The journey of water once it enters your body is quite a complex process and it impacts many different organs and aspects of your body. Every bodily function, from digestion to cognition to cellular function, depends on proper hydration levels. Where does the water exactly go to and how does it impact your organs as it begins its long journey throughout your body?

Next, water passes through to the stomach and intestines. Along with stomach acids and enzymes, waters help break up food and prepare for absorption by the small intestine.  

From there, water and other nutrients are transferred to the bloodstream by tiny hairlike structures located in the small intestine walls called villi. The rate at which water gets absorbed depends on the amount of food already present in the stomach during water consumption.

"Any water [hydration that occurs] from food digestion will take a little longer to be absorbed because the food has to be digested first," says Molly Knudsen, Registered Dietitian, and Team Nutritionist at InsideTracker.

Without adequate hydration levels, undigested food gets stuck in the colon, or large intestine, potentially resulting in constipation. The longer a person is constipated, the higher the risk of toxins being absorbed back into the bloodstream. Healthy hydration levels can positively influence the amount of good gut flora that exist in the intestines for a stronger microbiome.

There's a delicate ecosystem in your gut consisting of good and bad bacteria by the trillions and supports everything from digestion to immunity and even mood. Staying hydrated keeps the mucosal lining of the intestines in check and helps maintain good levels of good bacteria.

So long as the good bacteria outnumber the bad ones, there is harmony. But once the bad actors take over, health concerns such as leaky gut, constipation, bloating, and other gastrointestinal problems can ensue. Maintaining healthy hydration levels gives you an instant advantage.  

Fun Fact: Water isn't digested. Instead, it's absorbed once it reaches the small intestine.

A healthy adult heart beats approximately 55 to 75 beats per minute. With each beat, the heart pumps an average of 60 to 70 milliliters of blood, or about five liters per minute. It has been estimated that if all blood vessels in a human body were placed end to end, they would circle the Earth four times. An adult contains 100,000 miles of arteries, veins and capillaries. Water is essential for every cell to function and for the heart to do its work of feeding these cells. And water is also crucial to then move waste and toxins from the body’s cell to the organs for elimination.

Your kidneys are your body's built-in filtration system. Everything that enters your mouth is eventually filtered through these two organs. By maintaining healthy hydration levels your kidneys do not have to work as diligently to filter your blood.

Overhydration (Hyponatremia) can be a problem just like under hydration (Hypernatremia). Too much water intake without replenishing electrolytes can leach the body of minerals, especially sodium, and can be fatal in some cases. If your urine is clear it’s a sign that you may be overhydrated. If you're dehydrated, your urine will most likely be dark yellow as there's not enough water in your system to properly dilute urea -- it is a waste product produced in the kidneys.

Water quality is also important as the fewer chemicals and unhealthy substances your kidneys need to filter, the better.

Fun Fact: The average person can process about 33 oz of fluid per hour.

Perhaps the most crucial stop water makes during its journey through the body are the cells themselves. The cell is the primary building block of which life exists and replicates.  

Cells use water in a process called cellular hydration which provides energy for the rest of the body. One group of cells make up the body's largest organ—the skin. Our skin covers every inch of us. Even our hair and nails are made of skin cells. Healthy skin requires good hydration and it is our skin that creates the barrier for our bodies to the outside world of pathogens.

Fun Fact: There are at least 30 trillion cells in the human body.  

Some of the most critical cells in our bodies are brain cells. Our brains are made up of about 73% water which is used to help make essential hormones and neurotransmitters. Proper hydration is essential for healthy brain function and repeated research studies demonstrate quantitatively that cognitive alertness, memory, attention span, mood, and mental acuity are substantially affected by hydration level.

Fun Fact: Our brains weigh about 47 ounces for a fully grown male adult and about 42 ounces for fully grown female adults.