BY KAYLA WOOD

Hunter Thiers–a juice, tea, and milk lover–and I–an avid caffeine-consumer–decided to drink only water for a three days.

We decided to drink only water instead of increasing our water intake along with our normal beverages to get a more accurate understanding of how the water itself affects us. The effects of caffeine would have skewed our results. According to the FDA, caffeine actually causes the body to lose more water than what is in the original caffeinated beverage.

Studies say that drinking adequate amounts of water per day decreases the risk of colon cancer and bladder cancer, even in high-risk populations. There is no magic number for how much water one should consume per day, but many health websites suggest drinking half of your body weight in ounces. For example, a 120 lb person should drink 60 oz of water. Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania suggests in an interview with NPR to “Just drink when you’re thirsty.”

Other studies report that bringing water to classes or exams could improve productivity and focus.

“I feel like it does improve my focus because I don’t have to get up and go to get a drink every time I’m thirsty,” says junior Cassie Mills, who carries a water bottle around with her at all times.

Water also reduces fatigue, according to Women’s Health Magazine. Fatigue is a symptom of dehydration; thus, drinking water helps increase energy levels. Dehydration causes muscle cramps and joint pain as well. Staying hydrated insures that muscles and joints are well hydrated and lubricated to function at optimal levels.

Thiers’s overall findings:

Thiers was urinating more than before drinking only water, so she learned that she should probably drink more water on a regular basis. Overall, she felt more hydrated and more healthy. Her skin also looked better than when we started. She did, however, feel hungrier than before.

Wood’s overall findings:

I actually urinated less than when I drank mostly coffee. My face cleared up a lot. After the effects of caffeine withdrawal subsided, I felt more energize and clean. I felt less hungry. I also had less general aches and pains. I just felt healthier. I didn’t feel more focused, however. I actually felt less focused than when I drank mostly coffee or tea. That could have been from a lack of caffeine, though. Finally, since the end of my experiment, I’ve noticed that I’m a lot more thirsty than prior to the experiment. I now drink four to five bottles of water a day, along with my coffee.

Thiers and I have decided to outline our typical day as a comparison against our water-only days.

Thiers:

6:45 am: Thiers wakes up and gets ready for the day.

7:45 am: She drinks about 10 oz of water or tea during first bell.

11:24 am: At lunch, Thiers drinks either milk, tea, or Naked Juice.

12:08 pm: Upon arrival to her fifth bell class, Thiers keeps drinking either water, tea, or finishes her Naked Juice.

1:00 pm: Fifth bell ends, and Thiers still sips on the water, tea, or juice from lunch.

3:00 pm: After the end of seventh bell, Thiers drinks more water to quench her thirst.

6:00 pm: Depending on whether or not she’s working, Thiers will have either another glass of water or a cup of coffee.

10:00 pm: To finish off her day, Thiers drinks a soothing cup of tea.

Daily water intake total: about 30 oz

Wood:

6:25 am: I wake up and turn on the Keurig, so that it’s ready after my shower.

7:00 am: I finish getting ready for the day and go down to the kitchen to make my first cup of coffee.

7:20 am: I begin to sip on my now-cooled coffee. It usually takes about two or three class bells to finish the coffee.

11:25 am: Lunch starts, and I fill up my empty coffee cup with water. By this time, I’m pretty awake and ready to take on the rest of the day.

11:50 am: By now, I’ve drunk about 6 oz of water.

2:36 pm: I start to crash from lunch. I can feel my energy slowly draining. I need more caffeine.

4:00 pm: I have my second cup of coffee.

5:00 pm: I either get ready for work or start my homework. Either way, I’m pretty motivated and awake.

6:15 pm: I’m either at work or on homework. My pallet starts to dry up, so I reach for coke zero (at work) or iced tea (at home).

7:00 pm: By now, I’m pretty exhausted. I either take a nap, or – if I’m working – I reach for an espresso.

