"Why the hell is my skin so red & dry?" This question I pondered several months ago as I stared at myself in the mirror on a fine spring morning. My skin was unusually red and dry that day and I couldn't figure out what the issue was. Now, if I took a moment (at the time) to notice the many bottles of diet soda lining my recycling can, I shouldn't have had a problem coming up with a good answer. Apparently diet soda, in large quantities was not the best source of nutrients for the health of my skin. Go figure. (Check out my recent 30 Day Experiment: No Diet Soda) The next question I asked myself was: "Am I drinking enough water?" Unfortunately, I did not like the answer. According to an article in UWHealth.org, "...If your skin is not getting the sufficient amount of water, the lack of hydration will present itself by turning your skin dry, tight and flaky. Dry skin has less resilience..." In that moment I had been forced to face the hard truth that I was derelict in my daily H2O consumption duties. The good news was that if I could just increase the amount of 2 parts Hydrogen and 1 part Oxygen I consume I may be able to reduce the blotch-tastic-ness that was my 'red & dry face'.
Now that I knew I needed to drink more water, the only question was, how much water did I need to drink? Our skin is an organ, and just like any other part of the body it is made up of cells. And skin cells, are made up of "...60% water..." says, healthyfashionista.com. She also goes on to state one of the various benefits of staying hydrated with water includes moisturizing our skin. Additionally, I learned that the prevailing approach to drink (at least) 8 8-ounce glasses a day was not accurate. The Mayo Clinic uncovers, that the number of 8-ounce glasses is actually closer to 12.5 glasses for men and 9 glasses for women. Obviously, the number increases even more as your activities increase. This is to compensate for the rapid loss of moisture from perspiration as a result of physical effort.
My simple challenge was to find out:
1) Can I actually drink that much water each day? - 101 ounces!!?? ... A day??!! ... That's a lot of water! Good luck to me!
2) How much, if any would my skin clear up as a result of this experiment? - This will be the test. I was hoping to see any small change in my complexion as a result of my consistent & diligent efforts. That would be great!
Here is what I found out:
Well, not only did I accomplish this task, it has actually been closer to 80 days and I am still going strong!! My skin is so much clearer, I have virtually removed the irritation and redness I had previously and there is no dry skin to be accounted for!! This is awesome and all alone is enough to make me jump for joy!! But, I have also experienced more energy, better sleep and I have been able to focus more clearly on my tasks during the day. Not to mention the fact that since I focused so much on drinking water I drank much less of any other type of beverage. Good stuff!
THIS is why I did not stop my 30 Day Experiment after the first 30 days. With all the awesomeness that was happening, this one was too good to give up. I mean, I have already formed the habit of drinking that much daily so why stop now?!! I highly encourage EVERYONE to take on this challenge!!
Lesson: Day by day I am becoming healthier and healthier.