The human Body is more or less 60% water.

According to medical professionals, we should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, every day.

Although this rule isn’t supported by scientific studies, staying hydrated is essential for maintaining our overall health and well-being.

These are seven science-based benefits of Drinking enough water.

1. Water Supports Physical Performance

If we fail to maintain a proper level of hydration, our physical performance may suffer.

This probability increases in case of high temperatures or intense physical activity.

The effects of dehydration will start to become visible once you lose about 2% of your body’s water content. It’s worth mentioning here that an athlete may lose up to 6-10% of their water content via sweating.

Some of the most common symptoms are the alteration of the body temperature control system, a decrease in motivation, fatigue, and a difficulty to perform both mentally and physically.

Optimal hydration has been proven to prevent all these manifestations, while also reducing the oxidative stress that occurs when we exercise at increased intensity. This is easy to understand, since our muscles are 80% water .

In conclusion, if you sweat during high intensity exercise, you should hydrate yourself to prevent the deterioration of your performance. This is easy to achieve by making sure you have a bottle of water handy during your workout routines.

2. Hydration Has A Direct Influence On The Functioning Of Your Brain And On Your Energy Levels

Your hydration status has a direct influence on your brain.

According to some studies, losing as little as 1% – 3% of your body weight (mild dehydration) can have affect your brain function on multiple levels.

A study on young females showed that a 1.36% fluid loss as a result of intense exercise had a negative influence on their mood and their concentration ability, and it increased the frequency of their headaches .

Another study involving young males, showed that a 1.59% fluid loss affected their memory and led to increased feelings on anxiety and fatigue .

A 1-3% fluid loss translates into 1.5-4.5 lbs (0.5-2 kg) body weight loss for a 150 lbs (68 kg) individual. Losing this amount of fluid can easily occur during regular daily activities. The amount increases in case of high temperatures or intense exercising.

Many other studies on different categories of people showed that even mild dehydration can have negative effects on the brain performance, as well as on the mood and on the memory function of the subjects.

3. Drinking Water May Help Alleviating And Preventing Headaches

Some people may suffer from migraine and severe headaches caused by dehydration. According to some studies, drinking water can help relieving these headaches in dehydrated individuals.

Nonetheless, this effect appears to depend on the type of headache.
One study involving 18 subjects showed that water didn’t influence the frequency of the headaches, but reduced their intensity and their duration to a certain extent.

4. Drinking Plenty Of Water May Alleviate Constipation

Constipation is one of the most frequent health problems. It is characterized by fewer bowel movements and by difficulties in passing the stool.

Many doctors recommend their patients to increase their water intake as part of the normal treatment protocol. This recommendation is supported by some clinical evidence.

Insufficient water intake appears to be a major risk factor for constipation in both elderly and young individuals.

Carbonated waters appears to provide excellent results in the relief of constipation. Nonetheless, the mechanism of action isn’t very clear yet.

5. Drinking Plenty Of Water May Help Heal Kidney Stones

Urinary stones can be a major health problem. They are clumps of minerals that form in the urinary system, causing excruciating pains and severely decreasing the quality of life of affected individuals.

Kidney stones are the most frequent form of urinary stones. There isn’t much evidence that drinking more water helps preventing kidney stones from reoccurring in people who have suffered from this medical condition in the past.

Higher water intake helps increasing the volume of urine passing through the urinary system, therefore contributing to the dilution of the minerals. Like this, they are less likely to form stones through crystallization. However, there’s still need for scientific evidence to support these claims.

7. Drinking More Water Can Help You Lose Weight Easier

Drinking more liquids can help you lose weight. This effect occurs because the water can make you feel full much faster, so you’ll be tempted top eat less. On the other hand, water can help increasing your metabolic rate. This means your body is going to burn calories much faster without the need for exhausting workout routines or severe diets.

There are two studies in which water has been shown to help boosting the metabolism of the subjects by 24-30%, the effect being stable for about one hour and a half after the ingestion of half a liter of water (17 ounces).

This means that if you drink about 2 liters of water every day, you can feel full and hence eat much less than before. The less you eat, the fewer calories you put inside your body. This means you’ll have an easier time at consuming these calories during your daily activities. If you want to give it a try, it’s best to drink cold water.

This will determine your body to use additional energy to bring this water to its temperature. This means an even more accelerated burning of your calories. This is how you can make water your reliable friend in your fight with the additional weight that seems to never want to go away. Just make sure you balance your diet in order to have the right intake of minerals and nutrients that your body needs to support its vital processes.

All these are enough reasons for you to start drinking a lot of eater from now on. Just make sure you measure your daily intake, so that you can control the effects.