Water is important to nearly every part of your body, it regulates our body temperature, digestion, aids the disposal of waste and is needed by the brain to produce hormones and neurotransmitters. Not only will hitting your daily recommended intake help you maintain your current state of being, it may even improve your overall health.
Why should I drink water?
Dehydration starts to have an effect on both the body and the mind once as little as 1% of the body’s water is lost. Losing 2-3% reduces the body’s ability to regulate temperature and reduces energy levels and mood. It will also reduce brain and memory performance. This makes physical activity feel more difficult, and can also affect performance at work or school.
Staying hydrated is beneficial for the organs, too. Dehydration can lead to both constipation and kidney stones. Water ensures that organs are functioning properly and clearing out any unwanted materials and toxins.
Other common causes of dehydration are diarrhoea, vomiting, diabetes, sweating, burns and certain medication.
Keep in mind that dehydration also affects the level of electrolytes in your body. Electrolytes are minerals that your body needs to function properly. A few of the electrolytes depleted by dehydration are sodium (salt), potassium and calcium. You can replenish those electrolytes from foods and fluids you consume.
You can also overhydrate, it takes place when you consume too much water, without realising it. Overhydration is extremely rare under normal conditions. The most common occurrences are during long periods of exercise where excessive quantities of water are consumed. The large volume of water consumed disturbs the sodium (salt) balance in the body.
Containing all the tissues, blood and bones and so on, most of the human’s body has water or fluid filled in such as plasma, intracellular and extracellular fluid, interstitial and transcellular fluid. Human male adult’s average amount of water inside his body is 70%.
How long can I live without water?
On average, a person can survive without water for about 3 days, but some have reported to survive around 8 to 10.
This amount of time can also be stretched and contracted by external factors, such as temperature, humidity and the health of an individual.
Also, one can live without water indefinitely, provided you have eaten enough water-containing foods to replace the lost water. Our body doesn’t necessarily need “pure water”; it only requires electrolytes and nutrients in aqueous solution, so that they are available to be absorbed. It enacts a terminal step in a line of reactions involving the oxidation of hydrogen or hydrocarbons to provide energy.
How much water should you actually be drinking per day?
There is still debate on how much water the average human should be drinking because necessary water intake is dependent on a multitude of different variables including diet, weather, and activity level. The body loses liquid not just through urine, but through perspiration and respiration.
We will share with you a few tips on how to calculate how much water you need to drink in order to stay healthy :
Find out your weight: It is important to be familiar with your weight if you want to accurately calculate how much water you need to drink on a daily basis.
Activity level: Another factor that effects how much water you should drink every day is your level of activity (how much you exercise). This is important because when you perform physically strenuous activities you sweat and expel water in the process.
This chart will help you identify the glasses (250ml) of water according to your weight:
People get about 20 percent of their daily water intake from food. The rest is dependent on drinking water and water-based beverages. So, ideally men would consume about 3,0 liters of water from beverages, and women, about 2,12 liters from beverages.
Some foods and drinks such as protein, alcohol, coffee, and herbal supplements are known to dehydrate you. The fluid loss that they cause varies and might be even be balanced by the water content, such as in the case of coffee.
In conclusion
Of course, it’s always good to have some water handy to ensure proper hydration. Let your thirst be your guide. Whether you are an athlete, watching what you eat, or trying to improve your performance at work, making sure you are hydrated is a quick way to ensure that you are helping your body perform at its best.
The Osmosys water service helps you to stay hydrated at home or on the go with the Osmosys reusable water bottle.