Does water relieve stress and anxiety - an overview of the effect of liquid on the human nervous system. Drinking Water When You're Worried: How It Works

Dehydration of the body, in the first place, just affects the functionality of the brain. With a total violation of fluid metabolism, the work of the nervous system is disrupted first of all, which subsequently can completely provoke a coma.

All this is a kind of protective reaction of the body, which slows down or completely stops the functions of most organs in order to save life.

See separate article.

What happens in the body when there is a lack of fluid and electrolyte? In fact, this is the most common stress. For this, blood pressure increases (and for this adrenaline is released), the heart rate. A person at this moment feels excitement, anxiety, anxiety and fear.

How much water should you drink daily?

From the TV screen, it often sounds that you need to drink at least 2 - 2.5 liters of water daily, and other liquids (juices, first courses, coffee) are not taken into account. Doctors confidently declare that this is a lie.

The rate of water consumption for each person is individual and, first of all, depends on the amount of physical activity. Medium range - 1 to 4 liters per day. In fact, you should drink only when you feel like it.

Over the norm - not necessarily, but there will be practically no harm from this. It's just that the kidneys will have to pass more fluid through themselves to filter.

If you constantly drink too much water (more than 3 liters per day, while not having physical exercise), then this can lead to the accumulation of a large concentration of sodium in the lymph - in excess, it acts as a toxin. But potassium, on the contrary, decreases sharply (sodium and potassium inhibit each other, that is, the more one is, the less the other).

In most cases, a person needs from 1.5 to 2 liters of water per day. And juices, the same coffee - all this should also be taken into account. For those who are actively involved in sports, the rate of fluid intake is up to 2.5 - 3 liters per day.

Why is dehydration dangerous?

Frequent dehydration is constant stress during which the brain tries to adapt to new "conditions" of work, slowing down the absorption of certain micronutrients.

After the balance of electrolytes is restored, the brain again “rebuilds” the work of the whole organism.

However, the balance of electrolytes is not normalized instantly. This process takes up to 12 hours. That is why, after intoxication, patients are prescribed medications such as Regidron (it is a concentrated solution of salts) in the next 3 to 4 days. A single dose will not be enough to normalize fluid metabolism.

That is, not allowing thirst is important nuance, which will help not to create a stressful situation for the entire nervous system.

In order not to forget to drink water in a timely manner, you can use simple mobile applications dedicated to compliance healthy lifestyle life.

They have "push-reminder" functions, when a notification is sent to the phone to take a break from training or drink water. How to stimulate yourself? There are several useful tips:

1. Always keep a glass of water nearby. The most common option is to simply put it next to your workplace (you can right on the table, if we are talking about).
2. Take a thermos or a small bottle of water with you. Now many people prefer to carry urban backpacks with them, which always have a compartment or a special holder for a water bottle.
3. Place a glass of liquid next to the bed. Many people feel thirsty after waking up, and cold water will also help “wake up” gastrointestinal tract- breakfast will be absorbed faster and the body even before leaving the house.
4. Replace the usual cup of coffee or tea at lunchtime with a bottle of mineral water. For the brain, it will be much more useful.

Now let's take a look at the video:

In total, the psycho-emotional state of a person really depends on thirst and lack of fluid in the body. From this, first of all, the work of the endocrine system is disrupted, which slows down the production of the same serotonin and dopamine. In addition, feeling thirsty is a stressful situation for the brain and should be avoided whenever possible. How much water should you drink daily? The average rate is from 1 to 1.5 liters of liquid. In fact, you should drink as much as you want.

Many of us know that calmness and creativity wake up in water. Science also confirms this. A recent study showed that people who live near the ocean feel less stress and have better health than those who live far from the water.

But what is it about water that makes us feel this way?

You probably have fond memories of being close to water: the beach you grew up on, the seas you carried on your honeymoon, the lake behind your grandma's house. There's a reason these memories make you feel at ease: Research shows that water scenes can help you tap into stress and find joy.

