“Water is the Most Neglected Nutrient in Your Diet, but one of the Most Vital.”
Today I am going to discuss another one of my favourite quotes, this one is a very good one to remember for many reasons. A lot of people do not think about water as a nutrient, they think of all of the most often highlighted ones such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, various vitamins and minerals but seldom water. I was like this as well back when I was younger, water was just something I needed to have so that I did not die but never really thought about it more than that. So why is water so important for us and what does it really do for us?
One of the main functions of water in your body is to regulate your body temperature. If you are exercising or are in a warm environment, obviously you start to sweat. This happens because this is the body’s main way of trying to control our body temperature. When the body sweats and the surface of your skin is now wet, the water in the sweat starts to evaporate and starts to cool the surface of the skin. Internal body temperature is also regulated to make sure that our bodies are functioning properly and to the best of its ability. Humans have a normal core internal temperature of approximately 37°C (98.6°F), this is the optimal internal temperature of our bodies and barely fluctuates. Even small changes to internal body temperature can be a sign of illness and harm starting to occur in the body. For example, body temperature above 38°C (100.4°F) is usually a sign of a fever, 40°C (104°F) is seen in dangerous cases of heatstroke and 35°C (95°F) is a dangerous level when experiencing hypothermia. Keeping the internal temperature of the body stable (thermoregulation) is crucial for human life and without it, the body would not function. If you are sweating more than usual due to exercise, a hot environment or because you are ill, make sure you are drinking enough water so that you are keeping yourself hydrated.
Another useful reason to remain hydrated is because it helps to create saliva, but why is that important? Well, water is what the majority of saliva is made up of and saliva is created by your body 24 hours a day. Saliva is not just a weird liquid that your body makes when you eat, see or smell some nice food, it is a key part of the digestive system. It is actually one of the first parts of the digestive system and helps to make food more easily digestible and for your body to absorb the nutrients from the foods easier. Saliva contains enzymes called amylase and lingual lipase which are used to break down complex carbohydrates into sugars and break down fats respectively. If your mouth is feeling particularly dry then re hydrating yourself should help generate more saliva. If this does not help and you have a dry mouth a lot of the time then it may be a sign of a problem and is worth getting checked by your GP or family doctor just to be safe.
The uses of water that I mentioned above may be quite well known and you may be thinking that it was obvious but this next use is something that I find particularly interesting. Recent research has shown that optimal water intake actually helps to protect, cushion and lubricate your joints and spinal cord. In some circumstances, this has been suggested to be able to help and reduce the pain and discomfort caused by arthritis. This has not been said to “cure” or fix arthritis but if an individual finds that being hydrated helps to lessen their pain and discomfort then this is an absolute win!
The next use of water that I am going to mention could be seen as a bit gross but bear with me, it is very helpful! Water is a key part of maintaining kidney health and function as well as maintaining healthy bowel movements. There are 2 main functions that the kidney performs in your body. One of the main kidney functions is to remove toxins from the blood and to transform the waste products into urine. Filtering the blood and removing toxins is very important as toxins have the potential to damage your body’s cells and tissue causing many problems from weight gain by affecting your metabolism, hormones and brain function to accelerated aging by preventing the production of haemoglobin. As well as this, alongside fibre, fruit and vegetable intake, water makes stool softer and helps to prevent constipation. This would obviously make passing stool easier and more comfortable but also help to prevent colon issues. Additionally, it has been seen that the things you do that are good for your colon health can also be good for your heart, brain, kidneys, liver, skin and hair. Optimal water intake has also been shown to help prevent and help with kidney stones, urinary tract infection and high blood pressure!
The last of the benefits of staying hydrated that I am going to talk about today is its effect on your energy, physical performance and psychological factors. Research has shown that during exercise athletes can sweat up to 10% of their body weight. Therefore it is important to replenish the water in your body, especially for the thermoregulation I mentioned previously. In addition to this however, is the fact that it has also been shown to affect your strength, power and endurance. There is more research needed in this area but currently it is thought that being dehydrated when exercising can consistently reduce strength by ≈2%, power by ≈3% and high-intensity endurance by ≈10%. This may not sound like much but this could mean that, if when hydrated properly, you are happily running for say 5km in 30 minutes, you would now be managing around 4.5km instead and it would feel harder too. Additionally, research has stated that water intake can increase your feeling of being full and boost metabolic rate, improving bodily functions and even helping with weight loss. Also, being dehydrated makes you feel fatigued and less energetic, so maintaining optimal hydration would effectively make you feel more energetic. Lastly, being properly hydrated will help you to be in the best cognitive way that you can. Dehydration has been shown to reduce your ability to focus, be alert and even reduce your short-term memory. Showing that being optimally hydrated can improve and maintain your focus, alertness and short-term memory!
So, hopefully this article has helped you to think about your water intake and helped to highlight some of the amazing benefits that can come from proper hydration. Did you know all of these benefits from maintaining optimal hydration? Let me know in the comments! Have I missed something that you think I should cover? I would love to hear what you think. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this article. Let me know if there is a specific topic that you would like to see me discuss! Stay happy and healthy, ciao!