For your Body

  

Let’s talk about all of the ways that drinking enough water will improve your health.  Not just because your Mum told you, but because…science!

I’ve listed a whole bunch of interesting, educational, scary facts about water, hydration and your body below.  But the simple, TL;DR summary is that your body works much less well when it’s dehydrated, so it’s a really good idea to have an everyday plan to get enough water into your body.  Get yourself a Squidge water bottle, fill it up regularly through the day, and try to empty it at least three times a day (depending on how much you’re sweating).

Basic Facts: “Water is lost from the body in varying amounts via a number of different routes: the main avenues of water loss are urine (about 1400 ml), faeces (200 ml), insensible losses from the lungs (400 ml) and loss via the skin (500 ml). The total daily water loss is therefore about 2500 ml, but this varies greatly between individuals and depends on the environmental conditions.”1

Sweat: “Water requirements during exercise in the heat depend on fluid loss from sweating. Sweat rate is proportional to metabolic rate and can amount to 3 to 4 liters per hour or as much as 10 liters per day.”2

Brain Power: “There is some evidence of impairments of cognitive function at moderate levels of hypohydration, but even short periods of fluid restriction, leading to a loss of body mass of 1–2%, lead to reductions in the subjective perception of alertness and ability to concentrate and to increases in self-reported tiredness and headache.”1

Attention and Memory: “Being dehydrated by just 2% impairs performance in tasks that require attention, psychomotor, and immediate memory skills…”3

Skills: “This study is the first to show that mild dehydration can impair distance, accuracy, and distance judgment during golf performance.”4

Look, to be honest, you can keep searching Google Scholar to investigate the impact of dehydration on different parts of the body, and you’ll come back with the same answer: it’s a really good idea to keep yourself well-hydrated.  The UK’s National Health Service lists the obvious signs of dehydration here (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dehydration/):

  • feeling thirsty
  • dark yellow and strong-smelling pee
  • feeling dizzy or lightheaded
  • feeling tired
  • a dry mouth, lips and eyes
  • peeing little, and fewer than 4 times a day

So if that sounds like you, grab your Squidge drink bottle, and keep yourself healthy by re-filling!

 

 

    References:

    1. Maughan, R. Impact of mild dehydration on wellness and on exercise performance. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, S19–S23 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601897
    2. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research; Marriott BM, editor. Nutritional Needs in Hot Environments: Applications for Military Personnel in Field Operations. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1993. 5, Water Requirements During Exercise in the Heat.
    3. Ana Adan (2012) Cognitive Performance and Dehydration, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 31:2, 71-78, 
    4. Smith, Mark F.; Newell, Alex J.; Baker, Mistrelle R. Effect of Acute Mild Dehydration on Cognitive-Motor Performance in Golf, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: November 2012 – Volume 26 – Issue 11 – p 3075-308