Hydration: How Well Do You Drink Water?

Marvellous Olajide

“Drink water and mind your business” is a common saying. However, not even this quote highlights the importance of drinking water. Water is essential for our overall well-being. The human body is made up of about 60–75% water. The amount of water in the body depends on factors like body size, metabolism, and activity level. The cells contain about 60% of the body’s water. The brain and kidneys contain the highest percentage of water, while bones and teeth contain the least. Water is also a component of blood; it is a component of digestive juices and the urine we pass out. Water is also a component of perspiration. This shows how essential water is to our existence.

Staying hydrated is a simple but critical part of maintaining good health. But most people just aren’t getting the fluids they need every day. In fact, research shows 75% of people walk around dehydrated. Soda or beverages should not replace water. They are totally different liquids, and they cannot perform the functions that water performs in our body. As students who are constantly active and moving, drinking enough water is even more important. It is recommended to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

Why You Should Drink Water

1. Improved brain performance: Even mild dehydration—as little as 2% fluid loss—can affect memory, mood, concentration, and reaction time, which can have a great impact on academic performance. Adding just a few glasses of water to your daily intake can have a positive effect on cognition, stabilise your emotions, and even combat feelings of anxiety. This is especially important for students who are at higher risk for both dehydration and impaired cognitive function.

2. Digestive ease: Your body needs water in order to digest food properly. Without enough, you may experience irregular bowel movements, gas, bloating, heartburn, and other discomforts that can hurt your quality of life. When you make it a point to stay hydrated, it can help get things moving in the right direction again. Water aids in breaking down soluble fibre from your diet to keep your digestion process on track.

3. More energy: Dehydration can slow down circulation and affect the flow of oxygen to your brain. A lack of fluids can also cause your heart to work harder to pump oxygen around your body. All of that expended energy can make you feel tired, sluggish, and less focused on studying and lectures. When you stay hydrated by drinking more H2O, you’ll prevent dehydration and have more pep to get you through the day.

4. Weight loss and weight management: Since it provides a sense of fullness, water can help you feel satisfied in between meals. A study on women with excess weight found that drinking additional glasses of water before each meal resulted in substantial reductions in body weight, body mass index, and body composition. According to another study, adults who upped their water intake by just 1% consumed fewer calories. They also reduced their intake of sugar, cholesterol, sodium, and saturated fat. So if you drink more water, you would be less tempted to drink cold soda. Another analysis found that increasing daily water intake, replacing caloric beverages with water, and drinking water before a meal all led to weight loss.

5. Decreased joint pain: Do you know the cartilage in our joints contains approximately 80% water? Staying hydrated helps your joints stay well-lubricated, which helps reduce friction by creating more of a “cushion” between the bones. Less friction means smoother-moving joints and fewer aches and pains. So, as an ‘up and active’ student, drinking water would help you reduce body pains, and you would feel less tired at the end of the day.

6. Better temperature regulation: Research shows that when you’re dehydrated, your body stores more heat. This, in turn, lowers your ability to tolerate hot temperatures. Hydrating with plenty of water helps you produce sweat when you begin to feel heat during activity, and this cools your body down. This built-in cooling mechanism is critical in preventing heat stroke and other potentially deadly heat-related conditions. Student athletes should drink more water as they engage in sport activities.

7. Kidney stone prevention: Kidney stones are clumps of mineral crystals that form in the urinary tract. Kidney stones can be really painful. Staying hydrated with plenty of water can help dilute the concentration of minerals in your urinary tract and make stones less likely. Water also helps flush harmful bacteria from your bladder and can aid in preventing urinary tract infections (UTIs).

8. Healthier heart: Your blood is made up largely of H2O. When you don’t drink enough glasses of water, it becomes concentrated, which can cause an imbalance of important minerals (electrolytes). These minerals, like potassium and sodium, are key to the proper functioning of your heart.

9. Improved detoxification: Sufficient water intake supports your body’s natural detoxification systems, which remove waste and harmful substances through urination, breathing, perspiration, and bowel movements. Hydrating with plenty of water supports your own powerful, built-in detox processes and can help improve your overall health.

10. Less headaches: Even a mild fluid loss can cause the brain to contract away from the skull, leading to headaches and migraines in some people. Staying hydrated may help keep head pain in check

Preventing dehydration as students is as easy as incorporating more water and water-rich foods into your diet. Here are some tips:

– Eight glasses a day is an easy rule to remember and a good general target. You can also use the body weight formula: take one-third of your body’s weight and drink that number of ounces in fluids.

– When you feel thirsty, drink! You should drink water even when you don’t feel thirsty. Make it a point to drink a big glass of water with every meal.

– Carry a large, reusable water bottle with you throughout the day and refill it as needed with clean drinking water.

– Certain situations will require you to drink more water to maintain good hydration. These include physical activity and exercise, hot and/or humid weather, and occasions when you are vomiting or have diarrhoea.

In conclusion, mild dehydration can usually be resolved by drinking fluids, but severe dehydration can be life-threatening. Seek medical help immediately if you experience some or all of the symptoms below: dizziness or feeling faint, dry mouth, rapid breathing and/or heartbeat, dark-coloured urine, trouble urinating. Once again, AFASites, remember to always drink water and mind your business!