Here’s What Happened When I Drank 1 Gallon (3.78 L) Of Water Every Day for 15 Days
I challenged myself to drink 1 gallon (3.78 L) of water every day for 15 days.
Here’s what happened and what I learned.
1 - The obvious one.
You pee more. Because the more liquid you drink, the more that comes out. This isn’t a bad thing since the more you pee, the more bacteria you flush out from your bladder.
Bonus: Plus, you get more steps in because of walking to the bathroom so often.
2 - I realized this.
You’ve got to be disciplined about drinking water -regularly- throughout the day otherwise you’ll be waking up to pee the whole night if you chug it an hour before bed. Then, because of your bad sleep, you’ll wake up tired and groggy, which will affect your mood and productivity for the rest of your day.
From this, I realized how small actions (ie. not drinking water consistently during the day) can lead to bigger consequences when they build on each other over time. Just like how a snowball rolling down a hill gets bigger and heavier as it goes down.
3 - This surprised me.
Since moving back to Taiwan, I’ve gotten more frequent headaches, like a dull ache in the back of my head. My guess is that because of the hotter climate and my increase in activity levels (I’ve been exercising for 1.5 hours a day), I’ve been dehydrated.
And when you’re dehydrated, your brain and other tissues in your body shrink. As your brain shrinks, it pulls away from the skull. This puts pressure on your nerves and causes pain. But since drinking 1 gallon of water a day, I’ve gotten fewer headaches.
4 - I didn’t expect this.
I used to get a lot of hunger pangs (and therefore, eat more) throughout the day. But it’s happened less since I started to drink more water. There’s a simple reason for this. Often, we confuse thirst with hunger. So if you want to reduce thirst pangs, drink plenty of water throughout the day!
5 - I got a boost in energy.
50% to 60% of your body weight is water. Now here’s the thing… you lose water throughout the day from peeing, sweating, and breathing. So when you’re low on fluids, you’ll feel tired, nauseous, and weaker than usual. Drinking more water helps replenish the water your body loses and maintains your energy.
Wrapping Things Up
Here’s what happened when I drank 1 gallon (3.78 L) of water every day for 15 days (and what I learned):
You pee more.
Small actions can lead to bigger consequences when they build on each other over time.
You get fewer headaches.
You get fewer hunger pangs.
You have more energy.
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Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash