Water is an important part of life, most of our body consists of water, without water humans will become dehydrated and die sooner than without food. Water serves for transporting minerals, vitamins, protein and other nutrients throughout the body. Balanced body temperature will depend on the water, because water is the lubricant of body tissue simultaneously bearing joints, bones, and muscles. Human needs at least 8 glasses of water a day which is necessary for the running of metabolic processes in the body.
Water is required for almost all biochemical reactions. In the body, water is helpful among others to maintain body temperature remain stable, dissolving food intake into the body through digestion, carries nutrients to all parts of the body, and remove the result of metabolism proccess out of the body through urine or feaces and sweat.
Consuming enough water can improve the function of hormones, improve the liver’s ability to break down and remove fat also reduce hunger. Conversely, lack of water can caused constipation, urinary tract infections, kidney stones, fatigue, and problems around the skin, hair, and nails. In the market today, people can emerge a new bottled water product that oxygenated water.
Side effects of less drinking water
- Loss of concentration (Brain contain 90% of water)
When someone shortage of water supply, then he will become dehydrated. Dehydration can cause decreased cerebrospinal fluid and oxygen intake that should be flow to the brain is reduced. This resulted in brain cells that become dormant and not growing, even shrink.
- Interfere with blood circulation (blood contain 90% of water).
Blood containing 50% – 60% of fluid and 90% of them is pure water. You can imagine when our bodies are less in water, the blood becomes more viscous. Blood coagulation makes the supply of oxygen that delivered to the brain is reduced and allows the stroke. Blood coagulation will also damage the kidney function due to renal forced to work extra hard to filter blood. Even worse, it could trigger the occurrence of colon cancer due to remnants of food in the large intestine hardened.
- The decline in lung function (the lung contain 86% of water)
Our organs functioning in breathing are the lungs. The lungs in the human body must always be wet in performing its duties, due to enter oxygen to body cells and carbon dioxide pumped out of the body. Our lungs need water so badly, this can be proved by way of exhaling into the glass, where we will see water vapor out through the breath and looks in the form of dew that stick to the glass.
- Loss of kidney function (renal contain 83% of water)
Good nutrition is the foundation of kidney health, especially the intake of water and some dissolved minerals. Water has an important role in the process of human urinary tract system, which is a media transport of substances that are not needed by the body and throw it in the urine. Consuming water, you help to save the kidneys from the risk of kidney disease.
Therefore, it is important to remember that water has an important role in preventing kidney disease in terms of reducing the likelihood of urinary tract stones for those who are gifted with urinary tract stones from their the family. Water also acts to prevent kidney stones and urinary tract infections.
- The decline in muscle function (muscle 75% water)
Adequate water in the body will protect and lubricate the movement of joints and muscles. People who have high activity, such as sportsmen are very prone from injury to joints and muscles. Therefore, water is necessary for sportsmen because they have high activity. For this reason, the water consumption during exercise is useful to minimize the risk of muscle cramps. We need to know, if the muscles of the body is dehydrated, the body muscles will deflate, so that the muscles can not function properly because of lack of fluids.
- Heart palpitations (Heart contain 75% of water)
A healthy heart and normal have the function correctly. Because more than 75% of the heart is water, so the water is very vital for the heart function. If there is a decrease in blood flow and changes in electrolyte levels due to dehydration, usually heart would be palpitate.
- Balance disorder (body 60% water)
With the water content in the body reaches up to 60%, its function is very important in the process of digestion, food absorption, circulation, produce saliva, transportation of nutrients the body, and maintain body temperature. If the lack of water, Parts of being thirst is not only the mouth, but the brain. The water intake to the body can be obtained from water, juice, milk, tea, and coffee. In this case alcoholic beverages does not count because it causes dehydration of the body.
If these organs do not get the water as the level of its needs, it will result in:
- Mouth parched and tongue become swollen. Many people think that dry mouth and tongue swelling is a sign of heartburn or ulcers, but, a dry mouth and tongue swelling maybe is a sign that the body is dehydrated. If you experience this, immediately drink enough water. However, when you have been drunk water but still felt dry mouth and tongue swollen, there are maybe other factors that become the problem.
