.
You can’t survive without water for very long, but the exact amount of time you can live without water depends on a number of factors. This is because certain factors contribute to your body’s use of water, including your:
environmental conditions
activity level
age
health
weight
sex
food intake
These factors affect the amount of water that is used. Someone in a hot climate will differ to someone in a cooler environment. The volume of water used differs if you have a fever, diarrhoea or if you’re exercising.
2. Dehydration can hinder your athletic performance
Here are the top 4 reasons that dehydration has an adverse impact on athletic performance:
Reduction in your blood volume – Dehydration can cause an increase in blood pressure. This occurs because dehydration reduces blood volume and your body then has to compensate by retaining more sodium in the blood. When the blood becomes more concentrated and thicker it is more difficult to circulate, causing your heart to work harder.
Decreased sweat rate - Sweat is one of the ways our bodies regulate temperature and it is made up of about 95 percent water. If you aren’t taking in enough water, you aren’t able to sweat. When the body cannot effectively regulate temperature, you are putting yourself at increased risk for heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
Increased rate of muscle glycogen use - Muscle glycogen concentrations decrease during prolonged exercise or athletic activity. Glycogen serves as a form of energy storage, so depleting glycogen contributes to muscle fatigue.
Dehydration limits you regulating your body temperature (see below for reason number 3).
3. Water helps you to regulate your body temperature
Dehydration limits cardiovascular and thermoregulatory responses. This leads to an increase in core temperature. For every 1% decrease in body weight as water, there in an increase in core temperature of .10 to .40 degrees Celsius. Being dehydrated decreases the heat distribution throughout your body.
In short: Water has the capacity to regulate the internal temperature of the body in response to the external temperature. Sweat is the main means by which water prevents the human body overheating when the temperature outside is very high. The evaporation of sweat brings a loss of calories, in the form of heat.
4. Water keeps your body functioning optimally and automatically
- Prevents infections
- Delivers nutrients to cells
- Keeps organs functioning properly
- Removes waste products through the body
- Prevents muscle cramps
- The digestion system depends on it
The bowel needs water to work properly. Dehydration can lead to digestive problems, constipation, and an overly acidic stomach. This increases the risk of heartburn and stomach ulcers.
5. Improves sleep quality, cognition and mood
Being dehydrated throws off the delicate dopamine and serotonin balances in the brain, natural chemicals that can increase/affect depression and anxiety. Drinking water is one of the fastest and easiest ways to improve your mood, calm your nerves, and improve your fatigue levels.
There are so many more reasons to stay hydrated, but I wanted to share some of the key reasons to make staying hydrated a priority for your body in order for it to function at 100%.
This is part of my #crushthebasics series where I uncover and highlight the basics that huge numbers of people aren’t hitting daily. Instead of focusing on aesthetics or on the scales, we need to understand our body’s needs and what is going on internally. It’s time to get the basics right. So do your mind and body a favour and drink up!