It’s common knowledge that the human body is composed mostly of water. 60% of the entire adult body is water, with higher concentrations in the lungs (83%), heart (73%), and muscles (79%). Even your bones have water in them!
Water is a vital nutrient for not only humans, but for all life on Earth. The Earth is made of 70% water, and all living creatures require water to perform processes for survival.
Besides keeping our tissues healthy and quenching our thirst, water has many other functions in the body. Here's a few just to give you an idea of how important water is.
Water helps deliver oxygen throughout the body
Water regulates our body temperature through sweat and respiration
Water contributes to shock absorption for the brain and spinal cord
Water helps convert food during digestion
Water acts as a joint lubricant
Water flushes our system of waste
Water is used to make hormones and neurotransmitters
Water allows body cells to grow, reproduce, and survive
Water maintains blood volume regulating blood pressure
There is more, but this short list is enough to demonstrate the importance of water.
Before we get into how to have a good hydration plan, let's also look at the downside of not being hydrated well. Besides getting thirsty or having a dry mouth, being dehydrated affects our performance physically, mentally, and metabolically.
Being dehydrated results in our body temperature rising as we can't cool effectively without water. This lack of water also reduces our blood pressure, which means our heart rate has to increase to compensate. We may feel nausea, fatigue, headaches, or cramping. We may even vomit from lack of water. At the very least, we are going to have a decline in performance even without all these other unpleasant feelings.#snowbeastperformance