- Body feels too hot or sultry. One function of water is to maintain body temperature to keep it stable. When the body starts to heat the skin starts to sweat. By sweating, the body temperature will be stable. Because sweat is mostly composed of water, so when dehydrated, your body will stop sweating that makes the body will feel the heat. When the body feels very hot or hot, it could be one of the signs of dehydration.
- Easily tired and lethargic body. Body feels tired and lethargic maybe due to dehydration. Because of chronic dehydration will make the blood volume and blood pressure go down which makes the supply of oxygen to the blood also decreased. Without adequate supply of oxygen, muscles, organs and nerve function will work slowly so that people become more tired.
- The head feels dizzy . For no apparent reason and then head feels dizzy, maybe ut is the signs of dehydration. Because dehydration can also cause dizziness, fainting or feeling floating in the body when it wants to stand up from a sitting or sleeping. This often happens when we wake up or in a vehicle.
- Easy sleepy. Adult humans it takes 6-8 hours to sleep. If you had enough sleep but still felt sleepy, it could be due to dehydration.
- Dry eyes and sore. Dry eye making vision becomes less sharp. One of the factors that make dry eye was reduced of tears. Since the function of tears is to provide lubrication to the eye. If the body is less fluid (dehydration), it can end up in tear production ceases so that the eyes become dry and sore.
- The skin becomes less elastic and easily hurt. We can use the elasticity of the skin to know if we are in dehydration or not by pinching ways. If the conditions are normal, then when it pinced on the back of the hand and then released again it will return to normal. But when the skin is dehydrated, when pinched and released will have slow proccess to back toormal. In addition, if the skin is often sore although light objects collide, it could be due to dehydration because one function of water is to maintain skin elasticity.
- Yellowish urine or even reddish. The most easily recognized sign for dehydration is the color of urine turn into yellow, thick and very pungent smell. This is because when dehydrated, the kidneys conserve water or stop production of urine. As a result, the urine will be darker colored, dark yellow, foul-smelling. In more severe conditions, the color of urine becomes reddish.
- Constipation or difficult bowel movements. In addition because of the lack of food fiber, constipation is also strongly influenced by the water shortage.
- Muscle cramps or muscle spasms easy. One function of water is to maintain blood flow to be stable. When the body is dehydrated, the flow will be disrupted, causing muscle cramps easy. If you are chronically dehydrated, then there is electrolyte imbalance that can cause muscle cramps or spasms continuous. This condition occurs after the completion of exercise.
- Concentrations decreased. If you have difficulty in concentrating, maybe it is because the brain is deprived of oxygen. Oxygen is supplied to the brain via the blood, when dehydrated, blood flow becomes less smooth so that the supply of oxygen is decreased so that the concentration difficulties.
How much webneeds water in a day?
Institute of Medicine revealed that water intake needs for adult specially in males is between 3 liters, equivalent to 13 cups. while for adult women is between the 2.2-liter is equivalent to 9 cups a day. But this is not the benchmark for sure, because it actually the water needs on the every human body is different, it is distinguished on several levels:
- Activity Day.
Everyone has events and activities that are not the same. The sportsmen will be a lot of sweat and faster thirsty, so sometimes the number of water they drink maybe more than those with the activity of sitting in a chair or office. Similarly, those who work or labor in hot rude, they are more vulnerable and need lots of water to drink every day.
- Climatology Shelter.
Climatic factors also greatly affect the need for water intake on the human body. For example, people who live in hot climates, it would be faster to feel thirsty and drink plenty of water than those who live in cold climates.
- Body Condition.
In addition to these two factors, body condition also can have an affect for the needs of drinking water intake on the human body. People who are sick are sometimes need more drinking water, compared with healthy people. It is intended to replace the fluid that comes out more than a healthy person.
- Other Factors.
In addition to the three above, of course, there are other factor that may predispose a person to drink more water, or in need of drinking water. Pregnant and lactating mothers are also have a lot of needs. Because pregnant and lactating mothers remove more fluid from his body. There was also the age factor, the factor of food intake and other factors which would allow it to require the intake of water.