Explainer | How drinking enough water adds healthy years to your life, preventing disease and keeping your body functioning smoothly
- Being sufficiently hydrated doesn’t just affect your day-to-day health; it could also support living well for longer
- In studies, chronically water-restricted mice lived six months less than usual – equivalent to about 15 years of human life
Are you drinking enough water? Enough that your pee is colourless? When you feel you are hungry, it could be your body calling for a drink instead of a snack. We often perceive thirst as hunger.
Our bodies comprise 55 to 75 per cent water (babies have the highest content), depending on our age and gender.
By mass, water is the most abundant molecule inside the cells in our body, says Dr Diane Tran, a UK-trained medical doctor with higher training in clinical nutrition, who works with Central Health in Hong Kong. Water surrounds cells as well as forming part of our blood.
We lose water all the time – as urine via our kidneys, and through the gastrointestinal tract when we defecate; as sweat through the skin; and even when breathing. The only way to replenish these losses is through water intake.
We often underestimate the power of water, says Sandra Carvajal, a holistic nutritionist at Stanley Wellness Centre in Hong Kong. While it has no nutritional value, it is vital for all the chemical processes that happen in the body.
Without enough water, nothing functions effectively: toxins won’t be flushed so efficiently; we won’t produce enough saliva; there will be a decrease in blood volume, which can cause heart and brain damage; our joints won’t be lubricated properly; we’ll get headaches; and our skin will look dull.