The Role of Hydration in Mental and Physical Performance
Not many understand the importance of how something as simple as water can affect our overall physical and mental performance. We all know that our body consists of 60% of water alone, but how often do we take this statement seriously?
When things become adverse, we get prone to diseases that make us spend hours in hospitals and clinics. But hydration is not as simple as quenching our thirst or helping digest our food, here in this article; we understand the role of hydration in depth.
- Thermoregulation
Since we are warm-blooded animals, our body regulates the temperature as per our natural habitat and our physical activities. Here a lot of hormones play an important role, but water is something that is the key element of this process. It’s a common experience that in summers our body tries to cool itself and in winters tries to heat itself.
Since water acts as a cooling agent during a physical activity, lack of hydration could lead to the malfunctioning of the body. And in the long term make us sick.
- Nutrient transfer:
It does not matter how many nutrients our body is loaded with if the proper nutrients are not transferred or absorbed by the body. There is no use of the nutrients. water not only carries important nutrients to the cells, but it also transfers oxygen to the cells, thereby supporting cellular respiration, which helps in cellular respiration.
- Muscle function:
You might have noticed a lot of sportspeople consuming a lot of water and other fluids during their activities, this is essential because dehydration can cause muscle dysfunction and lead to fatigue during the activity, and even cause injury. Therefore, for proper functioning of the muscle, hydration is a must.
- Kidney function:
A good quantity of water is necessary for the proper functioning of the kidney. This helps the kidneys to regulate the toxins and flush out all the waste from the body. Kidney stones are an adverse effect of dehydration as water prevents calcium deposits on the body.
- Joint functioning:
Our joints consist of synovial fluid, this fluid acts as a lubricant for the joints, and it reduces friction between the joints. Proper hydration maintains the amount of the synovial fluids in the joints, and this helps the joints maintain their elasticity, which helps The joints are necessary to maintain their mobility and thus ensure the proper functioning of the joints.
- Brain functioning and cognitive abilities:
Not only is proper hydration required for the physical performance of the body, but also it is essential for the brain and the cognitive abilities.
Researches show that hydration can impact cognitive abilities, and hydrated people might not perform well in their cognitive abilities. Lack of proper hydration can cause instant symptoms like visual malfunctioning, headaches, etc. this could prevent the body from performing the everyday tasks.
Symptoms of dehydration
We might be suffering from dehydration without our knowledge, and this could lead to a long-term body malfunctioning, but thankfully our body gives signs, which become indicators to show us that the body needs fluids.
- Thirst:
This is simple, but the basic sign that tells us about dehydration is Thirst. if our body is craving water and we feel that there is an excess of thirst, then it simply means that our body requires more hydration.
- Dark colored Urine:
The natural color of Urine is pale yellow, but if there is any unusual darkness in the urine, it means that your body is dehydrated.
- Sunken Eyes:
During dehydration, the muscles under the eyes lose their plumpness, and due to that it becomes sullen. This could be a sign of dehydration.
- Dry skin
Lack of hydration can remove the natural moisture from the skin, which makes the skin feel dry, and this is one of the indicators of dehydration.
- Rapid Heart rate:
As hydration helps the body to deliver oxygen into the cells of the body, lack of proper hydration could hurt this process, making the heart pump blood faster, thus causing a high heart rate.
- Muscle cramps:
One might expect muscle cramps while doing a physical activity, this is due to loss of water from the muscle, if this is common, then it is a sign that you should hydrate your body more frequently
- Lightheartedness:
You might feel trouble standing tall or doing other tasks if your body is lacking hydration, this is an active sign of lack of hydration.
Thus hydrating the body is essential. The amount of the water intake depends on your body weight, external factors, and your overall health. To maintain a good function of the body, proper hydration is essential. If the person is doing vigorous exercises, then, along with water, other electrolytes are a good way of hydration.
