Are you hydrated?
You might hear this question at work or at home and you may think to yourself, “Well, sure, I had some coffee earlier,” or, “Sure, I had a protein shake after my workout.” But that’s not the question they are asking.
Really, they are asking, “Have you had enough water today?”
Water is plain and simple, so it gets a bad wrap. There are more exciting beverage options out there – we might have juice with breakfast or coffee on the way to work. Maybe we get electrolytes from sports drinks or try to make up for a lack of sleep with an energy drink. But behind water’s simplicity is the most basic need of our bodies!
According to Leonardo da Vinci,
“Water is the driving force of all nature.”
Your brain drives you. It assesses all of your options, makes all of your decisions, holds all of your memories, dreams all of your dreams. Everything that makes you, you, happens in your brain. Plus, it regulates all of your physical functions – digests your food, pumps your blood, and directs oxygen to your muscles. And that all-important organ is 80% water!
And your body itself – the vehicle for your brain – is also 55-60% water. Water accounts for 70% of the mass of your cells. It carries waste and toxins away from your brain and brings nutrients toward it; it helps regulate the temperature of your body; it helps prevent disease, produce hormones and neurotransmitters, and secure the overall functioning of your body and brain.
So it almost goes without saying that you should probably drink more water! But these emails are dedicated to your health and health education, so I will say it 🙂
Studies show that if your brain’s hydration decreases by only 1%, your cognitive function decreases by 5%.
With another 1% loss of hydration, you begin to experience short-term memory loss and problem-solving impairment.
Dehydration can result in your body’s inability to transport tryptophan across the blood-brain barrier… which means impaired melatonin and serotonin production.
Melatonin and serotonin are known to regulate the sleep cycle – and of course, sleep is one of the body’s most critical functions, impacting memory, focus, mental acuity, and of course, mood. Serotonin is also thought to regulate appetite, impacting your dietary choices – which will further affect your brain’s functioning.
Isn’t it incredible just how powerful one decision can be? One good choice creates momentum that encourages another good choice – it is that easy to start a healthier lifestyle that yields great results over time!
Hopefully that is encouraging to you as you hear that we lose an average of 80 fluid ounces each day by sweating, breathing, and eliminating waste. We lose even more water in warmer weather, summer months, and high altitudes.
Are you drinking at least 80 fluid ounces of water every day? If not… you are definitely not performing at peak!
I encourage you to take the next week and commit to full hydration (one-half your weight in fluid ounces of water). Break it up into smaller units and drink throughout the day. See how much better, how much more energized, how reinvigorated you feel.
And don’t forget to let me know the results of your experiment 🙂
Make today your masterpiece!
Florina
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