Why is water important to your health? Doctors always tell you that water is important for a healthy body and you should drink plenty of it, but no one really tells you why it is important to health. We have the answers in this article.
Water is not just a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, it does magical things for the human body and is most satisfying for thirst. You can drink it straight up or intake as part of other fluids or drinks or food,
60% of your body contains water (U.S. Geological Survey – Water Science School 2019). Our cells, tissues, brain, skin, kidneys, and liver contain a specific quantity of water and need water to work properly.
We lose water from our body during breathing, digestion, and sweating which causes dehydration. The only way to rehydrate is by consuming water, food, or liquid drinks.
In terms of statistics, a normal person excretes 9-12 cups of water in a day. Therefore, it is necessary to fulfill that deficiency of water by drinking 12 cups of water daily for men and 9 cups of water for women (National Kidney Foundation 2015).
Why is water important to your health? This article provides you with all the reasons you need to know to enhance your quality of life at any age!
Table of Contents
What Does Water Do?
Water helps :
- lower risk of dehydration and heat stroke
- create saliva to move food into the intestine to initiate digestion
- maintain muscle function, protect and cushion joints and body organs
- control body temperature
- promote kidney health by moving nutrients and waste through the body
- keep blood pressure normal
- improve constipation
What is Dehydration?
Dehydration occurs when you lose more fluid than you take in. Below are some of the signs of dehydration:
- Thirst
- Dry lips and dry mouth
- Flushed skin
- Headache
- Dizziness and fainting
- Dark yellow, strong smelling urine
- Low blood pressure and increased heart rate
You may be dehydrated even if you don’t have any of the signs so it is important to drink fluids often even before you feel thirsty.
Sometimes people forget to rehydrate until they become thirsty, or are not motivated to drink water because they like soda or sweetened beverages.
Fortunately, there is wide array of motivational, fruit infusion or regular hydration water bottles that can help you along. Some of the more popular ones are shown here:
| ZOMAKE 32oz Motivational Water Bottle | BUZIO 64 oz Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle | BRIMMA Fruit Infuser 32 oz Water Bottle | SAHARA SAILOR 32oz MotivationWater Bottle |
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Why Is Water So Important to Your Body? – Drink Lots of It!
Helps Create Saliva
Saliva production is very beneficial for oral health. It neutralizes the acid because saliva is a little alkaline itself. Saliva has enzymes that help in digestion. Moreover, it also helps in killing fungi present inside the mouth.
Saliva is 99% water. Drinking a sufficient amount of water keeps saliva production normal. In case of dehydration, our body makes less saliva which leads to a dry mouth. A dry mouth causes many problems, like difficulty chewing and swallowing or bad breath.
So one answer for why water is important to your health is proper saliva production.
Why Is Water Important to Your Health? – Helps Normal Muscle And Joint Function
Healthy muscles are important to live an active life. Muscles and joints contain 70% -75% of water, while water acts as a lubricant for them avoiding friction between muscles.
Lack of water causes muscle cramps and weakness as dehydration creates an electrolyte imbalance and hinders proper blood flow.
This is a major reason why seniors should stay hydrated. Senior muscles and joints are already weak and a further deficiency of water can make them worse.
Maintains Body Temperature
Our body temperature increases due to internal or external sources. External sources include seasonally hot or cold temperatures or extreme exercise. Note that internal metabolic activities also generate heat in the body.
Water acts as a thermo-regulator. It normalizes our body temperature by dispersing heat. When we exercise, water is released in the form of sweat to decrease body heat.
Hydration is important because a sufficient quantity of water absorbs heat before it affects any other cell or organ. This nature of water promotes proper functioning of many organs.
High body temperature is not a minor thing. It directly affects your heart rate. So, ensure drinking as much water as possible in a day to maintain external and internal body temperature.
Promotes Kidney Health
Kidneys are body filters. They remove toxic waste from our blood and return healthy substances back to the bloodstream. Water helps the kidneys function efficiently.
Kidneys extract the waste, but where does that waste go? Here comes water to help. Water helps in removing waste from our bodies in the form of urine. It helps blood to flow easily to the kidneys for purification.
It also keeps blood vessels open so that essential nutrients can travel back to the bloodstream.
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day to avoid kidney issues (The Economic Times – World Kidney Day 2023).Dehydration results in kidney stones or kidney failures.
