I did it! One week of drinking enough water

No doubt, drinking enough water is healthy. Besides, how hard can it be? At least that’s what I thought until I tried it out for myself. This much for now: I spent my week of self-experimentation exclusively near the toilet and am only starting to understand its effects now.

How much water is healthy?

The human body is about 60 per cent water. Our body is able to extract some of this water from food. But we need to contribute the rest of it as fluids to avoid dehydration. That’s why the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends drinking at least 2 litres of water a day, but adds that the amount may vary depending on gender, age, climate and other conditions. Researchers recently investigated just how much the need for water can differ depending on the person in a global study.
Personally, I’m not really sure how much water is the right, healthy amount for me. So I go by the general recommendation of 2–3 litres. And, above all, what feels right to me. After all, my body does tell me how much water I need – it’s called thirst.

My goal: effective detoxing through perfect kidney function

Our bodies are perfectly capable of regulating our water balance. This is done by ADH (the antidiuretic hormone), which is produced in the pituitary gland. When our bodies are low on water, more ADH is released. This stimulates the kidneys to produce less urine and keeps more water in the body. Conversely, when there’s an excess of water, less ADH is secreted and the kidneys produce more urine. In this way, our body ensures that our water balance is always just right.
So my goal this week is to lower my ADH production so that my kidneys can kick into gear and move as much metabolic waste products out of my body as possible – with a little help from some extra water.

Opening the flood gates

Here we go! I start my first day thirsty and place a full glass of water on my desk. It serves as a constant reminder to drink regularly. And it works pretty well. By the early afternoon, I’ve already had two glasses and feel proud of my first litre. But does my glass actually hold half a litre? I pour the contents into a measuring cup and am surprised to see it’s only 400 millilitres. So I down another half glass after my discovery. That should do it for the litre. Over the course of the afternoon, I drink another two glasses.
My kidneys don’t take long to get into gear, as frequent trips to the toilet reveal. At this point, I’m just happy my endeavour’s going to plan, and don’t yet suspect it’s going to get on my nerves soon. By the evening, I’m still short of two glasses, but manage to drink these without any problem.

Don’t forget to hydrate!

Day two starts off a bit crazy. I’ve loads to do and forget about my experiment until lunchtime. It’s 12:30 in the afternoon and I’m massively behind on my water intake. The morning mainly consisted of clinging to a cup of coffee and taking just a few sips from a tall glass of water. As soon as I realise, I down the first glass before filling it up again. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, I manage to make up for the morning’s shortfall without having to force myself. The plan is not to override what feels right to my body, so I’d stop if it didn’t feel great. After all, too much water can be harmful. Overall, I notice that I’m inclined to drinking more in the evening than in the morning.
The following day is much of the same. It’s noon by the time I realise I’m still working away on my first glass. My natural drinking rhythm seems to be more focussed on the second half of the day. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out if it’s the same for other people. In any case, I catch up during the rest of the day and also reach my target of 2.5 litres on day three. Day three also marks a turning point. I’m starting to feel more alert and awake. It’s as if a little extra energy was flowing into me with the extra water. This could, of course, be due to my expectations, but I’m still happy about the effect.

Exercising makes you thirsty

The next day, I set a personal early drinking record thanks to my commute. I cover the ten kilometres to the office on my bike and guzzle the first bottle of water before I even reach my desk. After I get there, drinking another glass is easily done. On this day, however, I also notice quite clearly that I’ve really got my kidneys going. During some meetings, I struggle to make it through to the end without dashing to the bathroom.
A long bus trip or basically anything out of toilet range would probably be quite horrible with this water flow rate. I must admit, I underestimated it. On the plus side, with the exercise early on and on my way home, hitting my water target is easy.
Four days into the experiment, and I notice my skin’s looking fresher. All that extra water seems to have reached that part of my body, too.
The next day is similar in terms of water intake. Working out in the afternoon means I’ve no problem drinking the required amount. The weekend also goes well, even though I’m not at my desk with a glass of water sat in front of me all day. I guess I’ve got used to the new water intake and am drinking 2.5 litres without even thinking about it.

The lowdown: easier than expected

My verdict after a week of «drinking enough» is positive overall. After two days, I got used to the additional water intake. Only the extra trips to the toilet got on my nerves a bit. But this showed it was worth it. My kidney function was obviously boosted. What’s more, I also felt more energised after a few days.

There was also an additional perk, which I picked up on in hindsight. In the week following my trial, my disciplined water drinking fell flat quite soon. The result? After two days my skin became noticeably dry. Looks like my body made good use of the extra water, and now it was missing.
So my take-home message after my week of self-experimentation is that drinking more is definitely good for me. Not only did I feel fitter, my skin also looked fresher. After a few days of getting used to the new water intake, it was (almost) second nature.

So what does this mean for me in the future? I’ll have a glass of water at hand more often and drink more regularly as a result.