When we talk about reaction times, we are not only talking about sports, but also reaction times at work, and that is because drinking water or not affects one’s brain reaction.
The human brain consists of around 90% water, and when one does not drink sufficient water, the brain slows down because there is insufficient liquid to send the electrical messages to the rest of the body via the nervous system.
Drink Water to Improve Reaction Times
Scientists have found that quenching your thirst with a glass of water during hot weather can help make your brain work faster.
[Source: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience]
According to research, individuals who drank a litre of water before conducting mental tasks reacted 14% faster than those who did not have a drink. It was also found that the effect was most pronounced among those who were thirsty before completing the given task.
Even mild dehydration can impact on a person’s mental performance, and this is especially important for people at work or who need to concentrate on the task at hand. This is especially important where individuals are sitting working at a desk all day long, as they generally experience a slump in energy levels after lunch.
Other research studies done with schoolchildren came to the same conclusion; those children who drank sufficient water had improved attention spans and memory. It was also found that when children had easier access to water they would drink more, as would the teachers, and that when children drank more water they got sick less often.
Further research is being done on whether the temperature of the water makes any difference at all, as some say that it is better to drink chilled water while others insist that it is better to drink lukewarm or even hot water.
Whichever temperature you prefer, you can easily access it from a water cooler such as the Living-Water Executive Water Coolers which offers cold, ambient and hot water options virtually 24/7. Contact Living-Water now for a free water-needs assessment and quote.
