Water makes up more than 60% of the human body, but it doesn’t get there on its own. To maintain a healthy body, recommended water intake is 13 cups of water daily for men and nine cups daily for women.
Drinking water has many benefits other than simply staying hydrated. Blood is more than 50 percent plasma, which is mostly composed of water. Thus, drinking water helps blood circulation, which is vital for most bodily functions. Water also helps treat headaches and migraines, relieves fatigue, helps digestion and cleans out toxins from the body.
Before I began this experiment, I drank a rough average of three glasses of water a day, which was not even close to the amount of water that I should have been drinking. To see how increased water intake would affect me, I decided to drink the clinically recommended daily amount of water, thirteen cups, for one week.
It was difficult at first to keep up with drinking water at school, but I found if I refilled my water bottle in between periods I could drink enough water that I didn’t have to drown myself in it after school. I got results on the second day. I found that I wasn’t as tired in the morning, and I could focus in my classes instead of being half-asleep. I had more willingness to participate in class and had a good attitude about most activities.
I actually listened and understood what the teachers were saying instead of blindly taking notes. I had more energy to do things after school, did all of my homework and even went on a bike ride instead of just lazily doing some of my homework, then sitting around on the computer for the rest of the day.
One downside was that I had to pee quite a lot during the day, which was mildly annoying. However, the benefits of increased water intake were so great I hardly cared.
Drinking water is a very simple thing to do, and the effects are so great that everyone should take basic steps to make sure they are drinking the recommended amount each day. I will continue drinking water every day because it makes me feel so much better than when I’m constantly dehydrated.