8:00 pm: It’s dinner time, and I usually grab a glass of ice water.

10:30 pm: My body is so exhausted, achy, and screaming for sleep. But my mind is wide awake, so I either get ahead on homework or watch Netflix.

12:30 pm: I fall asleep. Hopefully.

Daily water intake total: about 14 oz (pure water only)

Side notes about my body before I started drinking only water: I had about three breakouts on my chin/around my mouth.

Day 1:

Thiers:

7:45 am: Thiers sips on a cup of water through first bell.

11:21 am: She fills up her cup and sips on it through lunch.

12:08 pm: Thiers drinks a bottle of water.

1:00 pm: After fifth bell ends, she fills up her water bottle again between classes.

3:00 pm: Thiers fills up her cup after school to sip on it through play practice.

6:00 pm: Thiers fills up her cup once again.

10:00 pm: Before bed, instead of her usually cup of tea, Thiers drinks another cup of water.

Daily water intake total: about 85 oz

Wood:

6:20 am: I wake up, and I don’t turn on my coffee maker.

8:00 am: It’s halfway through first bell, and I’ve been sipping on this camelback full of water. I’m so tired.

10:15 am: My body isn’t really aching…so that’s good.

11:24 am: I fill up my water bottle again.

3:15 pm: I yell at anyone who approaches me, then proceed to pass out on the floor outside of the auditorium.

4:00 pm: I jolt into consciousness, realize I’m not drinking coffee, then cry. But I go fill up my water bottle anyway.

6:00 pm: Oh my goodness. My body is falling apart. My head is exploding.

8:10 pm: I spend twenty minutes salivating in front of the coffee machine at work. I just want some caffeine.

8:30 pm: I decide to slice fruit to distract myself from caffeine. I fill up my water bottle and add some lemon to jazz it up.

10:45 pm: I go to bed with a splitting headache (a symptom of caffeine withdrawal).

Daily water intake total: about 90 oz

Day 2:

Thiers:

Same as Day 1

Wood:

6:30 am: I wake up and go straight to the shower. I don’t even think about the Keurig.

7:18 am: I grab my water bottle from the fridge and hop out of the door. I can do this.

10:15 am: No aches! My body feels happy and energized.

11:03 am: I snap at someone in chorus. Oops. I guess I’m still a little irritable for lack of caffeine.

12:00 pm: I fill up my water bottle and head to fifth bell. I’m getting over my irritability and start to joke around.

2:52 pm: Wow, that class flew by! But now I really have to pee. I also apologize to the person at whom I snapped. They understand.

3:00 pm: Hunter comments that my face has cleared up and looks much better than when we started.

7:00 pm: I drink another bottle of water with dinner.

11:00 pm: I’ve finished all of my homework, watched an episode of Friends, and I’m ready for bed.

Daily water intake total: about 85 oz

Day 3: (I decided to continue the experiment one day longer than Thiers because I was curious to see how the water affected me without the side effects of caffeine withdrawal.)
Wood:

6:30 am: I wake up, drink a glass of water, and go get ready.

7:00 am: I fill up my water bottle. I have a lot of time before I have to leave, so my dad stands in the living room taunting me about coffee. It doesn’t bother me.

9:51 am: I finish my first bottle of water. I don’t even feel like I’m going to fall asleep in class.

10:40 am: I fill up my water bottle.

11:30 am: I fill up my water bottle again.

3:30 pm: I take a break from petting cats (I volunteer at a cat shelter), and I drink another half a bottle of water.

5:00 pm: I finish my water, then I go fill it up.

7:49 pm: I go fill up my water bottle that I had finished by now.

8:14 pm: After picking up my check from work, I decide to fill my water bottle before I go home.

8:30 pm: I finish my bottle of water with dinner.

9:45 pm: I fill up my water bottle before I head upstairs to go to sleep.

10:36 pm: I fall asleep.

Daily water intake total: about 140 oz