Mood & Mental Tasks

If your goal is to optimize your mood, mental tasks, and processing of information, recent hydration studies provide sound evidence for optimizing your daily water intake. Therefore, if your goal is to optimize your mood, mental tasks, and processing of information, the aforementioned studies provide sound evidence for optimizing your daily water intake. To reach a minimum of 2.0 liters of total water each day (water + beverages + water in solid foods), remember that 22% of your total daily water intake is consumed as water in solid food; thus, you should drink at least 1.6 L of fluid, in the form of water and beverages. Indeed, the average volume of fluids consumed by Americans (plain water + moisture in beverages) is 2.7 L/d (men) and 2.2 L/d (women) (Yang & Chun, 2016).

The Harsh Side Effects of Mild Dehydration Recent research has shown that if you are mildly dehydrated—a 1-2% loss of body weight—there can be detrimental effects on your body, such as the following: • headaches • increased confusion/ • mood changes bewilderment • less calm/happy/contentment • decreased alertness • decreased positive emotions • reduced vigor • greater anxiety/tension • increased sleepiness • increased task difficulty and fatigue • loss of concentration

References • Armstrong LE, Ganio MS, Casa DJ, Lee EC, McDermott BP, Klau JF, Jimenez L, Le

Bellego L, Chevillotte E, Lieberman HR. 2012. Mild dehydration affects mood in healthy young women. The Journal of Nutrition. 142(2):382-8.

Lawrence E. Armstrong, PhD, is a professor of Environmental & Exercise Physiology at the University of Connecticut and the director of the Human Performance Laboratory. He presently serves as a trustee of the Drinking Water Research Foundation and as a scientific advisory board member for Danone Waters, France.

• Edmonds CJ, Crombie R, Gardner MR. “Subjective thirst moderates changes in speed

Part II of this series will be published in the March/April 2017 issue of Bottled Water Reporter and will describe how you can check your own hydration status each day, by making a few simple observations.

• Pross N, Demazieres A, Girard N, Barnouin R, Santoro F, Chevillotte E, Klein A, Le Bel-

of responding associated with water consumption.” Online journal. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 16 July 2013, pg 1-8. Accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/ fnhum.2013.00363 on 23 Oct 2016.

• Ganio MS, Armstrong LE, Casa DJ, McDermott BP, Lee EC, Yamamoto LM, Marzano S,

Lopez RM, Jimenez L, Le Bellego L, Chevillotte E. 2011. Mild dehydration impairs cognitive performance and mood of men. British Journal of Nutrition 106(10):1535-43.

• Muñoz CX, Johnson EC, McKenzie AL, Guelinckx I, Graverholt G, Casa DJ, Maresh CM,

Armstrong LE. 2015. Habitual total water intake and dimensions of mood in healthy young women. Appetite 92:81-6.

• Pross N. 2012. Effect of a 24-hour fluid deprivation on mood and physiological hydration

markers in women. Nutrition Today 47(4):S35-7.

• Pross, N., Demazières, A., Girard, N., Barnouin, R., Metzger, D., Klein, A., Perrier, E. and

Guelinckx, I., 2014. Effects of changes in water intake on mood of high and low drinkers. PloS one, 9(4), p.e94754.

lego L. 2013. Influence of progressive fluid restriction on mood and physiological markers of dehydration in women. British Journal of Nutrition Jan 28;109(02):313-21.

• Yang, M. and Chun, O.K., 2015. Consumptions of plain water, moisture in foods and bever-

ages, and total water in relation to dietary micronutrient intakes and serum nutrient profiles among US adults. Public Health Nutrition 18(07): 1180-1186.

• Watson, P., Whale, A., Mears, S. A., Reyner, L. A., & Maughan, R. J. 2015. Mild hypohy-

dration increases the frequency of driver errors during a prolonged, monotonous driving task. Physiology & Behavior, 147, 313-318. JAN/FEB 2017

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