Do you know that drinking water can make you smarter?

The human brain is 75% water. It shrinks when we become dehydrated. How might this affect brain function, you may ask?  A study was done taking  a group of school children and randomly assigning them to drink either 250 ml or no water before taking a test. Which group do you think significantly did better? -the group given the water. The result of this research suggested that "even children in a state of mild dehydration, not induced by intentional water deprivation or by heat stress and living in a cold climate, can benefit from drinking more water and improve their cognitive performance."

Does dehydration affect mood also since our mood has a lot to do with brain activity. Absolutely, it does! How well hydrated we are affects our mood. The following have been shown to be results of poor water intake :

• sleepiness and fatigue

• lower levels of vgor and alertness

• and increased feelings of confusion.

However when water is drunk again, it has been demonstrated that there was almost immediate reversal of the conditions mentioned earlier. "Water absorption begins very rapidly, within five minutes from the mouth to the blood stream, peaking around minute twenty." Dr Michael Greger

Many also think that as long as the beverage does not have sugar that that will take care of these problems.

On the contrary, all of these beverages have chemicals that are added for colour, flavour, preservation and other reasons. Some of these may irritate delicate stomach linings, and some may also require the liver and kidneys to detoxify and dispose them. Dinking water eliminates all these problems. Water has no extra calories to slow down digestion or to add unwanted fat. It has no irritants to stress the sensitive linings of the digestive tract, it has fewer chemicals to threaten delicate body machinery and no caffeine. Water is readily available and is cheap.

"There’s actually extensive evidence now suggesting that not drinking enough water may be associated with a variety of problems, including falls, and fractures, heat stroke, heart disease, lung disorders, kidney disease, kidney stones, bladder and colon cancer, urinary tract infection, constipation, dry eye disease, cavities, decreased immune functions, and cataract formation. The problem though is that low water intake is also associated with unhealthy habits, including low fruit and vegetable intake. Also those who exercise a lot are the ones who also drink a lot of water. Not a surprise that heavy water drinkers have lower disease rates." How Not to Die, p 380

The question then is how much water should you drink?

You should drink enough till your urine is pale, i.e., almost colourless like water. The body loses about two to three liters of water a day through the skin, lungs, urine and faeces. Food provides half to one liter of water, leaving you about one and half liters of water to drink. This is about 6-8 glasses of water. That is, about 4 sachets of pure water a day. Many drink more but most people don’t come close to this requirement.  

You need to get into the habit of drinking water liberally. Drink at least two cups (500ml) as soon as you wake up in the morning, at mid- morning another two cups and at mid afternoon another 2 cups. By sunset two more cups and before bed one more cup. A drink of water is like an internal shower. It rinses the stomach and prepares it for its work. So start the day right, Give that early-morning drink some zest by adding a twist of lime or lemon. Then during the morning and afternoon breaks reach out for a glass or two of water and drink. When the urge comes to snack replace it with a drink of water, it works wonders. It revitalizes you immediately. When you are asked,  “what can I give you to drink?” Say,  “a glass of water is fine”. In fact it’s perfect!

 

Marian O Atolagbe, ND

hello@mannalifestylehome.com

+234 903 258 0513