Performance is reduced due to lack of water

“Water makes you happier, healthier, more connected to other people, and better at what you do,” says Wallace J. People have been using water for its healing properties for many years. The best way to think about what happens to your mind when you're "next to the water" is to think about what you're leaving behind, says Nichols. Say you are walking down a busy city street while talking on the phone.

To be honest, it's still a mystery, says psychologist Matthew White.

There seems to be something special about the water, but we still don't know what it is.

White and his colleagues have done quite a bit of research on the connection between water and our mental state. Together with marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, they are trying to theorize that water has calming properties.

You try to listen in on the conversation, but other activity is going on. Your brain needs to filter it out, he says. physical stimulation Everyday life huge. You are always processing, filtering and counting every sound and movement around you.

Your brain does all of this at lightning speed, which uses a lot of energy and leaves you feeling tired. Plus, even when you're looking to relax - at the gym or in a lively sports game - you're probably still getting a lot of stimulation. "Distraction can be physically and mentally stressful."

And while we don't know why water soothes us, there are some really powerful ideas that justify walking on the beach. summer rest by the lake or even a trip to the pool.

Get ready to dive in and go with the flow.

1. Water makes you feel more calm and meditative.

Now the picture is moving away from all this and is by the ocean. Everything is simpler and visually cleaner,” says Nichols. "Going to the water goes beyond distraction, it gives your brain a rest in a way that the gym doesn't." Of course, he adds that many things can calm your tormented mind: music, art, exercise, friends, pets, Nature. "Water is one of the best because it brings together the elements of everyone else."

Research shows that simply being around water can increase levels of "feel good" brain chemicals and lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, Nichols says. The benefits are increased if you enjoy the sea with someone close to you. "We find that people's relationships deepen—they bond more," says Nichols. Being with someone in or around water, he says, can increase oxytocin levels, chemical which plays a role in building trust. write new scenario about your relationship. "If your relationship is about being stressed out, internal situations floating in the ocean can really improve your relationship."

The most important thing is to take a break from chaos and fuss modern life. Many people experience a whole gamut of feelings by the ocean, but many of us agree that the water, the weather, and the sounds are intertwined into a single feeling of mental calm and tranquility.

2. Water slows down your brain impulses.

People who simply float on the surface of the water often experience changes in brain impulses. In addition to a sense of calmness, these new slowed brain impulses can increase the flow of creative ideas.

In the presence of water, Nichols says your brain does other things, like "mind wandering," which is key to creativity. You start working on the puzzles of your life on another level,” he says. It means epiphanies, "aha" moments, and innovations that don't always come to you when you're stressing.

You can drink from the tap, but you don't have to.

Stuck in a landlocked city or facing a dark cold winter? There is still hope there. “Water in all forms can help you slow down, disconnect from technology, and shift your thoughts,” says Nichols. "In the city or winter, floating spas, baths and showers, fountains and water sculptures, and water-related art can help you reap the same benefits." Not only are these experienced therapists, Nichols says they can also activate positive memories of previous water experiences, bringing you back to your happy place.

3. Water awakens a sense of delight

Standing at the edge of a vast ocean or swimming in beautiful lake, you will definitely feel delight and reverence for this great world and your tiny place in it. Feelings like this will “make happy” your brain, not to mention that they will lower the stress scale and increase your level of creativity and inspiration.

Water helps you heal

His advice: "End each day with a quiet hot bath as part of your winter routine." Alex Russell does not work for, consult with, own stock in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article and does not disclose any relevant connection outside of their academic assignment.

But people often abuse the word "taste". The wines are often described as tasting along the lines of "complex cherry and blackberry varietal flavors with the promise of herbs". In fact, the only flavor you get from wine is sweetness and a bit of acidity. Cherries, blackcurrants and the promised herbs are part of the taste of the wine, which is a combination of flavors and smells that enter the nasal cavity through the throat.

