07/26/2022
I was recently asked about the benefits of water. Aside from the fact that the chemical reactions that keep you alive occur in water, and water is an active participant in these reactions, here are some other key functions of water:
💧Temperature Regulation: When exercising, only 25% of energy produced is used for mechanical work. The remaining 75% is released as heat. This causes your body to heat up. In order to cool down, you sweat! As sweat evaporates, your body cools down.
💧 Fat Burning: The kidneys require water to do their job of filtering waste products from the body. In a shortage of water, your kidneys turn to the liver for help. One of the liver’s functions is using stored fat for energy. By taking on extra work from the kidneys, the liver is unable to do its fat burning job as well. This compromises fat loss. Water also helps to fill you up so you don’t eat as much!
💧 Muscle Strength & Control: In your body, water is found in the highest concentrations in metabolically active tissues such as muscle and lowest in relatively active tissues such as skin, fat and some parts of bone. Muscles are controlled by nerves. Electrical stimulation of nerves and contraction of muscles happen as a result of the exchange of electrolyte minerals dissolved in water (sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and magnesium) across the nerve and muscle cell membranes. A water decrease of 2 to 4% of your body weight can decrease your strength training workouts up to 21% and your aerobic power by 48%! In a muscle cell that is well-hydrated, protein synthesis is stimulated and protein breakdown is decreased.
💧 Joint Lubrication: Water is the main ingredient of synovial fluid, the lubricating fluid between your joints, and cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid is the shock-absorbing fluid between vertebrae and around the brain.
💧 Mental Performance: Dehydration decreases mental energy, causes fatigue, lethargy, light-headedness and headaches and can also negatively affect your mood.
💧 Disease & Illness Prevention