You’ve optimized your sleep. You already figured out your macronutrient intake and probably tried either cold plunging or intermittent fasting. However, the chance you walk around daily dehydrated and don’t even know about it is high as the thirst sensation appears only in later stages of dehydration.
Being thirsty is always too late as the human body experiences thirst for a long time before we feel it. Moreover, 1-2% loss of water in our bodies, due to lack of water consumption during a busy day, causes considerable changes in our moods, memory, and energy levels. Multiplied by the number of days of not drinking enough water, you may easily understand why “just drink more water” may be the most underestimated health tip.
Before taking anything else or using fancy fitness devices, before trying any complicated fitness plans, first drink water, which your body needs daily. Staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways to boost your energy, focus, digestion and wellbeing and it’s frequently the first to go missing.
Your Body Is Basically a Water Balloon With Ambitions
There is a number that usually stops people’s scrolling in the middle of the post: human body consists of 60% water. The human brain and heart consist of 73% water. The human lungs contain 83% water. Yes, even such hard bone tissues contain 31% of water! So, you literally are a person walking and thinking hydration machine.
Water is crucial for all functions performed by all cells, tissues, and organs in the human body. It’s not an extra thing to use, it’s the environment where most of the processes take place. Nutrients and wastes are dissolved and moved through the bloodstream due to water. Water is responsible for the movement of your joints, temperature regulation, and many other crucial functions.
The Ripple Effect of Not Drinking Enough
Dehydration appears unnoticed and doesn’t show dramatic signs. It just slowly creeps in, appearing in various disguises:
That brain fog in the afternoon?
Even mild dehydration was proven to impact the ability to concentrate and short-term memory. Brain is one of the most water-dependent parts of the human body and under-hydration has a negative impact on the cognitive functions.
The headache you blame on stress? Dehydration is one of the main factors causing various headaches and migraines. The human brain can become smaller due to dehydration, pulling away from the skull and triggering pain receptors. In such cases it’s much more reasonable to drink water than reach for the painkillers.
Energy crash in the evening?
Dehydration decreases blood volume making it harder for your heart to provide necessary oxygen and nutrients to the body, causing the symptoms of fatigue.
Skin that looks a bit dull? Hydration affects skin elasticity and texture. Water provides nutrients and removes toxins from skin cells and chronic under-hydration makes your skin look less plump and brighter than it could be.
The unexplainable cravings?
The hypothalamus, the part of the brain controlling thirst sensation, also controls hunger. Sometimes the body confuses thirst with hunger and makes you snack instead of drinking a glass of water.
Not all of these symptoms are obvious signs of dehydration, but if you experience them, your body probably lacks the hydration it needs.
What Water Is Actually Doing Behind the Scenes
Some processes performed by water in the human body need to be explained in order to understand the impact of dehydration and the reasons why it appears in so many various health-related issues.
Temperature control. When you are becoming overheated, either due to physical activity, extreme temperature or simply after a stressful discussion, you start sweating in order to cool down. Sweat consists of water and without proper liquid reserves in your body it becomes difficult to regulate your body temperature, which explains connection between dehydration and heat exhaustion.
Joint and tissue cushioning.
Cartilage, the tissue that protects your joints, is made of the large percentage of water. Hydration provides joint lubrication which becomes especially important for sportsmen and those who want to move down the stairs painlessly at 45.
Digestion and detox.
Water helps in digestion and breakdown of food into components that can be easily absorbed. It also plays an important role in filtration process of wastes performed by your kidneys, removing the toxins out of your body as urine. Chronic under-hydration is one of the most common causes of constipation and kidney stones.
Nutrient and oxygen delivery.
Blood is 90% water and blood is the vehicle for delivering oxygen and nutrients in the whole human body. Dehydration decreases blood volume, making it slightly more thick, thus making the heart to perform extra efforts for its distribution throughout the body. This explains why dehydration makes you tired and sometimes even dizzy.
So How Much Water Do You Actually Need?
The well-known rule “8 glasses per day” is easy to remember, but is far from the science-based recommendation. Human needs in water vary depending on the person’s size, physical activities, temperature, and even nutrition as many fruits and vegetables contain a lot of water in them.
More practical recommendation may be checking the color of your urine. If it’s pale yellow color, then everything is OK, but the darker urine becomes, the more water you need to drink. Lightly colored urine means that you may drink too much water. Thirst sensation is a delayed signal, so the best strategy would be to develop good habits instead.
A Few Habits That Actually Stick
Keep a water bottle in the place where you can easily reach it, and not in your bag. Drink water with the processes you are used to, such as making coffee or brushing teeth. Eat the foods rich in water: cucumbers, watermelons, oranges. Consider each caffeinated drink as a reminder to have a glass of water as caffeine has a slight diuretic effect.
Conclusion Hydration is not glamorous, isn’t exciting, and most of the time, you won’t pay attention to it like you would to a trending health product, pricy supplement, or complicated wellness routine. However, it is one of your body’s most fundamental needs, and it works on your brain, skin, energy, joints, digestion and mood, all at once. Maintaining hydration is easy, accessible and virtually cost free, whereas many other health-promoting interventions are not. There’s no subscription, gym membership or complicated routine required to get started. Your body doesn’t need anything new to derive benefits from it, you just require more water. Even minor dehydration can make you feel more fatigued, sluggish and unable to concentrate as easily or irritated as normal. The afternoon “crash” or poor concentration could not always be due to a cup of coffee or an energy drink, it may just be a call for water. This isn’t a magic bullet for in a flash, you’ll be healthy, or a magic formula to get in perfect health. However, hydration is one of those regular, simple habits that can help your body work optimally all day long and for that reason alone, it’s an underrated “Biohack”, it is very simple, and very inexpensive, and fits into anyone’s lifestyle today.