Helps Maintain Normal Blood Pressure
Water keeps your blood pressure normal. When our body has a scarcity of water, our blood gets thicker. This exerts pressure on blood vessels that causes high blood pressure.
Moreover, research demonstrates that dehydration promotes the secretion of vasopressin which increases blood pressure.
Vasopressin is a hormone released when the level of sodium increases in the blood. Therefore, don’t let your body dehydrate to avoid vasopressin secretion.
Moreover, due to a lack of fluid, kidneys start absorbing water instead of passing them out as urine. This increases the amount of waste in the blood which ultimately leads to high blood pressure.
Improves Constipation
One of the main causes of constipation is dehydration. To improve your constipation, drink plenty of water.
Water plays an important part in digestion. It keeps everything moving. The food we eat enters our stomach, undergoes digestion as it moves to the large intestine.
Fluids assist this movement of food from the mouth to the large intestine because in the absence of water, the large intestine soaks water from food waste. This results in large stools which are difficult to pass.
Seniors often face constipation as many have a tendency not to take enough water as they begin eating smaller food portions. Sometimes it is hard to stay hydrated when you hate drinking water which makes it even more difficult.
Therefore, to ease constipation, keep your body hydrated. Chances of constipation are less in a hydrated body. Check out this article on How to Stay Hydrated When You Hate Water for some great options.
Can Help With Weight Loss
A person tries hard to lose weight using the traditional methods of diet, gym workouts, other exercise, and other unorthodox methods but it seems as if you are barely pushing the needle downward on the weight scale!
How would you like to know that water can help with weight loss? Really, right?
When hungry, our stomach sends a signal to the brain that it needs food. In such cases, we can fill our stomachs with water so that we do not feel hungry.
Before consuming food, it’s better to fill some part of your stomach with water so that you consume less food.
Water also helps in burning calories which can enhance weight loss.
Conclusion – Why is Water So Important to Your Body?
So, a little secret for a healthy life is water. This simple liquid has so many benefits which help us understand why is water important to your health, and even more so in hot weather.
A cure for most problems is somehow connected with water consumption, while a deficiency can cause serious health issues. Therefore, drink lots of water to live a healthy life.
Related Articles
- How to Stay Hydrated When You Hate Water – Is it Possible?
- Causes of Leg Cramps at Night – How to Stop Them
- How to Get Rid of Constipation Quickly – Feel Good Again
- Why Proper Hydration is Important Especially in Hot Weather
References
Water Science School. (2019). The Water in You: Water and the Human Body | U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved from www.usgs.gov website: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body#:~:text=Up%20to%2060%25%20of%20the
https://www.facebook.com/WebMD. (2017, February). How Much Water Should I Drink? Retrieved from WebMD website: https://www.webmd.com/diet/how-much-water-to-drink
World Kidney Day: Drinking 8 Glasses Of Water Flushes Toxins And Other Myths About Renal Health – Facts About Kidney Health. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2023, from The Economic Times website: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/world-kidney-day-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-flushes-toxins-and-other-myths-about-renal-health/myth-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day-helps-flush-out-the-toxins-in-the-kidneys/slideshow/74591347.cms
Mayo Clinic. (2020, July 22). Water is essential to your body. Retrieved from www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org website: https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/water-essential-to-your-body
6 Tips To Be “Water Wise” for Healthy Kidneys. (2015, April 28). Retrieved from National Kidney Foundation website: https://www.kidney.org/content/6-tips-be-water-wise-healthy-kidneys#:~:text=Water%20helps%20the%20kidneys%20remove
Why Is Water Important? 16 Reasons to Drink Up. (2018, March 20). Retrieved from Healthline website: https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/why-is-water-important#weight-loss
Migala, J. (2015, February 16). The Health Benefits of Water. Retrieved from EverydayHealth.com website: https://www.everydayhealth.com/water-health/water-body-health.aspx
Ltd, H. P. (2022, February 7). Can Drinking Water Every Day Lower Your Blood Pressure? Retrieved from HealthMatch website: https://healthmatch.io/high-blood-pressure/can-water-lower-high-blood-pressure#potential-benefits-of-drinking-water-for-high-blood-pressure
How Does Water Help To Stabilize Body Temperature. (n.d.). Retrieved from Frizzlife website: https://www.frizzlife.com/blogs/news/how-does-water-help-to-stabilize-body-temperature
