In time and with water, everything changes.
– Leonardo da Vinci
I woke up on Monday morning with a soul destroying hangover. You know, the kind that ages you by ten years and makes you question every life decision that brought you to this moment? Needless to say, I couldn’t have picked a better time to drink some water (well, other than maybe the night before).
I am surprisingly bad at drinking water. I don’t know what it is; I know it’s good for me, I have access to a lot of it, and I actually enjoy the taste, but for some reason I muddle through most days on one or two cups, maximum. I know, that’s awful (and probably dangerous) but unless I’m exercising or choking on something, I just don’t seem to reach for the bottle. That’s why I was looking forward to this week, when I could make upping my water intake into a challenge.
On Monday morning, after drinking a medically necessary bottle of Gatorade, I started looking into the science of drinking water. For years I assumed that we should all aim to drink 8 cups of water a day; however, after spending some time on the internet I learned that scientists are largely split between two schools of thought: women should drink about 2.7 litres (11.5 cups) to a man’s 3.7 litres (15.5 cups) or there is no actual scientifically-backed rule and we should all just try and drink water when we’re thirsty. I’m not sure which I believe but I did learn that one way or another I am not doing it right.
Regardless of volume, one thing that the medical community does agree on is that water is essential for your health and well-being. Curious about the practical benefits of nearly 3 litres of water a day, I typed “why should I drink water?” into the internet search bar. Three articles in I started to notice a pattern, so I pulled every list of benefits from the first three pages of search results, plopped them into a spreadsheet organized by type and occurrence, and made a little visual representation of the benefits of drinking water.
According to mainstream internet science, the top five benefits of drinking water are:
- It makes your kidneys work
- It helps you digest your food
- It promotes weight loss
- It helps you exercise better
- It…eases bowel movement
Sexy, eh?
As I looked through the list I noticed that the closest thing to “happiness” is that drinking enough water can help boost your mood, increase your energy levels, and decrease levels of anxiety. Not a direct connection to happiness, but a pretty big piece of the pie. So, with mental health as a starting point, I looked through the list for other surprise benefits that I know would make me happy; a wish list, as it were.
This week, I hope water will:
- Help me with digestion
- Improve my exercise performance
- Clear up my skin
- Prevent headaches
- Erase this hangover and prevent future ones
- Prevent illness
- Keep me alive (although that probably goes without saying)
In the spirit of a challenge, I decided to opt for the more rigid of the two guidelines and try and drink a mind-boggling 11.5 cups of water every day. The first thing I did was figure out how many times I would have to refill my water bottle to hit my target and, it turns out, that I should be drinking five and a half of my water bottles every day (oops). To keep track I drew a little chart in my planner, grabbed a couple of blue markers, took a deep (and still very hungover) breath, and got started.
Water Bottle Half Full
Despite starting out a little worse for the wear, I really enjoyed this week. I knew that drinking more water would be good for me and there is definitely something to be said for the feeling of satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something so easy and so good for your body. Drinking enough water is honestly the easiest “adult” thing I can do on a regular basis and it felt really nice to commit time to it. Going into the week I made a few predictions. I guessed that by drinking more water I would generally feel better, visit the bathroom more often, and exercise more effectively. These are some of my thoughts:
Hangover Cure?
You know when you’re so hungover that you can’t even keep water down? That was Monday. I don’t know how much I actually managed to drink, but I know for sure (and from more than a decade of experimentation) that water, had I consumed it, would have probably saved me from myself. You live and you learn. Or in my case, you live, you live, you live, you wish you would die, you live…
Pee Break
I didn’t know it was possible to visit the bathroom more than I currently do, but this week I’m pretty sure I went pee at least two times every hour. Maybe my body was shocked by the sudden intake of fluid, or maybe I really do have a bladder the size of a thimble, but I definitely left this week wondering if peeing as much as I did was normal (or safe). On the plus side, I did have to get up and walk around a fair bit throughout the day and that’s always a good thing in a desk job.
Professional Drinker
Paying close attention to the amount of water I was drinking made me realize something about myself: I inadvertently drink a lot of water during meetings. I don’t know if it’s out of boredom, discomfort, stress, or something else entirely, but I drink the most water on days when I’m in back-to-back meetings.
Baggage
Going from very little water to almost 3 litres a day meant that I essentially had to have a sip of water whenever I thought of it or had a spare moment. This resulted in me bringing a water bottle with me everywhere I went which was weird, annoying, convenient, and inconvenient all in equal measure.
Detox
I had very little time to drink anything but water this week because I was so focused on hitting my daily goal. This, according to the literature, is why drinking more water can help you lose weight: you have virtually no time to drink anything with a high caloric value. I don’t know if I stopped drinking alcohol this week because I didn’t have time, or because Monday’s hangover temporarily rewired my brain…but either way, it was probably better for my health!
Beast Mode
I expected that after five days of intense hydration I would magically become an unstoppable force in my 9:30 am interval training class at the gym. No more cramps, no more muscle fatigue, no more long recovery period! I honestly think I did worse at the gym this week because I was almost expecting the water to act as a natural performance enhancer instead of, you know, a biological necessity. Reality is a bitter pill best taken with water?
All in My Head
I get brutal headaches that last for several days whenever the weather pressure changes. Unfortunately, all the water in the world couldn’t protect me from this week. I had a headache almost every day, but I’m choosing to believe that drinking all that water made them slightly more bearable.
This week’s happiness task was easy enough to accomplish and undeniably good for my brain and body. I plan to continue drinking more water but I also know that it takes more than seven days to solidify a habit and, through factors inside and outside of my control, I’m likely to fail occasionally – and that’s okay. One thing is for sure, I’ll remember this in my next hangover!
Sources
45 Things You Can Do to Get Happy No Matter Where You Are
Courtney Johnston | @CourtRJ | ( http://www.rulebreakersclub.com/) on Lifehack.org
48 Little Things You Can Do to Make Yourself Happier Now
Elyse Gorman | @notesonbliss | ( https://elysesantilli.com/ ) on Thought Catalog
6 Reasons to Drink Water
Kathleen M. Zelman | WebMD
7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water
Healthline
Apparently the Secret to Happiness Depends on How Much Water You Drink
Kyle Schnitzer | Ladders
Drinking Enough Water Could be the Key to Feeling ‘Very Happy'”
New York Post
Fifteen Benefits of Drinking Water
Medical News Today
How Much Water Should You Drink?
Harvard Health Publishing
How to Be Happy 