Does Water Give You Energy?
You know that not eating enough can affect your level of energy, but did you know that not drinking water can do so, too? Eating well is just one way your body gets the energy it needs to perform at its best. Another part of the equation is staying hydrated, especially by hitting your daily target fluid intake.
Hydration and energy levels are linked, so before you reach for that can of sugary soda or energy drink, here’s why you should swap it out for water instead.
What Is Hydration?
On average, the human body’s water content hovers around 60 percent water to help it perform essential functions. However, this number can be higher or lower depending on age, sex, activity level, and other factors.
Getting in your daily water intake and replacing the fluids you lose each day is how you hydrate. You lose two to three quarts daily through normal bodily functions like sweating, removing waste, and simply exhaling.
Hydration simply means replacing the water you lose so your body can:
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Regulate temperature
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Transport nutrients
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Lubricate joints
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Support cognitive function
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Remove waste
Water is involved in almost every process that keeps you energised and functioning at your best, which is why it is so important to your overall health.
Why Hydration Affects Your Energy Levels
So, water is essential to proper body functioning, but how does water give you energy? For starters, adequate hydration enhances brain function. Mild dehydration, just as little as a two percent water loss, can affect cognitive function, memory, and mood.
Dehydration can also cause your reaction time to slow down and athletic performance to decrease. If any of these things ring a bell, consider adding a few more glasses of water to your current intake to give your brain a boost.
When you don’t get enough water, your circulation slows down, which can affect how oxygen reaches your brain. Your heart has to work harder to move oxygen, resulting in you feeling more tired, fatigued, and less focused (NCOA).
Your muscles will also feel more tired without enough water since cells that don’t have enough water can cause electrolytes to shrink. Drinking enough water, especially during physical activity, can give both your brain and body an energetic boost.
How Dehydration Affects Energy Levels
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Slower circulation – Without enough water, blood flow becomes less efficient, reducing how much oxygen reaches your brain and muscles.
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Increased heart rate – Your heart has to work harder to move oxygen and nutrients around your body.
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Fatigue and sluggishness – Dehydration disrupts metabolic processes responsible for creating usable energy.
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Reduced athletic performance – When cells lack water, electrolytes become imbalanced, leading to muscle fatigue and poor stamina.
Why Does Water Make Me Feel Energised?
If you feel instantly better after drinking a glass of water, here’s why:
It Improves Blood Flow
When you’re dehydrated, blood becomes thicker and harder to pump, which slows down oxygen delivery to your brain and muscles, making you feel tired, heavy, or foggy.
Water helps your blood deliver oxygen more efficiently, which is a must for physical and mental energy.
It Supports Brain Function
Your brain is roughly 75% water, and even slight dehydration affects how it functions. Reduced hydration can cause trouble concentrating, low mood, headaches, and brain fog.
When you drink water, your brain’s hydration levels recover quickly, improving alertness, reaction time, and cognitive performance. This alone can feel like a boost of energy.
It Helps Regulate Body Temperature
When you’re dehydrated, your body struggles to cool itself down. That leads to overheating (one of the fastest ways to feel drained, weak, or sleepy).
Drinking water helps restore your cooling mechanisms (like sweating and proper blood flow), helping you feel physically lighter and less fatigued.
It Restores Electrolyte Balance
Electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium rely on water to stay balanced. When you’re dehydrated, electrolyte levels shift, which can lead to muscle fatigue and cramping.
Rehydration restores proper muscle and nerve function, which can feel like your strength and stamina return quickly.
What Happens If You Don’t Drink Enough Water?
Not drinking enough water can lead to:
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Headaches
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Dizziness
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Brain fog
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Low mood
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Constipation
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Muscle cramps
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Dry skin
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Reduced physical performance
How Does Hydration Affect the Body?
People lose more water in hot environments and when they exercise because the human body sweats to stay cool. If you don’t drink more water to replace what you lose, your body temperature goes up. In this example, hydration and energy go hand-in-hand since you tend to feel tired and sluggish when your body temp is too hot.
Water also helps create saliva so that you can chew food better. After you swallow, it helps with the digestive process so that your body can absorb all of the essential nutrients it needs from your food. Later, water helps remove the waste products that your body doesn’t need. At the same time, drinking enough water helps to prevent constipation and keeps your kidneys healthy by removing harmful bacteria.
Research shows that hitting the right water intake can help you lose weight or maintain weight loss. It can temporarily suppress your appetite while boosting your metabolism. Since water lubricates your joints, it makes movement easier. Hydration also increases your focus, so you may also notice that staying hydrated makes your workouts smoother and more effective.
Can Water Give You Energy?
In short, no – water doesn’t contain calories and contains no nutritional value alone, so it doesn’t provide energy in the way food does. Instead, it enables the energy-producing processes inside your body.
When you’re dehydrated, your body has to work harder to:
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Circulate blood
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Transport nutrients
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Maintain temperature
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Support brain function
When you rehydrate, these processes return to normal — which is why you quickly feel more awake.
You can increase your energy with hydrogen water even more than with regular water. In fact, hydrogen water is an antioxidant-rich drink that penetrates your cells for deep hydration.
How To Stay Hydrated and Drink Enough Water
To keep your water and energy levels in a perfect balance, you should know how much water to drink each day. Eight glasses a day was the advice back in the day, but this number isn’t so simple.
How much water your body needs depends on several factors, including the climate where you live, how active you are, and your overall level of health. Let’s take a look at how much water you should be drinking.
How Much Water Should You Drink a Day?
As a rule, healthy adults should aim to drink 35 mL of water per kilogram of body weight. However, this is just a starting point, as you might need to adjust for all the factors mentioned above.
Hot weather and exercise will deplete your fluids faster than if you’re in a cool climate and not as active. To help you keep track of how much water you drink each day, carry a water bottle with you that has volume markers and set reminders to drink throughout the day. Many apps now have alerts and allow you to easily track your fluids.
If you want to go more low-tech, an easy way to monitor your hydration is to look in the toilet. You want your urine to be light yellow. Dark yellow or little urine when you use the bathroom is a sign that you’re dehydrated.
Simple Ways to Track Your Hydration
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Carry a bottle with volume markers
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Set phone reminders
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Use hydration-tracking apps
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Pay attention to urine colour: look for light yellow
Tips for Staying Hydrated
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Make it part of your routine - Drink a glass first thing in the morning and with each meal
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Flavour your water - Lemon, berries, or mint can make hydration feel less like a chore
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Eat water-rich foods - Such as cucumber, watermelon, lettuce, berries, and citrus fruits
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Choose hydration-boosting drinks - Hydrogen water can support deeper hydration and energy thanks to its antioxidant properties
Stay Hydrated with PIURIFY
Water is the ultimate power drink for your body, but between regular and hydrogen water, the latter may provide more benefits. Various studies have shown that the antioxidant properties of hydrogen water work against oxidative stress, promote energy, and boost athletic performance.
The PIURIFY Water Hydrogenator® Bottle makes it easy to stay hydrated wherever you are. This device infuses water with molecular hydrogen (a powerful antioxidant) for deeper, more effective hydration.
Explore our full collection of hydrogen water products to support clearer thinking, better energy, and everyday wellbeing.