CLEVELAND — Thermo-regulation. That's how your body regulates temperature. In heat, you sweat, lose water, and if dehydrated, your body can't cool itself.
Did you know your brain needs water to work? Your brain is about 80% water and neuroactivity needs hydration to function. Even slight dehydration can cause headaches, fatigue, fogginess, stress, and sleep issues.
Your skin needs water to avoid getting rough and wrinkled. Dry skin tends to crack which can increase the risk for infection. This is especially important if you're sunburned.
Have joint pain? You might be dehydrated. It can cause your joints and even spinal cord to erode due to friction. Water lubricates joints and might help reduce pain.
Got allergies? Drink more water. Your eyes, nose and throat are typically the first to get hit with allergens. Staying hydrated adds moisture so the tissue can capture and release irritants, your eyes need it to produce cleansing tears.
Your immune system needs water. It depends on vital nutrients from the blood stream, which is mostly water. If you're dehydrated, it can slow your body's ability to transport nutrients to your organs and flush out the bad toxins.
Trying to lose weight? Not only does water aid digestion and get things moving, it helps suppress appetite, reduce hunger and helps your body burn fat.
Flavor your water to make it fun, or eat your water with melons, fruits, and vegetables.
Dehydration affects your mood, memory and cognitive skills and makes you more sensitive to pain.
Avoid sugary drinks and sorry, but caffeine and alcohol are counterproductive, so you have to replace what you drink.
As for how much you should be drinking, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommend 15 and half cups for men and eleven and a half cups for women.
But it really depends on your weight, life stage, activity, and diet.
A good start is taking your weight, divided in two and drink that amount. So, 150-pound person should try to have at least 75 ounces a day, or about nine cups.
If you're active, try to drink twelve ounces for every thirty minutes of exercise.
