Drink up water for Aquatober.

Water is one of the most underappreciated fitness tools out there. No sugary zing, no caffeine buzz, no creamy texture. Just hydration that keeps every cell in your body working. Research links better hydration with improved energy and mood. A 2023 analysis of more than 11,000 adults followed for decades found that people with signs of chronic underhydration faced higher rates of chronic disease and earlier mortality.

Most of us walk around mildly dehydrated without knowing it. Your body sends thirst signals, but busy days and habit-forming drinks override them. You grab coffee because it’s 9 a.m., not because you need fluids. You reach for soda because it’s in the fridge.

Most days, I found it incredibly hard to drink as much water as I should. That’s when I heard about Aquatober. It’s the name for a challenge people take, to drink nothing but water for the entire month of October. (Water = Aqua + October | Aquatober. Get it?)

The first few days were tough. Then I noticed I slept better and snacked less. Before jumping into a whole month, try something easier first. Drink water with every meal and when you’re thirsty for a week or two. See how that feels. Then decide if you want the full challenge.

If you’re going to try this, read the safety stuff below. Some people need to check with their doctor first.

Talk to Your Doctor First If

• You have diabetes, especially if you use insulin or SGLT2 inhibitors, or if you have kidney disease. Fluid changes affect blood sugar control.

• You take diuretics (water pills), especially combined with antidepressants like SSRIs or SNRIs. The combination raises your risk for sodium problems.

• You take antiseizure medications like carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine. These affect sodium balance.

• You have heart failure or heart rhythm problems. Too much or too little fluid affects heart function.

• You have a history of eating disorders. Any challenge that focuses on controlling what you consume needs medical oversight.

• You drink alcohol daily or heavily. Stopping suddenly can trigger withdrawal. You need medical supervision for that.

• You’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Your fluid needs are higher, and you need different caffeine limits.

• One important note for kidney stone formers: you actually need to drink plenty of fluids. Aim to produce at least 10.5 cups of urine daily. Water with lemon helps because it increases urinary citrate, which prevents stones. Don’t restrict your fluids.

The Danger of Drinking Too Much

Yes, you can overdo water. Drinking too much too fast dilutes your blood sodium. This condition, called hyponatremia, happens when you drink well above thirst during long activity. Risk goes up in hot weather, during endurance events, and when you’re drinking more than about 1.5 to 3.5 cups per hour for several hours.

Stop and get medical help if you develop:

For most people, drinking when thirsty and having water with meals keeps them safe.

How Much Do You Actually Need?

The National Academies of Sciences says about 15.5 cups daily for men and 11.5 cups for women from all sources. About 20% of the daily intake comes from food, so men need roughly 12.5 cups from beverages, and women need about 9 cups.

However, your needs vary based on your size, level of activity, where you live, and whether you’re pregnant or nursing. Use thirst as your main guide. Drink water with meals. Check your urine color. Light straw yellow means you’re good. Dark yellow or amber means drink more. Clear most of the time suggests you might be overdoing it, though some people process fluids fast.

When you exercise, start hydrated and drink to thirst. Aim for roughly 1.5 to 3.5 cups per hour. More if it’s hot or you’re sweating heavily. Add sodium on long or hot workouts.

What About Your Coffee?

If you drink coffee or tea every day, you’ll get withdrawal when you stop. Headaches usually start 12 to 24 hours after your last cup, peak around 20 to 51 hours, and last 2 to 9 days. Fatigue and irritability come with them.

You can push through and adjust, or you can taper down gradually. Cut your intake in half each week before starting the challenge.

Here’s something worth knowing: coffee and tea count toward your daily fluids if you’re a regular user. They make you urinate more, but over the day, they still add to your hydration. Healthy adults can handle up to about 400 milligrams of caffeine daily. Pregnant women should stay under 200 milligrams. When you eliminate coffee and tea, you’re removing a significant source of water. You’ll need to replace that volume with plain water.

Ways to Make This Work

Cold and filtered water works best. Keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator so it is always ready. Get a filter with NSF or ANSI certifications. These reduce contaminants like PFAS and lead. Change the cartridge when the manufacturer says to. Most city water meets EPA standards, but filters can improve the taste and provide additional protection.
Add flavor without sugar. Lemon slices, cucumber, or berries make plain water more interesting. No sugar, virtually no calories. If you’re prone to kidney stones, drinking lemon water can help increase citrate in your urine.

Fill a large glass of water and ice before every meal. Put it on the table with your food, just like they do in a restaurant. During your meal, you might want something else, but if the water's already there, you can sip on it until the craving passes. Drinking water between bites can also slow you down, so you don't eat as much food.

A 2015 study of 48 adults with obesity found that those who drank about 2 cups of water before main meals lost more weight over 12 weeks than those who didn’t. Although it was a small study, the simple habit proved effective for many people.

Combine fruit you're going to eat with water. I like to take some strawberries or an orange, clean them, slice them up and put them in a glass of water. Then cover and put it in the refrigerator for a few hours. In the heat of the afternoon, I drink the flavored water and enjoy the fresh fruit.

Carry a bottle everywhere. Mark times on it when you drink if that helps you track. Aim for enough that your urine stays a light yellow color.

