NATIONAL -- Recently, posts have circulated Facebook about how drinking water can prevent the coronavirus by keeping your mouth and throat moist.

According to the Associated Press, this is not true. But, while the simple act of drinking water won't prevent contracting COVID-19, there are other ways drinking more water can help you during this outbreak.

  • For starters, your body needs water to function. Increasing water intake can make your body process more efficiently, which is important for the immune system.
  • Drinking water can also improve cognitive function, which will make you more aware of your behaviors, potentially leading to healthier and safer decisions.
  • Lastly, and arguably most obviously, drinking more water will make you need to go to the restroom more often. Assuming you abide by socially-accepted hygiene protocols, this will mean an increase in hand-washing which, as you've now probably heard a million times, is important to preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

Now, it is important to point out there are ways drinking too much water can actually be harmful to your health. Overhydration can lead to the sodium levels in your body being diminished due to oversaturation.

While there isn't an exact science to figuring out how much water you need to consume during the day, the important thing is to make sure you are drinking water.