Lots of water…

So three weeks ago I started making sure I was drinking at least a half-gallon (2 liters) of water a day. I hear I don’t drink “enough” (whatever that is) and I drink lots of soda and juice (mostly Coca-Cola and OJ). I do drink more water now than in other points of my life (which used to be never). It was one of the items on my 101 in 1001 things list. After 3 weeks I’ve got some results/conclusions:

  • When I drink that much water, I drink less soda (which is probably good).
  • It makes me need to go to the bathroom more (duh!).
  • I think generally got to sleep earlier (maybe to to lack of caffeine or at least it being washed out of my system).
  • I think I slept better (although I attribute this to the lack of other caffeinated drinks more).
  • My neck/shoulders probably bothered me just as much as normal (I think OMT and Chiropractors recommend lots of water).
  • I have very mild psoriasis (dry flaky skin) which comes and goes and thought the extra water might help, but if anything during that period it’s gotten a little dryer.
  • My stomach seemed more (slightly)sensitive to spicy and junk foods than normal.
  • I think slightly overall, I did feel a little better.

    Once again it was only 3 weeks and I didn’t expect any miracle in terms of changes. And this wasn’t a double-blind experiment or anything, it was just me drinking lots more water. I didn’t intentionally cut out other drinks but as a result I probably drank less (but I know of some days I drank lots of soda and then I had to force the water down later). Some of the above could be attributed to being tired or stressed from work (it was the start of the school year). So no big results other than the sleeping I’ll be keeping an eye on that.

    I will continue to drink more out of habit (I already am today), but I won’t be forcing myself to catch up in the evening.


    I need to cut out caffeine (soda and candy) for one of my items but when I’ve tried in that past it didn’t help much. I still had some sleeping issues and everyone said I was still just as hyper. I’ll try not to look at what I just wrote here until I’m done with the caffeine experiment and see how they match up (although less soda means more water). If I see anything significant I’ll try a no soda with 1/2 gallon (or more?) for 3 or 4 weeks and see how I feel. I do enjoy soda so maybe I can limit it to no more than 32 ounces of soda a day and none after 2 pm or something like that (currently, I try not to have any Coca-Cola after 4 PM or so).

    My drink of choice is generally Captain (Morgan) and Coke but if I had a few cokes with lunch, I generally get something different (stronger) like a Long Island Iced Tea (I’m not sure if that’s better for me…)

  • 2 responses to “Lots of water…

    1. Yeah I’d be curious to hear more because I’ve wondered myself. But not about the reaction to spicey stuff… peppers and hot sauces are very good at fighting cancer and such.

    2. I don’t think you’ve been drinking water long enough until your thirst reflex comes back!

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