I tried drinking half a gallon of water every day for two weeks—here’s why I’m going to keep doing it

Anyone who knows me will confirm that I never go anywhere without my trusty water bottle, but I’m always keen to drink more. So when I visited my best friend recently and saw her XXL 68 oz water bottle from SHO, amusingly named The Guzzler, I felt a challenge coming on.

I already know that headaches can sometimes be caused by dehydration, and of course, water is good for muscle recovery and digestion. But what else would happen if I drank over half a gallon of water a day? Apart from more restroom breaks.

Because it’s a lot of water, I tried to space out my intake into regular intervals, drinking a cup an hour during my working day.

I must admit I sometimes got a bit bored of drinking plain water, so I started adding fresh lime wedges or sliced cucumber.

Carrying The Guzzler alone was sometimes a challenge, but even within just a couple of weeks I noticed some surprising and significant health benefits. Here’s what I discovered.

1. My concentration improved

The human brain is 73% water and studies show the simple act of staying hydrated can really help with focus.

Being freelance, I find it hard sometimes to concentrate, especially working from home where there’s always an errand to distract me—putting the laundry on, unloading the dishwasher, tidying up, anything but the actual job I need to do!

Having a quick drink felt like an easy way to boost my concentration levels, giving me an energy boost to get on with the task at hand.

2. My skin looked plumper

Now that I’m in my late 40s, I’m always looking for more ways to take care of my skin and keep it hydrated to minimize wrinkles and maintain a youthful complexion.

I’ve experimented with taking collagen powder in the past, but I’m not consistent enough to see any changes. After two weeks of increasing my water intake, I noticed that my skin looked plumper and healthier.

I suffer badly with dark circles under my eyes and they appeared slightly less ghoulish than usual, too.

3. I had fewer hot flushes

Water helps to regulate the body’s temperature, so fellow perimenopausal women might be interested to hear that drinking more helped manage my symptoms. Before the challenge, I hadn’t realised that upping my water intake could help reduce the frequency of my hot flushes.

When I looked into it, I found that dehydration can make this menopausal symptom worse, so staying hydrated was an easy way to help manage this.