About Water

Now is the hot weather and only lazy guy doesn't write about the necessity of drinking water. Water is the progenitor of life and the basis of everything. All of us know this, but we do not pay attention to these words. Well, the basis, so what? It is often our weakness and tiredness, in fact, caused exactly by the lack of water. As an inorganic substance, water makes up about 60% of the human body and has the following functions:

1. It gives volume to the cells (dry skin is a very unpleasant condition and is an indicator that you are chronically "under-drinking");

2. It acts as a major solvent (many organic and inorganic molecules break down to ions - electrically charged particles);

3. Transports substances (including mineral salts).

Why is the function of water as a solvent and a part of the body's transport system so important? Minerals make up over 5% of the body and are primarily represented by sodium, potassium, calcium and chlorine. So, about electrically charged particles, mineral salts, positively charged ions of which are transported to the cell, are "exciters", i.e. "working" state of the cell directly depends on "production" (in the dissolution process) and delivery of positively charged ion to the cell. If such delivery does not occur, the cell is not excited, but remains in a state of rest. Do you remember how hard it is when we have already run 2/3 of some long distance in the hot weather, and we need to get the body to move on those jelly legs? At the same time, transverse striated skeletal muscle tissue, which makes up muscles, contracts voluntarily, unlike smooth muscles (such as blood vessels), i.e. it is contracted by an effort of will. We have lost a lot of water and minerals with sweat, it is much more difficult for the body to transport the necessary substances to the cells and charge them, and for us to get the elements of our body that are not working to turn on. 

At the same time the body is constantly trying to maintain homeostasis, our brain monitors the parameters of the internal environment and tries to keep them at the same level. Neurohumoral regulation is arranged in such a way that there is always a controlling object and a controlled object. The controlling object receives feedback from the controlled object. This feedback may be of two types. 1. Negative feedback, i.e. in response to change of any parameter the brain as a regulator tries to return it to its previous level, if there are resources for it, the parameter is corrected and the "stress" growth curve returns to normal. 2. Positive, i.e. in response to a change in the parameter, the regulator makes efforts to return the state to normal, but there are not enough resources (for example, not enough water), then the curve of "stress" continues to grow. 

And here is the most interesting thing: as I said before, the tissue that makes up our muscles contracts arbitrarily, i.e. by our will. And we can make this tissue work by willpower, even when we don't have enough resources. At the same time, our organism is not completely stupid, and in case of a critical situation and risk of death, it would simply shut down the consciousness that prevents it from living. Have you ever seen people fall down during a marathon? Well, that's exactly what it is. 

So remember, during prolonged physical activity, especially during hot weather, it is our responsibility to rehydrate the body's lost water so that we can continue to enjoy the sport and certainly not bring the situation to the point of "shutting down."

Water really is the basis of everything, don't forget to drink!