Hydration is one of the most important aspects of health. For many, drinking water is an essential part of every day. But unfortunately, some people are chronically dehydrated and they don’t even realize the impact it’s having on their bodies.
Hydrating your body can feel like magic. With just a glass of water, you can go from feeling fatigued, lethargic, hungry, and unhappy to feeling your absolute best. Hydration improves your skin, organ function, mood, and more. It’s essential to the process that sustains your life and is one of the easiest ways to improve your health.
What’s going on with your body when it comes to hydration? This deep dive into hydration chemistry will help you understand the importance of drinking enough water daily.
Hydration Is Crucial
Our bodies are made up of approximately 60 percent water. Hydration affects just about every physiological function. Water:
- Regulates body temperature
- Lubricates joints
- Aids in digestion
- Flushes toxins
Even mild dehydration reduces cognitive function, causes fatigue, diminishes physical performance, and can lead to headaches.
Role of Water in Cellular Function
At the molecular level, water affects chemical functions directly and indirectly. For example:
Water Acts as a Solvent
When you drink, water enters your digestive system and then your bloodstream, carrying ions in and out of your cells. This helps maintain cell membranes’ electrical potential, which affects nerve impulses, muscle contraction, and proper fluid balance.
Energy Productions
Hydration also affects your energy level. This is because water is an essential component of your cell’s mitochondria, which carry energy within each cell. This process is called cellular respiration, and it requires water to convert glucose into energy. When you’re dehydrated, your cellular respiration diminishes, which means your cells have less energy, leaving you feeling tired and sluggish.
Detoxification
Water plays an important role in removing waste from your body. If you’re usually diligent about drinking water and typically hydrated, you’ll likely notice a change if you reduce your water intake on a given day. Not drinking enough water can cause you to become constipated, which literally means your body is not eliminating waste.
On a cellular level, water allows each cell to flush waste. This process happens internally before your waste is flushed from your body during a bathroom trip. Your body’s lymphatic system, responsible for waste removal, relies on water to function.
Hydration and Your Organs
Water explores just about every organ in your body. For example:
- Your brain is approximately 73 percent water, which means dehydration affects memory, mood, concentration, and cognitive function.
- Your muscles are approximately 75 percent water and will cramp and lose elasticity when dehydration sets in.
- Your skin relies on water to stay elastic, making you more likely to develop wrinkles when chronically dehydrated.
- Your kidneys rely on water to filter waste and regulate electrolytes.
- Your heart needs water to maintain blood volume by pumping as efficiently as possible.
Molecular Impact of Dehydration
When you don’t give your body the water it needs, your cells shrink. This means that each cell experiences dehydration. When your cells aren’t functioning, your body will struggle to perform involuntary functions, including nerve signaling, digestion, and muscle contraction, as they normally would.
Dehydration also affects your body’s enzymes, which are responsible for just about every biochemical reaction in your body. Dehydration interferes with every process in your body. You might not realize what’s going on at the molecular level, but you will undoubtedly feel the effects of dehydration.
Portable Water Stations Help You Stay Hydrated
It’s easy to understand how important hydration is, even if you aren’t constantly aware of what’s happening at the cellular level. Staying hydrated is about far more than just avoiding the feeling of thirst. Hydration ensures that your body can function properly.
This applies to everyone, from high-performance athletes playing a sport in the summer sun to an older adult who is limited in movement but relies on water for their organs to function.
If you’re responsible for keeping people hydrated, you must understand the importance of hydration and health. Dehydration can lead to serious medical issues. Portable hydration stations are a great way to make it easy and convenient for people to stay hydrated.
If you’d like to learn more about portable hydration stations or you’re wondering if this might be a solution for you, book a quick call to discuss your needs.