Time passes for everyone. That is a fact. In a categorical and irremediable way, time always ends up taking its toll. One of the worst effects of aging is deterioration of our brain. It is more difficult for them to learn new things, remember some details or -even- they may start to have small slips, such as leaving their glasses in the fridge or confusing their names when addressing a friend. It is something natural and it will happen to all of us at some point of our lives.
In fact, memory loss is one of the most frequent reasons for medical consultation, especially in the older adult population. And it is that, many people are terrified of that start to lose memory because they understand that it is the first sign of the appearance of Alzheimer’s or some other type of dementia. However, it happens to everyone sooner or later… and without the need for a direct relationship with dementia.
But the fact that it is something natural and that it is not necessarily associated with some serious disease like Alzheimer’s, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry for the problem. Different scientific studies have concluded that there are some habits or circumstances that favor this memory loss, such as drug use (legal or illegal) or how to carry a sedentary life, with an unbalanced diet and lack of rest.
However, there are also habits and behaviors that can favor the opposite, that is, they can strengthen and improve memory…preparing it for the irremediable deterioration that always comes with age. One of these habits is often overlooked, but it is very important: the regular consumption of water.
The impact of dehydration on cognitive performance
The Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) recalls that the recommended amount for older people to avoid dehydration problems is between 1.5 and 2 liters a day. They advise drinking a glass of water at each meal and 4 or 6 divided throughout the day. They also remember that older adults should drink water even when they are not thirsty.
And not only because the risk of dehydration is greater, but also because as the body ages, it is normal for the body asks for less and less water. And the risk associated with not drinking enough is the negative impact this will have on cognitive performance, attention, memory and reaction time. And it is that, between effects of dehydration Mild is the decrease in blood flow. When this happens, the brain ends up receiving less oxygen and -therefore- its functioning ends up being altered.
All this has been tested in a study carried out by a team of researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) and the Xarxa Biomedical Research Center for Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrició (CIBERobn), published in the magazine BMC Med. According to the conclusions of this investigation, lthe older ones who have low hydration levels experience a higher cognitive impairment over timethan the one suffered by those who were well hydrated.
This relationship was even more exaggerated in the older ones who had problems of obesity or metabolic syndrome. In addition, older adults who drank between 1 and 1.5 liters per day experienced a 0.17 point improvement on neuropsychological tests they did during the research… compared to those who drank less than half a liter throughout the day, whose results were much poorer.
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