Water increases alertness, regulates BP

Reported December 11, 2010

Water doesn’t just quench thirst – it can keep you alert and regulate your blood pressure too, says a new study.

David Robertson, and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center first observed this property about 10 years ago, in patients who had lost their baroreflexes – the system that keeps blood pressure within a normal range.

Water increases the activity of the sympathetic – fight or flight – nervous system, which raises alertness, blood pressure and energy expenditure.

American Red Cross found in a study, that drinking 16 ounces of water before blood donation reduced the fainting response by 20 percent.

And because it raises sympathetic nervous system activity – and consequently energy expenditure – it does promote weight loss, Robertson said.

The study is reported in the June issue of the journal Hypertension.