Staying hydrated is important for several reasons, some of which you might not be aware of. We all know how useless we become when we’re thirsty, and how difficult it becomes to think of anything other than a cold glass of water. Without adequate hydration, our bodies begin to fail, so it’s no wonder getting a drink becomes our number one priority.
We’ve listed the eight most important reasons to stay hydrated in this article to hit home exactly why staying hydrated is so critical to health. Read on to find out more.
1. Body Temperature Regulation
Our bodies are constantly working to maintain a certain temperature equilibrium of around 98.6 Fahrenheit. This is the optimal temperature our bodies require to function properly. Temperatures above and below this temperature, even by a few degrees, can be a serious cause for concern.
A lack of adequate hydration disrupts our body’s capability to maintain this optimal temperature, which has a knock-on effect of disrupting many other essential bodily processes. For example, the enzymes that digest our food begin to denature at 104 degrees Fahrenheit, diminishing our ability to process the energy needed to fuel ourselves.
2. Transport of Nutrients
Our cells, tissues, and organs all require a constant supply of energy and nutrients. Without adequate hydration, this process begins to slow considerably. Making sure you stay hydrated allows for these transportation processes to continue unabated for optimal health in general.
3. Brain Function
If you’ve ever had a headache and cured it with a glass of water, you’ll know firsthand the importance of staying hydrated. Impaired cognitive function is a common side effect of becoming dehydrated.
The first signs of dehydration are commonly felt as a lack of alertness or trouble staying focused in general. As the severity of dehydration increases, overall mental performance will continue to decline. Fortunately, all it takes is a drink and a few minutes to let your body make use of it to sharpen your mental faculties again.
4. Lubrication
Our bodies are full of moving parts and require constant maintenance to ensure no undue wear occurs as they’re doing their job. Joints in particular rely on lubrication so that our mobility isn’t hindered throughout the day.
Without lubrication, cartilage and bone would soon experience undue wear as we subject them to the strains of physical activity. Even organs, which don’t move in the same way as joints, still require lubrication.
A good example of this is the lining that surrounds our lungs. In some cases, the beginning of pleurisy can be directly attributed to prolonged poor hydration, inflaming the pleural lining that separates our lungs from our chest wall due to poor lubrication.
5. Digestive Health
Our digestive systems require water from start to finish. The contents of our stomach are held within a water-based solution, without which we wouldn’t be able to digest our food.
Waste would be unable to pass through our intestines, nor would we be able to absorb any of the nutrients the food contains along its way. Constipation is much more likely to occur in someone poorly hydrated, as are several other digestive concerns.
6. Skin Health
As the largest organ of the human body, the skin requires a substantial amount of water to keep hydrated. The difference in appearance between dry and hydrated skin is often obvious at a glance.
Dry skin appears older, and less healthy in general. Skin is a good indicator of health, so if it’s flaking or otherwise dull in color, poor hydration is a likely cause. It’s no coincidence that the most popular skin products on the market today make sure to underline their moisturizing properties, after all.
7. Energy Levels
Since hydration is so important for the proper functioning of our bodies, it stands to reason that our energy levels would also be negatively affected by its lack. We typically think of hunger or a lack of food as the most likely culprit behind our lack of energy, but that’s not always the case.
Thirst can masquerade as hunger, and trying to beat it by eating sometimes only makes thirst worse. Next time you’re lacking in energy and drink a coffee, it might be the addition of more water rather than the caffeine that perks you up.
8. Kidney Function
Our kidneys work overtime to filter waste from our bloodstream. All the blood in our bodies passes through our renal arteries every five minutes, ensuring that our blood stays free of the buildup of toxins and other waste products.
Staying hydrated lessens their burden significantly, as dehydration serves to concentrate the blood, and by association, the byproducts that need to be removed from it. Severe dehydration can even cause uric crystals to develop, the first stage of kidney stones, which require medical intervention to remove and are known to be particularly painful.
Regular Hydration
If you struggle to drink water to stay hydrated, you might find it easier if it were more palatable. In this case, adding some pep to your glass is an ideal solution to make sure you’re drinking enough. Sensapure Flavor House has an enormous range of natural and sustainably sourced ingredients to check out.
Flavored water is a healthy alternative to more calorically densely flavored beverages, too. Next time you’re feeling thirsty, try passing on the Coke and trying something a little different.
Otherwise, we find squeezing half a lemon into some ice-cold water to be a refreshing and easy solution to your hydration woes. There’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple.
Stay Hydrated
Life is difficult enough without making it harder on yourself through dehydration. If you want to stay hydrated, the key is to make drinking water something you do without even thinking about it.
The recent trend of keeping a large water bottle at your side is doing wonders for people’s health. It might be time to get in on the craze, even if you’re not typically one to follow the crowd.
There’s more where this came from! If you enjoyed this article and have more time to kill, check out more of our health and fitness articles today.
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