Mild dehydration is defined as a 1.5 percent loss in normal water
volume in the body. And two recent studies with men and women find
that, beyond affecting your body, mild dehydration can impact your
mood.
Researchers evaluated 51 healthy men and women three times in three
months. All the subjects walked on a treadmill to induce dehydration.
The researchers then tested the subjects' alertness, concentration,
reaction time, learning, memory, reasoning and mood level.
They found that dehydration in men caused difficulty in memory and
alertness. In women dehydration caused little reduction in cognitive
ability, but did cause significant fatigue, tension and anxiety. Such
changes in mood occurred regardless if the subject was exercising or
at rest.
The results of the study with male participants were published in the
British Journal of Nutrition and the women's results were in the
Journal of Nutrition, an American publication.
So you don't need to be performing in a triathlon. Even if you're
deskbound-and especially if you're a woman-your body and your brain
might need a shot of H2O.