Various studies and research results show how important it is to pay attention to your daily fluid balance, including on a mental level. Our brain is a kind of high-performance center. The optimal supply of nutrients to the brain is achieved by a sufficient intake of water throughout the day. Water, the basis for human blood, primarily transports oxygen and glucose to the brain cells. Only a brain that is well supplied with blood can perform at its best. What is certain is that a lack of sufficient fluid in the body reduces mental performance. The negative effects of a lack of water are inevitably noticeable at work, at school, during studies or when playing sport. Weak concentration and reduced performance are the result.

Depending on age and gender, the human body consists of about 2/3 water. Our blood consists of about 80% water and the brain of about 75%. Water is perhaps the most important means of transportation and solvent, as well as an essential source of energy for us humans.
The daily requirement for water is approx. 2.5 liters, of which 1.5 – 2 liters must be consumed through drinks. Sweating is synonymous with water loss and must also be compensated for. 1.5 to 2 liters of fluid intake is therefore a minimum. An average daily water intake of 2.3 liters contributes to optimal mental performance.

Learning to drink properly

To prevent fluid deficits and maintain mental fitness, it is therefore important to LEARN to drink CORRECTLY again. Newborn babies are a good example of this: babies’ fluid intake takes place every two to three hours. This rhythm of nature should also be maintained as a minimum in later years.

A lack of fluids particularly affects the capacity of the short-term memory. We can no longer hold and process as much information in our short memory and we are less able to remember information. This reduces the ability to gain an overview of the overall situation, solve more complex tasks or make balanced assessments. Mental flexibility is reduced.

Effects of too little water on mental fitness

You can no longer memorize so many statements and facts when reading texts. When speaking or writing, it becomes apparent that you can no longer detach yourself from a topic and that you can no longer take as many circumstances into account as usual. Due to the lack of fluid, the ability to think and plan is lost.

The Rosbacher drinking studies, among others, answer the interesting question of whether you can increase your mental fitness by regularly drinking water or mineral water.
The Rosbacher Drinking Study VI, conducted by psychologist Dr. Siegfried Lehrl, lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Erlangen and President of the Gesellschaft für Gehirntraining e. V., and nutritionist Günter Wagner from the Institut für Sporternährung e. V. in Bad Nauheim, answers this question with a clear “YES”.

Faster thinking with water

One of the key findings of the study was an increase in the ability to think faster. In addition, the participants’ attention span increased by almost 10 percent. This means that they were better able to remember different details from the test tasks and better understand complex issues. In addition, the brain’s working memory, the center for the conscious processing of information and an important basis for intelligence, has become around 15 percent more powerful. The participants also felt significantly fitter, more resilient and happier than before the study.

The scientific findings were obtained during a two-week investigation. In it, the consumption of two liters of Rosbacher mineral water a day was measured in terms of mental and physical performance. “The Drinking Study VI once again impressively documents the positive effect that a consistently high consumption of mineral water has on mental performance,” says Günter Wagner, summing up the results.

Water and mental performance

Previous drinking studies have already shown how important drinking the right amount is for mental performance. 172 test subjects took part in this 6th drinking study. Before, during and at the end, they answered questions about their well-being and had their mental fitness tested. They drank 2 liters of Rosbacher mineral water every day. “With the 2:1 ideal of calcium    Chemisches Element Ca mit der Ordnungszahl 20, Mineralstoff, der zu den Mengenelementen zählt. Unter den Mineralstoffen ha... to magnesium, a calcium content of 200 mg per liter and 100 mg of magnesium per liter, Rosbacher mineral water offered a nutritionally valuable mineralization for this scientific study,” says Günter Wagner.

The results show that the mental performance of adults responds very sensitively to different hydration conditions. Therefore, in order to increase maximum mental performance, it makes sense to ensure a balanced daily water intake and to avoid temporary fluid deficits. It is not enough to compensate for temporary fluid deficits during the day by consuming more drinks in the evening. “Freedom to drink” in our working world is a minimum requirement for the best possible development of individual maximum mental performance and quality of life in general.

Water: important for the brain

The brain constantly needs fluid to maintain its high moisture level. If it drops, mental performance also decreases. This was also shown in a drinking test among medical students, in which the attention of the group that had to “hold out” without water decreased much more than that of the second group, who were allowed to drink, after just a quarter of an hour. The longer the event lasted, the greater the differences became.

However, if thirst occurs, the brain’s ability to function is already impaired. Thirst already signals reduced mental performance. When thirsty, the body has to expend more energy to achieve the same mental performance. This also increases stress and exhaustion sets in more quickly.

We should therefore drink enough water throughout the day before we get thirsty. Living thirst-free is therefore the minimum requirement for being and remaining mentally fit and mentally efficient.