4. Creativity takes over

Have we talked about creativity yet? To be more precise, water makes you dream in a way that you would never dream if you were doing something specific. If you allow your brain to wander without barriers, you can find a solution to any problem. And that in itself is reassuring.

Our nose and mouth also pick up other sensations, such as pain or irritation, through chemical reactions. That tickle you get with wasabi or hot English mustard is actually a pain response. The same thing happens with chile.

Chili, capsaicin and hallucinations

The active ingredient in chili is capsaicin. It is also potentially deadly. And yet, the ability to eat very hot chili is often seen as a badge of honor.

Chili heat is measured using Scoville heat units, which is an inaccurate measure of capsaicinoids concentration.

5. Water can even make you feel numb... and that's a good thing

Part of the purpose of being free-floating is that the water and buoyancy make you "forget where the water ends and the water begins." your body". People who have experienced this have said they feel a weightless calm that they don't want to lose.

The chefs used goggles and face masks during preparations. After signing the reservation, Rothwell took an hour to eat the curry, including a trip to fresh air, during which he was said to have hallucinated, although he denies this. Unfortunately, chili-induced hallucinations are not well understood.

When my friend turned 21, we went to India. We ordered him to vindal only to have him say "Pfft, that's not hot enough" and send it back to the kitchen.

My friend bit, started sweating profusely and reached for any water he could find. Fortunately, the waiter was ready for this and brought a glass of milk over him, which immediately lifted the edge. That night he collected a decent amount of advice from my assistant.

So, whether you decide to drift on the water or sit on the pier by the lake, remember that the calming properties of water have a positive effect on your mind, body and soul. Let us not know why water calms us, the main thing is to let it do it.

Water soothes and heals

So why is milk, and not water, your spicy curry pain relief? Without getting into chemistry, capsaicin has a long hydrocarbon tail, which means it binds strongly to lipoprotein receptors on the tongue. Capsaicin is not water soluble, so water won't help, but it does dissolve in alcohol and vegetable oils. The beer is not very alcoholic, so it won't be done. Stronger drinks may help more, but there is a limit to how much alcohol you can have.

The traditional treatment is the mammal's milk. Milk contains casein, a fat-absorbing substance that essentially has a detergent effect on capsaicin, much like soap does on fat. But it must be mammal milk - coconut milk does not contain casein.

Very often, people who are very excited are offered to drink a glass of cold water. We do this automatically and do not think why on earth we should expect a sedative effect.

Actually, here's what's going on. Firstly, the water is simply cooler than the body, and a reflex that brings peace is triggered in a person excited by worries. Secondly, there is a concentration, albeit unconscious, on the very process of drinking water, and a person involuntarily switches from an emotionally rich assessment of events to a more neutral one.

Experts reassure. No lime in water

But some chilies are still ridiculously hot, and milk can only help. And you will most likely want to prepare by putting your toilet paper into the freezer. Because they are afraid of arterial obstruction, some people use expensive decalcification equipment. Although it protects electrical equipment and lines, for health, it does not bring anything.

The British man wrinkles his nose, the German is afraid: a thin layer of small white pieces floats on the cup. It is clear that this comes from lime water. It is incomprehensible for a person from the island to drink tea with unfiltered water, which violates his sensitive British taste sensibility. But the German cares more about his health: does lime not lead to arteriosclerosis? And a heart attack or stroke? In an alarming find, a quick remedy: a descaling plant should be ahead, a few thousand euros is a good investment - after all, it is about your own health .

Thirdly, and most importantly, with emotional overstrain, such a release of stress hormones into the blood and all organs occurs that, in the end, the concentration of these hormones becomes poisonous and a person develops dry mouth. He should drink something (preferably just water) (at least moisten his mouth), because it is necessary to dilute the destructive concentration of stress hormones in the blood. Moreover, in complex stressful situations and a cleansing enema is used, and the gag reflex is used to make the person feel better.

