– Jacques Cousteau
Water is the source of life. Seventy-one percent of the earth’s surface is water, and 60% of our bodies is water. Water provides the essential fluid our bodies need to optimally function. And it was our natural beverage of choice in the beginning.
Over the course of time, things changed. We’ve drunk teas, coffees, and alcoholic beverages since ancient times. As we transitioned to agriculture society, cattle, sheep, and goats became domesticated, and people starting consuming milk. Fast forward to the 1840s, the mass production and consumption of sweetened soft drinks began. The introduction of caffeine-fueled energy drinks promising mental and physical alertness followed shortly thereafter.4,5 More recently, we’ve seen the advent of the sugar-loaded “sports drink.” The rising consumption of all of these sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic of the 21st century.
With so many hydration options, we have neglected the vital mainstay of our health and wellness―pure, simple and calorie-free water. And while we may consume multiple beverages a day, choosing manufactured drinks such as teas, coffees, sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks as substitutes for water is a mistake. Not to mention, drinks containing caffeine or alcohol are diuretics that can cause and worsen dehydration.7 So in choosing these substitutes, we—75% of us, to be exact, according to the Institute of Medicine—end up depriving our bodies of water’s life-sustaining and disease-prevention benefits.
Whether you live your life seeing the glass-half-full or half-empty, you can transform it by improving your health, energy and outlook by simply getting the water your body needs every day. Water should be the beverage you turn to most of the time. In fact, for optimal health and fitness, most of us would be better off if we drank nothing but water.
What happens when we do not get enough water?
“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.”
– Thomas Fuller
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognizes how critical getting enough water every day is to our health.8 Without sufficient water, your body’s functions can become compromised, from its cells to its vital organs. Water is critical to the body’s homeostatic balance and optimal performance. When this balance is thrown off, dire consequences can ensue.
With mild dehydration, you may experience dizziness, weakness, fatigue and diminished physical performance. When chronic dehydration sets in, you become more susceptible to a variety of health complications.10 Your body experiences dehydration as a crisis and switches to emergency conservation mode.
Compromised alertness, poor mood, and risk of dementia
Your brain is between 75% and 85% water, and it relies on water to deliver essential nutrients, remove toxins and keep your neurons firing optimally. During dehydration, you can experience mental fog with a lack of clarity and focus, poor memory, headaches, lethargy and fatigue, sleep issues, anger, depression, mood instability and other insidious conditions. Studies have shown that prolonged dehydration causes brain cells to shrink in size and mass. Chronic dehydration is a recognized factor in dementia. Staying properly hydrated may help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Asthma
Researchers suspect that dehydration may be a factor in bronchopulmonary disorders, though the precise role it plays in causing them is still undetermined.
Blood sugar imbalances and diabetes risk
Water is essential to the proper operation of the pancreas, which produces the essential hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. Dehydration can adversely impact blood glucose levels because your body creates the hormone vasopressin, which causes the kidneys to retain as much fluid (and glucose) as possible. High levels of vasopressin in the bloodstream can also cause the liver to produce more blood sugar. Over time, this can lead to insulin resistance and chronic hyperglycemia. Insulin resistance is a precursor of diabetes.
Constipation
Dehydration causes the cells of your large intestine to extract the water it needs from food waste instead of your body, causing stool to become hard and difficult to pass. Constipation is very common for people who are dehydrated.
Gallstones
Dehydration can cause bile in the gallbladder to become more concentrated, which can lead to gallstones.
Hypertension
People who are chronically dehydrated are more susceptible to developing high blood pressure. When the body is low on water, it secretes vasopressin, which is an antidiuretic hormone that causes the blood vessels to constrict and increases blood pressure.
Kidney stones
When you are dehydrated, your urine can become so concentrated that it causes minerals to crystallize in the kidneys. These kidney stones can cause severe pain and serious complications when they are too large to pass through the ureter.
Joint complications: osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease
The CDC recognizes how critical water intake is for lubricated and cushioned joints and spinal protection. In a state of dehydration, the body withdraws water from less critical internal locations such as its cartilage cells to more critical places like its blood cells, resulting in collateral damage.
Healthy cartilage cells are filled with water, providing the lubrication for the 2 opposing joint surfaces to easily glide when we move. With dehydrated cartilage, more friction and abrasive damage can occur. Under these conditions, joint degeneration is inevitable. Over time, the degeneration becomes severe and develops into osteoarthritis (OA), which is also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD). Any joint is susceptible, but most commonly, OA is seen in the neck, knees, lower back, hips, and hands. The associated pain and inflammation can be mild to debilitating.
