Water increases our muscles’ strength by as much as 15% and our capacity for prolonged aerobic exercise by as much as 30%! It helps the body burn fat more efficiently and contributes to better muscular development.

This is the very reason why since we were young, we have been told to drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water everyday. Even slight dehydration can make anybody feel tired! Common side effects or manifestations of dehydration are headache, fatigue and tiredness.

Most people usually correlate these effects with being overworked or lack of sleep but not with dehydration; the main reason why the importance of water is often overlooked.

Our Body Processes Depend on Water

The importance of drinking plenty of water daily and keeping adequately hydrated is very important because almost all of our body’s physiological processes depend on water.

Water is the body’s most abundant nutrient; our body is contains approximately 60-70% water: blood is of 90% water; muscles are 70% water and bones are 20% water. The body can not and will not function properly without adequate water. Every physiological process of our body either takes place in water or depends on water. Water regulates our body’s temperature, transports nutrients and helps build tissues. Our body needs water to lubricate our joints, digest, enhance blood circulation, perform respiratory functions, and absorb nutrients and to eliminate toxic waste from the body. We can go without food for more than 10 days but without water, we would die in less than 5 days. Water is the most important nutrient in our body.

Dehydration causes our body’s core temperature to increase significantly affecting our cardiovascular function and reduces our capacity for physical activity. Medical studies show that even a minimal dehydration of 3% of body weight decreases strength by as much as 10%. If dehydration reaches more than 10-12% of the body’s weight, death becomes a possibility