Water is kind of a big deal! Water makes up 55 to 60 percent of the human body and plays a vital role in a number of essential bodily functions including regulating your internal body temperature and getting rid of waste.[i] That’s why it’s not a big surprise that drinking plenty of H2O to stay hydrated is also important to your health, fitness and overall well-being!

Here are a few of the many health, fitness and hygiene related benefits of staying properly hydrated!

1. Eat Less Calories, Lose More Weight

There are several ways that water can enhance your weight loss efforts! Consuming more water can increase the effectiveness of weight loss diets. Additionally, drinking as little as a half-liter of water before you eat has shown to help reduce the amount of calories you consume during that particular meal.[ii][iii]

2. Peak Your Performance Level

Staying properly hydrated is necessary if you want to be able to perform your workouts at peak levels! Dehydration can decrease your power by 3 percent, strength by 2 percent, and endurance by approximately 10 percent. It can also result in additional muscular fatigue, elevation in your core temperature and depleted energy levels.[iv][v]

To work out at your peak performance, use the table below to prevent dehydration before, during and after your workouts![vi]

3. Stay Focused

Staying hydrated is not just important for your physiological health, it can impact your mental health too! Dehydration can have adverse effects on your short-term memory, mental focus, coordination and attention span.^[vii] That’s why drinking the recommended daily amount of water (13 cups for men and 9 cups for women) is still important on days you aren’t physically active.[viii]

4. Turn That Frown Upside Down

Embody the smiley face emoji with a healthy dose of H20 every day! As it turns out, proper hydration can play a role in your mood, typically when you become significantly dehydrated from exercising at high intensities, for long durations or in hot temperatures without supplying your body with enough water to replace the fluids you lost.[ix] However, even mild dehydration can cause headaches; a common cause of sad face emojis.

5. Keep Your Breath Fresh

Drinking water and staying hydrated can actually prevent instances of bad breath! This is because when you become dehydrated, your mouth tends to dry up![x] But the good news is you don’t have to resort to a visit to the gum aisle, just be vigilant about staying hydrated!

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[i] http://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html

[ii] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25893719

[iii] http://blog.nasm.org/nutrition/hydration-health-performance/

[iv] http://www.nap.edu/read/10925/

[v] https://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/selecting-and-effectively-using-hydration-for-fitness.pdf

[vi] http://blog.nasm.org/nutrition/hydration-health-performance/

[vii] http://blog.nasm.org/nutrition/hydration-health-performance/

[viii] http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256

[ix] http://nutritionreviews.oxfordjournals.org/content/nutritionreviews/73/suppl_2/83.full.pdf

[x] http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/tc/bad-or-changed-breath-topic-overview