HYDRATION: Am I drinking enough water?

So an important place to start is that our bodies are actually made up of 60% water, and water isn't just sitting there.

It's actively involved in almost every function in the body.

In every cell, in every tissue, every organ relies on adequate hydration to function properly, and when we're well-hydrated, cells maintain their structure, nutrients are transported around our bodies efficiently, waste is removed, and biochemical reactions in our cells happen as they should.

But when we don't have enough water and we become dehydrated, all of these systems become less efficient, and that's when we really start to feel and notice it.

So for example, let's think about our skin.

Hydration really does play a key role in our skin health.

So if we're dehydrated, our skin can appear dry, it looks a bit dull, and actually the fine lines and wrinkles appear more noticeable simply because the skin isn't as well hydrated as it could be.

Whereas if you have adequate hydration, the skin tends to look more plump.

It contains more water.

It literally plumps it out, and it's a lot more resilient and just overall much more healthy.

But the importance of water goes way more deeper than just our skin.

So think about our brain, for example.

The brain is one of the organs that is so dependent on water, and even if you are mildly dehydrated, it can have a big impact on your concentration.

So if you feel slightly foggy, you've got a bit of brain fog, or you feel less focused, even without realizing it, hydration could be the reason.

And from a cellular perspective, deep within our bodies, water's essential for many of the biochemical reactions that are going on every single second to keep us alive.

For example, think about our mitochondria.

Those are the energy powerhouses that help to turn our food into the energy that all of our cells in our bodies need to function.

This essential reaction, this respiration reaction, absolutely cannot happen without water.

It is critically essential.

The other thing is digestion.

So you might not think about it, but hydration is a very key role in our gut.

It helps to keep things moving through the gut.

It prevents constipation, and it also supports us absorbing nutrients from our food.

And finally, we have something called our lymphatic system, and this is responsible for transporting immune cells about our body and also clearing waste products out the body, and again, water, absolutely critical for this to function properly.

[upbeat music] So when we talk about water and when we talk about hydration, we're really not just talking about thirst.