If you’ve used TikTok recently you probably have come across the #watertok hashtag. Videos tagged with this odd name have been viewed millions and millions of times in the last month or so. However, if you’ve somehow managed to stay away from this new viral trend, let me explain. It seems to have all started with people who are interested in drinking more water and sharing their efforts with the world. The videos are primarily from two different camps of people; those touting increased water intake as a weight loss tip and those who have had weight loss surgery and are adding large volumes of water as part of their recovery and new lifestyle. In the videos, you will watch (mostly) women adding ice, water, powdered flavor packets, and flavor syrups to (usually stainless steel) drinking vessels (usually with a straw), stirring them up and taking a big gulp. The concoctions are meant to be more exciting and thus more palatable than plain water with flavors that range from ‘peach ring’ to ‘lychee mermaid water’.
Now, the internet is absolutely ablaze with questions on this new trend. Is this healthy? Is there such a thing as drinking too much water? Is this actually water once it’s been altered so much? Will the alternative sweeteners damage people’s teeth? Does this promote disordered eating? I don’t have the answers to all of these questions and I certainly don’t know what #mermaidwater tastes like, but I did do some digging about how hydration could impact a student’s academic performance. Here’s what I found…
Water is a necessary component to life and is crucial in many of the physiological processes that keep us alive like circulatory function, metabolism, temperature regulation, and waste removal. In fact, seventy-five percent of the mass of a human brain comes from water. As such, there are associations between hydration, cognitive performance, and mood. Both The Mayo Clinic and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine recommend that men drink 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) and women drink 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of water a day to stay properly hydrated. If you are unable to maintain proper levels of hydration, you may experience headaches, irritability, poorer physical performance, and thus your school work may see an effect.
Dehydration has been associated with decreased short-term memory, long-term memory, arithmetic efficiency, visuospatial functions, attention, executive function, and vigor. So let’s think about this critically for a moment. Being dehydrated will not only impact the way you feel physically, but it can also impact your ability to remember things in both the short and long term, to do math, to complete tasks that involve judging where objects are in space, to pay attention, to make judgment calls, and it can make you feel weak. As a student, these are all very important things to be able to do if you want to be successful. Now, don’t fret. Rehydration after periods of dehydration has been proven to alleviate fatigue, improve short-term memory, attention, judgment, and decision making. So all this is to say that if you are not drinking sufficient water, your academic performance may be taking a hit. I am not here to recommend that you buy a 40 ounce stainless steel tumbler and make #watertok worthy concoctions in it twice a day, but I am recommending that you try to be mindful of how much water you consume and that you try to drink a bit more if you think you’re lacking. Your next semester grades may reflect the change!
References
Chard, A. N., Trinies, V., Edmonds, C. J., Sogore, A., & Freeman, M. C. (2019). The impact of water consumption on hydration and cognition among schoolchildren: Methods and results from a crossover trial in rural Mali. PloS one, 14(1), e0210568. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210568
Dickson, E. (2023, April 14). TikTok is obsessed with water. experts are concerned. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/watertok-tiktok-water-experts-concerned-1234714010/
Greene, J. (2023, April 14). #watertok: Why “water recipes” are taking over TikTok. TODAY.com. https://www.today.com/food/trends/watertok-flavored-water-recipes-tiktok-rcna79555
Kenney, E. L., Long, M. W., Cradock, A. L., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2015). Prevalence of Inadequate Hydration Among US Children and Disparities by Gender and Race/Ethnicity: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2012. American Journal of Public Health, 105(8), e113–e118. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302572
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, October 12). How much water do you need to stay healthy?. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20National%20Academies%20of,fluids%20a%20day%20for%20women
Patsalos, O. C., & Thoma, V. (2020). Water supplementation after dehydration improves judgment and decision-making performance. Psychological Research, 84(5), 1223–1234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-018-1136-y
Zhang, N., Du, S. M., Zhang, J. F., & Ma, G. S. (2019). Effects of Dehydration and Rehydration on Cognitive Performance and Mood among Male College Students in Cangzhou, China: A Self-Controlled Trial. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(11), 1891. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111891
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