The Function of Water | HowStuffWorks

Water

We rarely think about how important water is to life on Earth. Water covers 70 percent of the surface, and about 3 percent of it is drinkable (or potable) water. Our bodies are made up of about 60 to 70 percent water, and if you focus even further on specific organs, our need for continual hydration makes sense. The brain is about 80 percent water, blood is about 90 percent and the liver is nearly 97 percent.

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Water acts as a messenger within our systems, carrying nutrients to cells and flushing waste and toxins out of our bodies. It also regulates our body temperature — when it’s too hot outside or we exercise, we sweat. As sweat evaporates, our bodies cool down to a manageable temperature.

In the same way a car needs oil to run smoothly, our bodies need water. Just like oil, however, water needs to be replaced. Our bodies lose about 250 milliliters of water every day, and doctors recommend drinking at least eight glasses every day. If we don’t, we become dehydrated, leading to headaches, fatigue and lack of concentration. And, although we can survive for weeks without food, it only takes a few days before a lack of water becomes fatal.

Vitamins

When we eat food, a wide variety of substances, including protein, carbohydrates and fats, enters the body and provides us with energy and maintains tissue. These substances carry out their functions by chemical reactions. They wouldn’t be able to do so, however, without the help of vitamins.

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© Photographer: Monika Adamczyk | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Found in many foods and beverages, vitamins act as catalysts by accelerating these reactions. When we experience a vitamin deficiency, our bodies can’t perform these functions easily, causing us to become sick. Think of it this way — if water is oil for the body, then vitamins are much like the spark that ignites gasoline in our cars.

Vitamins are split up into two groups and defined by the materials in which they dissolve. Fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in fat, and excesses are stored in fatty tissues — since they are distributed slowly throughout our bodies, we don’t need to replace them daily. Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K. Water-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, dissolve in water and are excreted out of the body in urine — that’s why it’s important to replace them on a daily basis. Water-soluble vitamins include the vitamin B-complex group and vitamin C.

Aside from foods such as fruits and vegetables, vitamins are also available in supplemental form — in pills or liquids.

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“How Vitaminwater Works”
10 September 2007.
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26 June 2023

What Does Water Do Inside Us? The Function of Water

By Roberta H.

Anding, MS, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital

Edited by Kate Findley and proofread by Angela Shoemaker, Wondrium Daily

Water is great on a hot summer day, but what does it actually do for us? Professor Anding explains how water is an essential component to our overall health and well-being.

Daily water intake replenishes water volume in our bodies, which is essential for maintaining our health and well-being. Photo by wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock

Water’s Function

The function of water goes beyond satisfying your thirst. Certainly, if you’re thirsty, it’s going to refresh you, but it also plays a vital role in your internal functions.

Water serves as a transport vehicle for digestion and the transport of nutrients to the cells within the blood. Maintaining this adequate blood volume enhances nutrient delivery and helps us feel healthy and well.

Have you ever gone from a sitting to a standing position quickly? If you jump out of your chair and stand up, all of a sudden, you get a little lightheaded and dizzy.  

This dizziness occurs because you don’t have enough blood volume. You’re not delivering enough carbohydrates to your central nervous system, and your brain goes into a holding mode. We’ve all had that experience, but this is a great example of water serving as a transport vehicle.

Fluid can have mechanical functions. For example, the synovial fluid in your knees lubricates joints and allows for ease of movement. Additionally, the fluid in tears helps to clear out any debris or dirt that you might have in your eyes. 

For most of us, a major function of water is to dissipate, or get rid of, heat and regulate heat loss. Water is a really good medium for holding and eliminating heat. 

Blood, which is mostly made up of water, moves toward your organs when you need to conserve heat. Water also helps to cool off your body after strenuous physical activity through the process of sweating and then evaporating.

Problems with Water

Your body mostly stores water around the cells and in the bloodstream, but nutritional factors and the state of your health can influence where your body water is located. For example, if you have low protein in your blood, some of the fluid seeps out of your blood vessels and actually goes into the tissues. 

Edema, or swelling, can occur with congestive heart failure, where the heart weakens and does not pump blood as effectively. You’re unable to move that body water, and it leaks into the tissues, where it gets stuck and cannot be urinated out.

If our bodies are 60 to 75 percent water, fluctuations in water will affect your scale weight. Overhydration, in the case of edema, will cause your weight to rise, while dehydration will cause you to lose weight. 

In both cases, though, it is only water weight, and not fat, that accounts for this change. This is something to keep in mind when taking certain weight loss products such as “slimming” teas, which may be leading you to lose weight, but it’s typically only water weight from dehydration.

Daily Fluid Loss

The average adult will eliminate somewhere in the range of 2.5 liters, or about 84 ounces, of water a day. About 1.5 of those liters comes through urine, and the rest is through sweating, breathing, and bowel movements. 

However, depending on your level of physical activity, the amount that you eliminate through sweat could be significant. If you run or do anything aerobic, you breathe in and out more times per minute, and the amount of fluid that you lose is greater.

Although we don’t think of our breath as being a source of fluid loss, it is 100 percent humidified. It’s got a lot of water in it, and any time you breathe in and out more often, you’re going to increase your body water loss.

