Author: Maria Alfano
Water is the key essential element the body needs to survive and these 13 amazing hydration facts will show you just how important it is to get hydrated. I hear so many of my family, friends, and acquaintances complain about how they hate drinking water, that it’s boring, that they don’t like the taste. Taste? Water shouldn’t have a taste. If it does there is a problem. Add a piece of fruit, a lemon, or lime wedge to your glass of water and it will taste much better. I promise.
It’s time to enjoy the benefits that water and hydration offer to folks like you and me.
Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface. And, water makes up between 60 – 70% of the human body. Is that a coincidence or did Mother Nature intend it that way? Water gives life to all living creatures big or small. The hydration it provides is the gift of life. As we age, water becomes more essential than ever. With the changing and decline of hormone production, our bodies need all the help they can get to stay healthy in our silver and golden years.
This post is all about some fun tips about water, dehydration, hydration facts, and how you can keep your body healthy with proper hydration in midlife and beyond.
13 Amazing Hydration Facts You Can Use Today To Keep Your Aging Body Healthy For Many More Years To Come
Fun Facts About Water
Let’s have some fun! How many of these were you already aware of?
– Water is used everywhere globally to make coffee and tea. I don’t know about you, but I cannot imagine brewing a pot of coffee using orange juice instead of water. Can you?
-Water is 95% of the brain while the lungs are 90%, the blood is 83%, muscles are 76%, and bones are 22% water. I think you get the picture as to why water may be a little important.
-People urinate anywhere from 1 pint to several gallons of water each day. The more you drink, the more you pee.
-You can lose up to 1 liter of water just by sweating each day
-Hunger is often confused with thirst. When you get that urge to eat something, try drinking a glass of water first.
Dehydration
We can’t talk about hydration without first understanding it’s evil twin dehydration. Hydration is the process in which the body absorbs water to regulate body temperature, lubricate joints, and much more. Dehydration is the absence of water in your system caused by simply not drinking enough water. Severe dehydration will shut the organs down and can lead to your eventual demise.
Dehydration Symptoms
#1
Extra dry skin – your skin is the largest organ on your body. It thrives on the good moisture from water and food. Dry skin is itchy, sore, and dull. Wrinkles deepen and fine lines appear in places they never existed before. The fresh bouncy look is gone and is replaced with sunken, sagging skin. Dead cells remain on the surface of the skin giving you a flaky appearance. Adult-onset acne is often a result of not having enough water to take the toxins out of the body. Skin disorders like eczema thrive on the lack of moisture.
#2
Dizziness – dehydration causes low blood pressure and low volume. Because the blood is 83% water, when there is a lack of water, there is a lack of blood. Blood feeds the brain the oxygen it needs. No oxygen = dizziness. Think of your brain like a thick juicy grape, perfectly shaped and full of goodness. Leave that grape on the counter and it dries out. The juiciness and goodness are sucked out into the atmosphere. It’s now a raisin instead of a grape. Your brain is the same. Dehydration sucks the moisture out of your brain. It no longer has the ability to accept blood flow. This manifests itself as dizziness.
#3
Urine – infrequent urination, is the first sign that you are not drinking enough water. If your pee is dark yellow or orange and has a strong odor, this is a sure sign of dehydration. By avoiding drinking enough water to expel the toxins from your body frequently, the toxins accumulate and are evacuated on the rare time you actually do go to the bathroom to pee. The darker the color in the bowl, the more toxins have built up in your body. If it takes you too long to move them out of your system, toxins will cause other health issues.
Dehydration Stages
MILD Dehydration – everyone has experienced this at one time or another in their lives. You get thirsty, a thirst that doesn’t seem to go away. Your mouth goes dry, and you can’t seem to remember the last time you went to pee for the day. This is really common and not a cause for concern as it will rectify itself as you drink more fluids.
MODERATE Dehydration – this is usually a result of low electrolytes in the body. It can be from long bouts of diarrhea or vomiting. You are losing fluids faster than you are ingesting them. The fear of upchucking the next thing that goes into your mouth will stop you from drinking when in fact that is exactly what your body needs. Sodium is one of the easiest electrolytes to replenish through a sports drink or simply adding some Himalayan salt to your glass of water.
SEVERE Dehydration – brings with it urinary tract infections. Toxins overstay their welcome in your body. They rest in your bladder and cause havoc as they are passed. Stroke and kidney failure are not uncommon from the lack of electrolytes from dehydration.
Hydration Facts
The older we get the more important it is that we take heed of these hydration facts and implement them in our daily routine. We have enough things going against from the aging process, we don’t need to nudge our bodies further into decline wherever we can avoid it. Scientists have shown that drinking water at specific times throughout the day makes it more palatable and more beneficial to your body. My favorite way to add water is with an infuser water bottle. Mix it up and add some fruit.
Best Times To Drink Water
Master these timelines for drinking water. Your body will thank you. Even if you hate water, drinking 4 times a day is manageable and doable. Hydration facts show that water is even more essential in midlife and beyond because of the hormone changes that happen naturally as we age.
As soon as you get up – even before your pour yourself a cup of java, drink a glass of water. Wake up your organs with a refreshing glass of water. They slept all night just like you did. Give them the boost they need to get the day started on the right foot.
30 minutes before a meal – water before a meal allows you to feel more satiated and it helps with your digestion. The fluids in your stomach will be active enough to start breaking down the food as you eat.
1 hour after eating – your stomach has had time to go through the digestive process and the nutrients can now be transported by the water to the areas they are needed most.
Before bed – give your body the fluids it needs to make it through the night. You will be asleep for 6-8 hours but your body never stops. Water is the lifeline that will keep it going when you are down for the count.
