Drink responsibly!
What is the connection between water and brain functioning?
You probably know that around 60% of our body mass is made up of water, but did you know that about 75% of the brain mass is also water? Now it shouldn’t surprise you that lack of proper hydration can have a significant effect on your whole body, but especially your brain. According to many scientists there is no universal rule of how much exactly you should drink daily, but most say that four to six cups is commonly enough for generally healthy people*.
There are many benefits of drinking water, from regulating internal body processes, such as digestion, blood pressure or relaxation of joints and muscles, through maximizing physical performance, to improving brain productivity. All in all, the worst you can do is become dehydrated.
What are the symptoms of dehydration?
Are you feeling tired or moody, can’t focus or often forget stuff? That could be dehydration. Due to various processes in our bodies the lack of water can result in many ways. Recent study conducted in Beijing has proven that it has a particularly negative effect on vigor, esteem-related affect, short-term memory, attention and reaction. The research consisted of several tests evaluating cognitive performance, done at the beginning with a proper level of hydration, later after 36h of not drinking water at all, and at last following a rehydration. The last test has shown a significant improvement in the participants’ scoring and wellbeing. Such studies have been repeated on different sex and age groups and all of them showed consistent results. So why not learn from that? Keep your fluids in check and see the results for yourself, or try a similar test at home! Grab a puzzle and try to fully focus on it and do it in the shortest time, first after a few hours of not drinking and later after one or two glasses of water. Which result do you think will be better?
Can dehydration cause anxiety?
As stated before, dehydration heavily affects your mood, but can it really be so serious? Shortage of water alone can’t suddenly cause anxiety, but it can definitely boost it when accompanied by stress or panic. The side effects of dehydration may be headaches, weakness, increased heart rate or higher pain sensitivity. Lower blood pressure may result in the necessary hormones not being transmitted in time and the muscles tensing up. All those factors contribute to the close relation between dehydration and anxiety. But there is a bright side here as well – if you increase your water intake you can easily soothe the negative anxiety and panic attacks or make them less frequent.
What is brain fog?
Because of the water being the main ingredient of the brain, there can be quite a few mental symptoms of dehydration. One of them is brain fog. It is described as a mental fatigue or a cognitive dysfunction which includes problems with focus, memory and thinking clearly. It is induced among others by stress, sleep shortages and hormonal changes – all the things that are impacted by the amount of water that you drink. Of course, there are many other causes, but most of them can be fixed with water supply.
Can dehydration cause brain damage?
Brain damage is a state of destruction or degeneration of brain cells, most frequently caused by an accident where the head hits something hard enough for the brain to move and injure some cells, or as a result of related illnesses such as a stroke or a tumor. There is no scientific proof of dehydration, even a hard one, having effect on deteriorating brain cells, so no need to worry that your brain will start disappearing if you skip one glass of water. It has been proven however, that the brain volume slightly decreases when dehydrated – the numbers vary from 0.3% to 1.7% depending on the research, where participants were restricted from drinking water for 12 to 16 hours. This shouldn’t come as a surprise though, since most of the brain is water. Also, these tiny fluctuations happen normally throughout the day and are easily balanced with additional glass of water or two. Even during harder dehydration periods, for example in heat waves or after an enormous workout, no brain damage should emerge from the sole shortage of water.
Can dehydration cause headaches?
Now that we have settled the cases of serious illnesses it is time to face the milder ones – the headaches. Headaches and migraines may be the result of too little water in the organism. It is mostly caused by the mass reduction in the brain – when it shrinks, even just a little, it pulls away from the skull which makes you feel pain. Depending on the level of water shortage it can occur only in some parts of the head or through all of it, including face or neck. To relieve the pain try drinking some more water, but if it doesn’t help try putting a cold compress over your forehead or an electrolyte drink to supply your organism with the substances it needs.
So what are the real benefits of drinking water?
There are so many of them:
- your brain works better,
- your concentration is higher,
- you’re less likely to have a headache,
- your body can regenerate faster,
- you can prevent or soothe the effects of some diseases
- and you just feel you want to do things, so it’s easier to motivate yourself.
Develop a healthy routine – when you sit down to work or study get yourself a full glass of water. Whenever you finish it, have a few minutes of break to grab a next one – this way you will stay properly hydrated and at least once an hour have a short break for your mind and body to relax from work and gather power for further effort.
These are just the most common examples, so try it yourself to see what other great results are there for you and share them in the comments!
* These numbers vary for those with different illnesses and should be further discussed with a doctor.
Sources:
(1)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6068860/
(2)https://www.healthline.com/health-news/2-hours-dehydration-can-affect-body-and-brain
(3)https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/11/1891
(4)https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/11/1891/htm
(5)https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/causes/water-dehydration