Hello! Welcome to my blog post! For my semester one inquiry, I have decided to research the question “To what extent does daily water intake influence skin hydration and acne occurrence in students?” In this blog post, I will be sharing my first round of research focusing mainly on the effect of drinking water on the human body.
Why do we drink water?
The majority of the human body is made up of water that is constantly being lost throughout the day (7). Water helps us maintain homeostasis (e.g. temperature regulation) in our body and aids in substrate transport across membranes in the cellular level (1). As a result, it is critical for our survival that we regulate how much water we take in, making sure we consume just the right amount.
While drinking more water than necessary has not been proven to offer any convincing health benefits (2), many people still drink more water than necessary. Water toxicity (or hyponatremia), caused by drinking too much water, can occur most commonly during exercise when individuals drink only plain water after intense activity and do not replace lost electrolytes (4). When the concentration of solutes outside the cells is lower than the concentration inside, this causes water to move into the cells (via osmosis) to the area of higher solute concentration, causing cells to swell (4). In the Central Nervous System (CNS), this can lead to swollen neurons and increased cranial pressure, resulting in initial symptoms like confusion, headache, and drowsiness (4). While the initial symptoms seem minor, water intoxication may lead to irreversible effects, especially in a long-term psychiatric setting (6). These symptoms can include hallucinations, disorientation, and schizophrenia-like states (6). The symptoms can progress from mild confusion to seizures, coma, or even death if left untreated (6, 5).
These symptoms only arise if we over-hydrate, but what happens if we under-hydrate?
Without sufficient fluid, the main side effects that occur in individuals, especially those who engage in rigorous activity, are reduced endurance, motivation, and increased fatigue (3). It’s not uncommon that athletes lose up to 10% of their body weight in sweat loss (3). Additional major side effects due to even mild dehydration are a decreases in concentration, alertness and short term memory (3).
The amount of water needed day to day in the body can vary everyday depending on a combination of personal (e.g. physical activity and dietary contents) and environmental factors (e.g. climate); as a result, there is no single daily water requirement for individuals (1). However, there is a recommended amount of water intake that should meet the requirements for most individuals in each specific life stage who are considered healthy, consumes an average diet and performs some form of physical activity (1). A table organized by the US National Academy of Medicine reports that boys ages 14-18 should drink 3300 ml of water daily, while for girls of the same age, it’s recommended to drink 2300 ml (1). Based on a standard 240 ml glass, about 13-14 glasses of water would be recommended for boys, while around 9 glasses for girls (1). It is important to note that this recommended total intake study includes plain water, beverages and moisture from food (1).
In this first round of research, we covered the effects of water on the human body, whether too much or too little was consumed. This research will be very beneficial as it will allow me to connect how drinking less or more water can influence acne appearance. In the next round or research, I will cover reasons for acne occurrence, and I will share what can actions can cause its prominence.
Reference list
- s://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6315424
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20356431
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2908954/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537231/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1770067/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2260889/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5957508/
Thank you for reading my first round of research blog! Please feel free to comment down below how this blog made you feel!
Hi Michelle, thank you so much for this post it reminded me to drink water. I like how you went over the effects of drinking too much water. I feel like when we think about health related to water intake we only think about not drinking enough. I love skin care so im really interested to read your next post. You should look into how not drinking enough water affect your skin barrier and pores oil production. Here’s an article that might help you:
https://www.avixhealth.com/the-relationship-between-hydration-and-skin-oil-production
Thank you for your comment Zoe! I’m also very interested in skin care, so I’m glad you enjoyed my post. I’ll make sure to take your input into good use!