13 Amazing Hydration facts to slow down your aging
#1
Regulates Body Temperature – believe it or not, the body’s ability to perspire is what keeps the body cool. Sweating means you are losing moisture that your body so desperately needs to regulate its temperature. If you are not replenishing the water going out through your pores with a refreshing glass of water, you run the risk of overheating. It is a good idea to keep a bottle of water with you at all times – while exercising to keep hydrated as you work out or while driving on a blistering hot day, and even while chilling in front of the TV. Any dry environment will draw moisture from your body and it is vital to replace it any chance you get.
#2
Aids in the digestion process – your stomach’s acids coupled with water help to break down food and extract the nutrients it needs to support the body. Indigestion or heartburn occurs when the stomach does not have enough fluids to properly break down food and absorb the nutrients. Contrary to popular belief, when stomach fluids are low, that’s when we experience annoying heartburn and acid indigestion. Drink water to reduce these symptoms.
#3
Helps with weight loss – replace your sugary drinks with a glass of water. It is 100% calorie-free as opposed to a soda that can contain up to 140 empty calories and 39 grams of sugar. Too much sugar intake turns into extra carbs that the body cannot handle. Carbs are stored as fat to be used in the future. If you never use them, then fat stores grow and the weight gain starts.
All too often people mistake thirst for hunger. Reach for water the next time you think you are hungry instead of a bag of chips or a chocolate bar. Drinking water before a meal helps you feel full faster so you won’t overeat.
#4
Helps with blood pressure – not enough water means there is not enough blood. This forces the heart to work harder to pump blood through the veins. The opposite is also true. When the blood is fully hydrated, the heart doesn’t have to work so hard to pump the ample volumes of blood throughout the miles of veins and arteries. With age heart disease is common. Don’t give it any excuse by avoiding water. Stay hydrated to keep your blood pressure in check.
#5
Protects vital organs – water forms padding around our vital organs to shield them from free radicals and toxins. It is an extra layer of protection that softens the impact of an injury.
#6
Flushes out toxins – water picks up all the toxins in your body as it makes its way around. Transport these unwanted guests into the bladder to be expelled when you pee by drinking enough water. Your pee should be a light yellow color with no odor. Toxins are leaving your body frequently. Unlike above, when in the severe dehydration stage, your body struggles to release the toxins because of the lack of water.
#7
Lubricates the joints – joints are surrounded by tissue that forms a cushion to support the bones. If that tissue is dried up and shriveled up, the bones rub together and cause much pain. Staying hydrated means that tissue between your bones stays soft and supple thus relieving pressure and pain.
#8
Prevents kidney damage – kidneys freely and quickly remove toxins from the body to be passed through the urine when properly hydrated. The lack of moisture means the toxins are going on a leisurely stroll through the kidneys. They stay a while. And, they start to do damage to the kidney. Drinking enough water daily pushes those toxins through your system quickly so they don’t have time to cause injury to your organs. They can’t latch onto anything. Think of it as white water rafting vs a ride on a tube down the lazy river at the local water park. On the lazy river, you can grab onto your friend’s hand, touch the sides of the river, and pick flowers if you want to. White water rafting propels you down the river at high speeds. Water does the same thing to the toxins in your body. You want more of it to get rid of them faster.
#9
Oxygen to cells – water which is absorbed by the miles of intestines in your body is used to extract the oxygen from the H2O and deliver it to millions of cells that make up the human body. The cell walls are semipermeable. Oxygen passes by way of osmosis meaning the water washing over the cell’s surface and is absorbed as needed while the water continues on to the next stop somewhere else in the body.
#10
Maintains regularity – we have a whole article on this subject. You can find it noted below. However, to summarize this hydration fact, the amount of moisture in your body will determine how hard or soft your poop is. The less the water, the harder the poop, the harder it is to go. Staying regular means you are expelling the waste from your body anywhere from every couple of days or up to 3 times per day. You want your stools to have moisture in them so you don’t strain to go. Straining causes other medical issues you can avoid simply by drinking water.
#11
Increased energy – a healthy well-hydrated brain is alert and functioning. This reduces stress and fatigue making you feel more energized. Think of a battery. A brand new battery is full of energy and works like a charm. Used batteries become sluggish and slow down. Water does the same in the body. When your moisture levels are good you function at full speed, when they are love, you drag yourself around. These hydration facts alone should be enough reason to drink more water.
#12
Better sleep – the fear of being awakened by the need to pee in the middle of the night stops folks from drinking water at night. Hydrate before going to bed. The human body slows down the production of urine while you sleep. Organs and cells use water to stay hydrated during the 6-8 hours when you’re in bed. You perspire while your sleep and the extra water before bed ensures you retain good moisture levels throughout the night. Staying hydrated also keeps your levels of melatonin high. Melatonin helps the brain respond to darkness so it can go into a state of rest. It allows you to sleep better.
#13
Improves your complexion – last but not least this hydration fact should give you enough incentive to drink more water all on its own. Water pushes the toxins out of your body through peeing and sweating. Not enough water means those toxins stay put. On your skin toxins manifest themselves as acne, dark spots, or dull, flat skin. Wrinkles appear where they never existed before. Drink water to keep your skin supple and glowing. Remove those toxins and get rid of the acne. Watch those wrinkles disappear as the skin becomes more hydrated.
If these 13 amazing hydration facts were not enough encouragement to get you to drink more water, then I don’t know what is. Let aging take its course but do it gracefully. Don’t give it an unnecessary boost. Fight it with all you got by simply drinking a tall glass of water a few times a day!
This post was all about dehydration, hydration facts, and how to keep your body healthy with good hydration.