Get someone to join you. Challenges work better with company. Check in daily. Share what’s working and what’s hard. If you mess up and grab a soda, start fresh the next day.

Buy two water bottles. A fresh one you take out of the refrigerator first thing in the morning, and the previous day's bottle that you can clean and fill up again. By carrying around your own supply of water, you're never far from a refreshing drink.

What Proper Hydration Does

Water regulates your temperature, lubricates joints, moves nutrients to cells, and removes waste through urine and bowel movements. When you lose 2% or more of body weight through dehydration, your mood tanks, and everything feels harder.

The evidence on mental sharpness is less clear. Some research shows dehydration slows your thinking. Other studies found minimal effects. Most people notice they think better and work out easier when properly hydrated.

Why Not Bottled Water?

To get to you, those bottles had to be manufactured, filled, and shipped to your local store. Every step of the way, someone had to get paid, pushing the price to astronomical heights.

Bottled water costs up to 2,000 times more than tap per gallon. In Key West, if you drink about half a gallon of tap water daily, you'll spend roughly 4 cents per month. Buy a bottle of water daily at the convenience store instead, and you'll pay about $45 per month. That's a savings of nearly $45 monthly, or over $500 per year.

Then there’s the microplastics issue. A 2024 study from Columbia University found that one liter of bottled water contains an average of 240,000 plastic particles. About 90% of these are nanoplastics, tiny enough to enter your cells and tissues. The most common plastics found were polyamide (from water filters) and PET (from the bottles themselves). Each time you twist the cap on and off, you create about 500 more microplastic particles through friction.

Research shows microplastics have been found in human blood, lungs, gut, and reproductive tissues. The full health effects remain under study, but early research on animals and cells suggests potential impacts on multiple organ systems. Some plastic particles contain hormone disruptors, such as phthalates and BPA.

Tap water also contains microplastics, but at significantly lower levels. Studies show bottled water contains about 60 times more microplastics than tap water. Filtered tap water in a glass or stainless steel container gives you the lowest exposure.

The environment benefits too. Plastics stick around for decades to centuries. Every refill of a reusable bottle means one less disposable bottle in a landfill or the ocean. Put your savings toward new running shoes or gym gear.

Most people benefit from drinking more water, especially when it replaces sugary drinks. Trust thirst as your guide. Drink water with meals. Check urine color for feedback. During exercise, drink to thirst at roughly 1.5 to 3.5 cups per hour. Stop if you get warning signs. And talk to your doctor if you have any health conditions before making significant changes to your fluids.

Water is a tool. Use it the way that works for your body. Good luck in Aquatober!

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Aquatober Origins?

The best information we've been able to find, indicates the original Aquatober was conceived by John Petersik while he was in college. He first talked about it in a blog called Young House Love. The earliest post we can find about it was September 30, 2012, and the link is here: https://www.younghouselove.com/aquatober/

Thank you Mr. Petersik for such a great idea!

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Reference Links:

Middle-age high normal serum sodium as a risk factor for accelerated biological aging, chronic diseases, and premature mortality

Natalia I. Dmitrieva ∙ Alessandro Gagarin ∙ Delong Liu ∙ Colin O. Wu ∙ Manfred Boehm
eBioMedicine - Part of THE LANCET Discovery Science, Published January 2023

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104404

 

Water intake, hydration, and weight management: the glass is half-full!

Brenda M. Davy, Kevin P. Davy, J. Tina Savla, Benjamin Katz, Kristen Howard, Erica Howes, Elaina Marinik, Eleni Laskaridou, Molly Parker, Aubrey Knight
Physiology & Behavior, Published 1 August 2025

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114953

 

A critical review of caffeine withdrawal: empirical validation of symptoms and signs, incidence, severity, and associated features

Laura M. Juliano & Roland R. Griffiths
Springer Nature Link - Psychopharmacology, Published 21 September 2004

Click Here for the Study: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-004-2000-x

 

Water Consumption Increases Weight Loss During a Hypocaloric Diet Intervention in Middle-aged and Older Adults

Elizabeth A. Dennis, Ana Laura Dengo, Dana L. Comber, Kyle D. Flack, Jyoti Savla, Kevin P. Davy, Brenda M. Davy
Obesity, Published 06 September 2012

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2009.235

 

Water Intake, Water Balance, and the Elusive Daily Water Requirement

Lawrence E Armstrong, Evan C Johnson
Nutrients, Published 5 December 2018

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10121928

 

Mild Dehydration Affects Mood in Healthy Young Women

Armstrong Lawrence E., Ganio Matthew S., Casa Douglas J., Lee Elaine C., McDermott Brendon P., Klau Jennifer F., Jimenez Liliana, Le Bellego Laurent, Chevillotte Emmanuel, Lieberman Harris R.
The Journal of Nutrition, Published online 21 December 2011

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.111.142000

 

Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy

Naixin Qian, Xin Gao, Xiaoqi Lang, and Wei Min
PNAS Chemistry, Published January 8, 2024

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300582121

 

Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water

Sherri A Mason, Victoria G Welch, Joseph Neratko
frontiers in Chemistry, Published 10 September 2018

Click Here for the Study: https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2018.00407

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CAUTION: Check with your doctor before
beginning any diet or exercise program.

9/27/2015
Updated 9/19/2019
Updated 9/29/2025