Staying hydrated is essential to everyone, after all water is the most important nutrient for life and has many important functions including regulating
temperature, transporting nutrients, lubrication of joints, muscle function and many more.
Every cell, tissue and organ in the body needs water to work effectively.
If you are not properly hydrated your body will be unable to perform to it’s
highest level and you may experience fatigue, muscles cramps, dizziness or more
serious symptoms.
As water plays a crucial role in many of the body’s systems just being slightly
dehydrated can be enough to begin to hinder the body’s ability to perform.
I’m sure most of us have been a bit naughty and neglected our water intake at some point. The body then starts making you feel lousy and the brain fog creeps in. After all the brain is made up of around 75% water meaning if you don’t
supply it with water it will go on strike!
Lack of water also has a profound effect on the muscles too. In order to flex and even move your muscles you need water, if you are dehydrated the muscles will be deprived of electrolytes and in turn cramp. As muscles are controlled by nerves, without proper hydration and electrolyte balance strength and control will also become impaired. Lack of water can even prevent muscles repairing themselves from daily wear and tear that they incur. For all you bodybuilders out there keep up the water intake as prolonged dehydration can shrink
muscles!!!!!!!
The body loses water on a daily basis through sweating, digestion/waste removal and even just the air that we breathe out. Around 400ml of water is lost through the skin per day.
You don’t just have to stick to water, even fruit juices and herbal teas can
contribute to your daily intake. We also get water from our diet too. Do be aware of the hidden sugars lurking in fruit flavoured water drinks. There is much debate out there on how much water we should consume on a daily basis. NHS Choices recommends 1.2 litres (6-8 cups) per day in climates such as the UK. Again it is a guideline which doesn’t take into account people’s height and build. For example a tall person would require more than a small person.
Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when water loss exceeds water intake. Most people can
tolerate 3-4% decrease in body water without any major issues. A 5-8% decrease may cause fatigue and dizziness. More than 10% may cause mental fatigue (cue the arrival of brain fog) and severe thirst.
A good indication of how hydrated you are is urine colour. Colourless or
light yellow is fab, this is what you want. Dark yellow/amber not so good, this shows dehydration has occurred.
Tips
- Drinking from a bottle helps me to measure my daily intake more accurately and for some strange reason I always tend to drink more from a bottle than a glass.
- If you find water is far too bland try adding some lemon, lime, strawberries, cucumber or mint. Then you have your own naturally flavoured water.
- Sometimes dehydration can be mistaken for hunger. Real hunger would not be satisfied by
water. - Use a straw as you drink more and at a faster rate too
- Try adding some water rich foods to your diet such as cucumber (96% water),
watermelon (92% water) and grapefruit (91% water). - Of course in this tech obsessed world, you guessed it, there’s been an app
developed to help you measure your water intake.
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