It’s Simple: Water Is Good For Your Brain
May 22, 2008 by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes
Filed under Diseases & Conditions

I’ve been drinking a lot of water this week. Like, a lot. Way more than usual. You may be thinking I’m loading up on water, but I’m not. What I’m actually doing is making a serious effort to give my body the amount of water it needs each day, because…I normally don’t drink a lot of water.
The reason I’m doing this – aside from the fact that I’m supposed to, for good health and all – is Hope Wilbanks’s Weight Loss Challenge #1: Drink Your Water.
I’m not necessarily trying to lose weight, but I am using this as an opportunity to form a good habit.
According to Hope, we need 48-64 ounces of water per day. I admit I failed miserably last week, but this week? My body has definitely gotten those 48-64 ounces. Or really close to it.
Of course, I’m not just doing this for my body. Drinking plenty of water is good for my brain, too – and yours as well.
A high percentage of your brain is water. (I don’t feel comfortable giving an exact percentage, because I’ve seen so many different numbers, but the majority of them are in the upper 70s – I’ve also read as high as 80% of your brain is water.) So it only makes sense that dehydration can cause mental confusion (and honestly, who needs any more of that?) as well as cause stress hormones to be released.
Drinking plenty of water can help with mental clarity and maybe even prevent a few stress hormones from being released? Sounds worth a shot to me.
Hope’s challenge is almost over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t challenge yourself to drink more water, right?
Good luck!

Image: Newscom
Remember! You have until May 31, 2008 to enter the Mental Health Notes Birthday Giveaway, and forever to join the This Is Why I ROCK! series!















Kudos to you for getting in your water!
I try to drink 20 ounces as soon as I wake up every morning. When I do that, getting in the rest of it doesn’t seem nearly as difficult.
You know, now that I’ve been drinking more, it has become very apparent just how much I’ve actually been craving it!