What Dehydration Does to Our Bodies
Published by In this article we are going to discuss the following topics: Why is water essential to health maintenance? What are the functions of water in the body? What happens to the body when it does not get the water it needs? What effects might alcohol and caffeine have on hydration levels in the body? What are some steps that people can take to ensure they do not become dehydrated? And lastly we are going to look at some compare and contrast of how different electrolytes—sodium, potassium, and chloride—function in the body.
Why is water essential to health maintenance?
First let us take a look at why water is essential to health maintenance. We must first keep in mind that water is not just essential to health maintenance or being healthy, but it is essential for life itself. Over half of your body weight is water. In adults it is at about 60% (© Corrine J. Humphrey/Index Stock), and the amount just keeps going up as age decreases, in an infant it is at about 70%. Water is found in many tissues throughout the body. Muscles are made up of about 75% water and bone is at about 25%. There is even water located within cells and those types of water are called intracellular fluid and the water that is found outside of the cell is extracellular fluid. The extracellular water accounts for about a 1/3 of total body water and is made up primarily of the water that is found in blood and the fluid between cells also known as interstitial fluid. There are other extracellular water within the body that can be found in lymph, lumen of the GI tract, eyes, joints, and the spinal cord.
In short without water there is not life. Our bodies would not be able to function at all. Blood would not be able to get to the heart or brain because blood needs water to operate.
What are the functions of water in the body?
Water acts like a bath for the cells in the body and lubricates and cleanses internal and external body surfaces. Saliva is a form of water that helps lubricate food which helps us to be able to chew and swallow food, synovial fluid lubricates the joints, and water tears help lubricate the eyes to rid them of dirt and other particles. Water is also used in the amniotic sac that is used to protect a child fetus while it is in a mother’s womb. As mentioned before it what makes blood flow throughout the body in order for us to have oxygen and nutrients and helps to deliver waist products to the appropriate places within the body such as liver and kidneys.
Water plays a big role in chemical reactions. Where some water joins small molecules together other water breaks large molecules apart. Some of the reactions in which water participates in helps maintain the proper level of acidity in the body. Water is also used as a regulator to body temperature. The very fact that water holds heat and changes temperature slowly helps keep your body temperature constant, but water is also more relationally involved in temperature regulation. Also as we mentioned earlier about water being the main source to the flow of blood this bloodily water helps regulate body temperature by increasing or decreasing the amount of heat lost at the surface of the body. When our body temperature begins to rise, the blood vessels in the skin dilate, causing blood to flow close to the surface where it can release some of the heat to the surrounding air (eg. red coloring on skin or heated skin). The increased blood flow at the surface is the reason your skin becomes red in hot weather or during strenuous activity. In a cold environment the complete opposite occurs. The blood vessels in the skin constrict (goose bumps), restricting the flow of blood near the surface and conserving body heat. Water also helps regulate body temperature through the evaporation of sweat. When body temperature increases, the brain triggers the sweat glands in the skin to produce sweat, which is mostly water. As the sweat evaporates from the skin, heat is lost, cooling the body.
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