Admittedly, the fear is understandable, as deposits in blood vessels are called lime, as well as in water pipes. "Lime in drinking water is not harmful to your health," says Franz Eberli, professor of cardiology in "On the contrary, tap water is even healthier than a bottle."

At the turn of the century, it was believed that the blood vessels were so heavy that pus formed and hardened. A hundred years later, researchers from the hardened vessels of the pharaohs proved calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate - the latter is better known as lime. So the term arteriosclerosis probably appeared. The French pathologist gave the hardened vessels the name of arteriosclerosis - from the ancient Greek words artery for a vein and sclerodus for severe. “Vessels become heavy either due to a genetic predisposition or as a reaction to constant stress, which is accompanied by complex biochemical changes,” Eberle explains.

Water acts for the benefit of a person as a natural solvent of substances that are chemically harmful to health, which one way or another, but are constantly formed in the process of vital activity by our body itself. Therefore, it is very important to drink plenty of water - approximately at least two liters per day, including liquid from first courses, berries, fruits and vegetables.

What exactly happens there is not yet fully understood. If the vessel wall is overstressed - for example, with persistent high blood pressure - the wall thickens and stores fat and cholesterol. "The stored cholesterol triggers an inflammatory response that repairs the vessel wall," Eberle says. Elastic fibers disappear, cholesterol crystals form, and dead cells accumulate solid calcium phosphate. By then it will be really dangerous, because if the vessel narrows so that the blood stops getting in, the heartbeat dies - that's one thing.

Water can be very different in quality: melted, distilled, purified, chlorinated from the tap ... The worst thing for health is this most common water - chlorinated. For cooking and drinking - in the absence of other cleaning methods - it is advisable to stand it for a day in a bucket or in a jar so that the chlorine evaporates. Better yet, get at least some kind of water purifier.

With deposits, water leaks less and takes longer to warm up

On the other hand, calcium-containing water has nothing to do with cardiovascular disease. Don't be afraid of arteriosclerosis, you won't get it, says Alexander Ghanem, chief cardiologist at the Asklepios Clinic. The groundwater absorb minerals, especially calcium and magnesium, as they move through rocks, gravel and underground. If there are too many of them and they cannot be solved, calcium carbonate forms as calcium carbonate and other chemical compounds.

Melt water is generally, so to speak, a separate song. It is not for nothing that even unemployed Americans-goners will not drink any drink (even iced tea) without throwing crushed ice into it. Generally melt water The easiest way to get it is in the refrigerator by putting water in a container in the freezer. As a matter of fact, this is the same water, but structured differently, which is what is needed.

Interior view of the tall potable water tank at Crottenbach near Nuremberg. Water quality is subject to nationwide strict regulation of the Decree on drinking water. “Although we take in calcium and magnesium through the intestines into the blood, too much is excreted through the kidneys and intestines,” explains Ghanem. “If our body didn’t have this ingenious excretory function, we might as well calcify it internally, like an espresso machine.”

More and more more people complained about scale on the faucets or on the sink, says Sue. "These are matters of luxury, everything has to be nice and clean these days." To save customers the trouble of calcium deposits, we believe descaling is very important. So-called dosing chemicals are added that form a protective layer inside the pipes or bind undissolved ions that would otherwise precipitate as lime.

There is a theory according to which birds fly to us in the spring specifically in order to drink melt water: as if only in this case they can lay eggs and raise chicks.

Cool water can also be used externally to relieve stress. Every day at the beginning of the day and at the end, you can pour it over from a basin. It drains almost instantly, in three seconds, and the body does not have time to cool. But, overcoming this sharp change in temperature external environment, the body releases endorphins into the blood - hormones of pleasure, as after a successful business or event. At the same time, it is very important to have an appropriate psychological attitude: if you expect the result with anticipation of joy, then the effect will be clearer. In the absence of such self-programming, the result will be blurry.