If you have a fever, your heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate go up. Thus, the amount of fluid that you lose would increase. 

If you’ve ever had diarrhea, you can lose a significant amount of fluid by an increase in bowel movements, as well as an increase in the amount of water in the bowel movements. Insensible losses are considered fluid losses through the skin and, again, sweat is going to be an example of that.

Most of us don’t think about our food consumption as a source of fluid, but the food that we consume is, depending on our food choices, equivalent to about 17 ounces or a half a liter per day. High water-volume foods include fruits, vegetables, milk, and yogurt, which are about 80 to 90 percent water.

For individuals who really struggle with hydration and can’t drink any more voluntary fluid because their losses are so significant, food oftentimes becomes the magic bullet. For some individuals, foods high in water volume can be the tipping point between optimal hydration and dehydration.

This article was edited by Kate Findley, Writer for Wondrium Daily, and proofread by Angela Shoemaker, Proofreader and Copy Editor for Wondrium Daily.

Professor Roberta H. Anding is a registered dietitian and Director of Sports Nutrition and a clinical dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. She also teaches and lectures in the Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, Section of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, and in the Department of Kinesiology at Rice University.

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Need for water and its role in the body

One of the main chemical components of nature, necessary for organic life, is water.

Water is an essential component in human nutrition. In the case of an absolute cessation of water consumption, the body is able to maintain life for only a few days.

The function of water in our body

In human tissues and organs, the water content ranges from 16% (bone tissue) to 84% (brain). Water is the main part of blood, digestive juices, cell structure. Water is the basis of the human body.

Water is a medium in which various chemical reactions of metabolism take place; it is a powerful solvent for many chemical compounds (salts, sugars, alcohols, acids, etc.).

Digestion processes take place only in the aquatic environment and nutrients are absorbed into the blood. Toxic substances are excreted from the body in the form of aqueous solutions with urine and bile.

Factors affecting your need for water

The need for water is determined by the chemical reactions of the body’s metabolism. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the basal metabolism and the body’s need for water, on average it is 1 ml of water per 1 kcal of basal metabolism . Harris-Benedict formulas are used to calculate the basal metabolic rate.

Also, the water content in the body depends on the total fat content: the more fat, the less water .

In obese persons, the water content in the body is reduced to 50%, in persons with reduced nutrition, it increases to 70%. That is why, with prolonged starvation and exhaustion, edema is often noted.

The body’s average water requirement is 30 ml/kg of body weight per day or about 2-2.5 liters .

The need for water increases with:

• an increase in body and environmental temperature
• physical exertion
• profuse diarrhea or vomiting

The balance (balance) of water intake and output is important.

Along with the consumption of water, the so-called “ metabolic water” is formed in the body “: during the oxidation of 1 g of protein, 0.41 ml of water is formed, 1 g of carbohydrates – 0.6 ml of water, 1 g of fat – 1.07 ml of water, 1 g of alcohol 1.17 ml of water.

Usually about 300 – 400 ml of metabolic water is formed in the body per day. The amount of water that is formed in the body increases with starvation and stress.

Causes and consequences of dehydration

Excretion of water is carried out by diuresis (with urine) and skin-pulmonary perspiration. Under normal conditions, about 1.5 liters per day are excreted in the urine, about 0.5 liters through the lungs and about 0.6 liters through the skin.

Loss of water by the body leads to the development of dehydration (dehydration) , which is accompanied by a feeling of thirst, thickening of the blood, a decrease in blood pressure, an acceleration of the pulse, a decrease in diuresis.

In severe cases, there are speech, hearing, loss of consciousness. On average, losses of up to 5% of total body water result in mild dehydration, 5 to 15% to moderate dehydration, and over 15% to severe dehydration.

In infectious diseases accompanied by fever, acute poisoning, in the early postoperative period, it is recommended to increase the intake of water into the body.

On the other hand, it is recommended to limit water intake in the majority of cardiovascular diseases , kidney failure, edematous syndrome, obesity.

Norm of water consumption and its content in food products

Normally, a healthy adult person should consume 2-2.5 liters of water daily in the form of drinks and as part of food ( tab.1 ).

According to the water content, all food products can be divided into three groups:

• products with a high water content (more than 80%): drinks (tea, coffee, milk, etc. ), vegetables and fruits.
• products with medium water content (40-80%): meat and fish, cheeses, eggs, bread.
• products with a low water content (less than 40%): butter and vegetable oil, sugar, honey, biscuits, nuts, chocolate.

Depending on the need to increase or vice versa, reduce water consumption, certain products may be recommended.

Table 1 (water content of products)

90 269

Products	Water content (%)	Products	Water content (%)
Tea, coffee	99	bananas	74
tomatoes	94	Egg (chicken)	74
Pumpkins, melons	90	potatoes	70
Mushrooms (fresh)	90	chicken	70
cabbage	90	cheese	70
Wine (table)	88	Vodka, cognac	65
Juice (apple)	88	cheese	40
milk	88	bread	40
peaches	87	honey	17
cherries	85	Butter	15
currants	85	nuts	5
enteral mixtures	80	cookies	5
grapes	80	chocolate	1
Fish (carp)	77	sunflower oil	0. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website