Healthy discs require water for many of the same reasons your joints do. Chronic dehydration may play a role in degenerative disc disease (DDD) as well. Typical MRI findings of DDD reveal disc desiccation or dehydrated discs. Inflammation, pain and muscle spasms in the neck and lower back are the hallmarks of DDD.
Lower back pain
Your spinal joints and disc structures depend on water stored in the disc core. In fact, 75% of the weight of your upper body is supported by the water in the disc core. Dehydration can, therefore, compromise the discs and their joints. And again, chronic inflammation, pain and muscle spasms in the neck and lower back may be signals of OA or DDD.
Overeating and possible weight gain
“I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man.”
– Henry David Thoreau
We are prone to interpreting the signal of thirst as hunger, often eating when our body is really craving water. To make matters worse, when we do reach for a drink, we often reach for diuretic beverages containing caffeine or alcohol that further undermine our hydration status.
Drinking diet sodas can be counterproductive to maintaining your ideal weight and to maintain adequate hydration. How? The sweet taste of artificial sweetener in diet sodas preps our body for receiving nutrients. When no nutrients are delivered, we get the urge to eat to fill the food expectation created by the artificial sweetener. So while you may be saving calories by not drinking sweetened sodas, you may be driven to eat more after drinking one. You would be far better off kicking the diet or sugary soda habit, and drinking sparkling water instead. That way, you get bubbly satisfaction and hydration without any adverse effects.
Importantly, when your body experiences the crisis of dehydration, it goes into conservation mode, slowing its basic processes and your metabolism down. That means fewer calories burned and the potential for weight gain over time.
Premature aging
When you are dehydrated, your skin is dry as well. And dry skin and dehydration can make you look older. When you are well hydrated, your skin naturally glows. Drinking water plumps your skin, so it also appears more youthful—even smoothing out dimply areas on the legs and arms.
Uremia
When your body is depleted of water, your kidneys cannot excrete all of the waste they need to, so urine gets trapped and circulated through the body.10 Uremia can have devastating effects on the nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular system―with severe and sometimes fatal consequences.
How much water should we drink?
Your size, your diet, the weather and your level of activity all factor into the equation of how much water you need. The “eight glasses a day” adage may or may not be enough (depending on the size of your glass), but it is a great start. The general recommendation is to divide your body weight by 2, and that number is the number of ounces of water you should drink. Add 16 ounces of water to your recommended amount for every 30 minutes of exercise or extreme heat and/or humidity conditions. So if you have worked out for an hour today, you need to add 32 ounces of water to your recommended daily amount. If you also eat a diet rich in vegetables and fruit, you can get about 20% of your water through it.
The best way to know if you are hydrated or not is to check the color of your urine. If you are well hydrated, it will be a light, pale yellow. If it is any darker, you should increase your water intake. (Some vitamins and medications can darken your urine, so this method is not reliable for everyone.) Your sense of smell can also be of help. More concentrated urine has a stronger smell than urine that is adequately diluted by excreted water. (Strong odor may also be the sign of an infection, so be sure to consult with your physician if you suspect an infection.)
Also, as we age, we gradually lose our thirst sensation, so making drinking water a conscious habit is important.30
Conclusion
“There is no life without water.”
– Albert Szent-Györgyi
Water is life sustaining. Hydrating is on par with breathing, nourishing and sleeping. By simply drinking enough water, we can replenish ourselves and optimize our health and wellness. When we are properly hydrated, we are energized to think faster, more clearly and more creatively, and to focus better.11 Getting the water we need is vital to living our best life. We cannot fulfill our potential and actualize our purpose without it.
Improve your hydration, and improve your health
Make small changes today, and drink in a lifetime of health and happiness.
Seven tips to help you stay hydrated
1. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.
2. Drink a glass of water whenever you think you are hungry.
3. Drink a glass or 2 of water a half-hour before every meal and 2.5 hours after every meal. (This practice will keep you hydrated and curb your appetite.)
4. Add 16 ounces of water for every 30 minutes you exercise.
5. Kick the soda and diet soda habit, and replace it with sparkling water.
6. Drink a glass of water before you go to bed.
7. Keep water with you, and sip it throughout the day.