It is extremely beneficial to walk barefoot in the dew. Many hidden powers in the body, there is a kind of renewal in the nervous system. Everything is important - the dew itself, and the grass, and the earth, and moistened fresh air ...

The easiest way to reduce the effect of stress is to drink in small sips, making a minute pause between them, a glass of water. But in no case do not drink the whole glass in one gulp, namely gradually and in small sips.

In fact, it is impossible to say for sure that we need one and a half, two, three liters of water. Obviously everyone's body is different. miscellaneous work and different conditions life. Approximate figures for an adult: 2-2.5 liters per day, if there is no serious physical exertion.

• For men: multiply your weight in kilograms by 35.
• For women: multiply your weight in kilograms by 31.

You will get the result in milliliters. Approximately how much you need to drink to provide the body with enough water.

You can (and should) drink whenever you want.

The rate of water consumption was calculated at least approximately, but many researchers began to be interested in the question of when to drink this water. Is it necessary to drink a glass of liquid after waking up? What about before meals? Is it possible to drink water with lunch?

Someone says that water dilutes the gastric juice, someone says that it interferes with the digestion of food.

But a lot of research conducted on this topic proves that you should drink when you want, and not on a schedule. And as many as you want.

The only time limit concerns healing mineral waters. But such water is prescribed by a doctor to improve health, who will tell you how to combine drinking water and daily routine.

You can drink from the tap, but you don't have to.

When people brag about iron health, they sometimes mention that they drink tap water and do not get sick.

In fact, it is not so easy for us to get sick. Still, there are sanitary standards that tap water must comply with. In some countries, even brushing your teeth with running water is not recommended, so we were lucky.

But, firstly, no one will check compliance with the standards in your tap just like that. Secondly, conditional compliance with the norms does not indicate a benefit. Still, there is a difference between purified or artesian water and what has flowed out of the tap, running through the plumbing system. So if you're thirsty good water, or think about a purification system, or order water delivery.

Water helps you heal

If a disease has crept up on you, a common viral infection, then you will definitely be advised to drink plenty of warm water. And this is one of the most effective ways fight mild infections. And all because a sufficient amount of water does not allow the blood to thicken and the mucous membranes to dry out. And this means that it will be easier for these shells to overcome viruses. So don't forget to drink water when you feel unwell.

Water soothes

Why is a nervous person given a glass of water? To calm him down, of course.

It is not for nothing that at the first sign of excitement, it is advised to take a few deep breaths. It’s the same with water, only drinking a glass is a little easier than forcing yourself to breathe evenly in a difficult situation. When we swallow, our brain is busy coordinating the nerve centers. To drink water, we need to reduce the activity of the respiratory center, make inhalations and exhalations measured.

Water works on the same principle when it helps to cope with hiccups. Technically, any liquid will have the same effect. But why give a person tea or coffee, which activate nervous system? It is better (and faster) to pour a glass of clean water.

Sometimes it seems that we want to eat (actually not)

There are no specific sensory mechanisms in our body that would be responsible separately for hunger or thirst. We experience both at the level of general sensations.

Strong hunger and strong thirst are difficult to confuse, yet they have characteristics. But the feeling of slight dissatisfaction, when you want something, but it is not clear what exactly, does not always mean that it is time to have a bite. Most likely, these are the first signs of thirst.

The most annoying thing is that if you go and eat something, you will get a positive effect, because there is water in the food. But at the same time with such water you will grab extra calories. So if you don't know what to eat, drink some water. You will most likely feel better.

Performance is reduced due to lack of water

Our brain is 75% water. It's a lot. And if total moisture in the body will decrease by 2%, the brain will feel it one of the first.

At the end of the day, it is completely impossible to concentrate? Everything floats before your eyes, pulls you into a dream? Run for a cup, but not coffee, but plain water. And even better - put a bright glass of water right in the workplace and take a couple of sips from time to time.

Start good habit drink with colleagues more water then it will be easier to work.