The adult human body is made up of around 60% water, on average. This staggering figure shows us how important water is to keeping us healthy and functioning properly. Why is water so important to us and how do you know if you’re getting enough? Read on to find out all the facts about water and hydration.
All of the cells in our body contain water. If we don’t provide our body with enough water, these cells are unable to function correctly. Water is also vital for a range of bodily functions. For example, saliva is responsible for a great amount of the digestion process through the enzymes it contains. If you’ve ever had a dry mouth when you’re thirsty, then you can probably guess that not getting enough water means that your body can’t produce as much saliva, which impacts digestion.
Water is also used for regulating the body’s temperature. When we get too hot, we sweat. It is the process of sweat evaporating from our skin that cools our body’s down in extreme temperatures. Without water, we would not be able to produce sweat and, therefore, would overheat.
Dehydration can cause a variety of side effects, ranging from minor to severe depending on the severity of dehydration. Here are some of the symptoms to look out for as warnings that you’re not getting enough water.
- Feeling thirsty
- Headaches
- Light-headedness
- A dry mouth
- Darker-colored urine
- Less frequent urination
- Dry skin
- Low energy
These are all fairly moderate signs that you need to increase your water intake. More severe dehydration can cause worse symptoms such as confusion, and irregular pulse, and even seizures. Serious conditions such as kidney failure or heart conditions can develop as a result of extreme or prolonged cases of dehydration.
Tips for staying hydrated
I’m sure you don’t want to experience any of the above symptoms, so what can you do to keep dehydration at bay? Breathing, sweating, and going to the toilet are all constant causes of water loss, so we need to replace the water that we lose.
Health professionals commonly recommend drinking 8 cups of water per day. If you’re exercising, then you will need to drink even more to counteract intense sweating. This may sound like a challenge, but carrying bottled water around with you, and keeping bottled water at your desk at work can make it easier to get as much water as you need. Buying a water dispenser for the office is another great way to keep everyone hydrated at work.
If you want to make it easier to stay hydrated, then get in touch today about our spring water delivery service. We provide a convenient home water service in Winston Salem, Greensboro, and High Point, NC, as well as Martinsville and Danville, VA.
Water. It makes up a surprisingly high percentage of our bodies and we come in contact with it every day – washing with it, drinking it, swimming in it, shielding ourselves from it under umbrellas. We think we know it inside and out, yet there’s so much more than meets the eye. We’ve rounded up some fascinating facts about water that might surprise you…
- There’s enough water on earth to fill 800 trillion Olympic-sized swimming pools
It’s pretty impossible to imagine just how much water there is around the world, but this fact puts it into perspective for you. An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds more than 660,000 gallons of water. The number of gallons of water on this earth contains too many zeros for us to write here, but it’s enough to fill 800 trillion of those swimming pools.
- Less than 1% of the earth’s water is drinkable
So, why do so many countries have a lack of clean water if there are such massive amounts of it on earth? Well, that’s because less than 1% of all that water is actually drinkable. The majority of the earth’s water is found in seas and oceans – i.e. salt water. This is not drinkable because the salt dehydrates you, and it makes up 97% of the earth’s water. More than 2% of the water is frozen in glaciers and the polar icecaps, making it inaccessible. The remaining fresh, drinkable water makes up less than 1% of the total amount of water on earth.
- Hot water freezes faster than cold water
This one is kind of mind-blowing, and the science behind why still isn’t fully understood. You’d think that filling your ice trays with water from the cold tap would be more efficient than filling it with hot water, but you’d be wrong. Scientists have found that hot water actually freezes faster than cold water! You can read more about this phenomenon here.
- The atmosphere contains more water than all the earth’s rivers
Think of all the water you see flowing through a river. And think of all the rivers around the world. That must add up to a lot. But did you know that there’s actually more water that you can’t see than what you see in those rivers? Yes, the earth’s atmosphere actually contains more water than all of the rivers added up around the world.
- A leaky faucet can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water per year
That rhythmic drip coming from your leaky faucet isn’t just annoying, it’s also incredibly wasteful. While it seems like such an insignificant amount of water, it all adds up. It adds up to around 3,000 gallons per year, to be precise. Keep your faucets and water dispensers maintained to reduce water waste.
Water is a fascinating thing that’s essential to life, so make sure you have a plentiful supply in your home or office with a spring water delivery service from Mountain Park Spring Water. Available around Martinsville, VA, and High Point, Winston Salem, and Greensboro, NC.
