Humans lose half a liter to two liters of fluid per night through respiration and sweat.
About 70% of our body is water, that's 70kg of water for a 100kg adult. And even losing a small portion of this water can significantly reduce physical and mental performance, which is why staying well hydrated is important for everyone.
A study from 2008 showed that 3% water loss through sweating during training leads to a loss of strength of up to 19%.
The fact that water also has a strong impact on our mental performance can be concluded from the fact that our brain consists of 85% water. Everyone knows the situation in which they haven't drunk anything for a long time, especially in summer when the temperature is higher, which promotes water loss and mental performance is significantly reduced.
The Rosbach drinking study showed the following results with a minimal increase in water intake per day:
Information processing speed increases by 6% – The speed at which information is processed in the brain increases by 6% compared to before. Thus, the ability to think faster through increased drinking is one of the central results of this study.
Memory span increases by 9% – This means study participants are able to hold more varied details in their minds to process. This ability is called "Memory Span". Increasing the memory span makes it easier to deal with more complex issues and to think more logically.
The working memory of the brain shows an increase of 15% - The increased drinking volume promotes the own working memory of the respective study participants the most. Our working memory in the brain is the center for processing conscious information and an important basis for our intelligence performance.
Water represents the medium in which the biochemistry of the body takes place. Every one of our trillions of cells contains water and resides in an aqueous medium. So it's hardly surprising that we've evolved mechanisms to keep the body's water content fairly constant.
Putting this in relation to our water loss during sleep, one of the easiest ways to increase physical and mental performance in the morning is to replace the water loss immediately after waking up. To compensate for water loss more quickly, you can add a pinch of salt to the water.
These are two more reasons why each of our customers and athletes starts each day with a glass of water with Himalayan salt and lime juice.
Good luck with optimizing the water balance and increasing physical and mental performance!
Image: Water with lime juice & Himaalya salt (Photo: Tamara lever)