For many, January is all about being better, doing more than you did last year, and picking up new habits like swapping alcohol out for good old H2O.

If you’re currently on a journey to better health and wondering where to start, maybe taking a leaf out of YouTuber Scott Luu’s book will help.

In 2020, the creator wanted to discover whether drinking more water over a prolonged period of time could change his productivity and performance levels.

His idea was to triple his regular water intake for 30 days and document how he found the process in a YouTube video.

As someone who didn’t drink a whole lot of liquid beforehand, it’s understandable that the first major effect Luu felt after drinking three liters a day was the need to go to the toilet.

The creator said that he experienced a ‘huge, huge, huge increase in peeing’ during the experiment, claiming instead of his usual six trips, he was going to the bathroom between 12 and 13 times a day.

The YouTuber decided to drink three liters of water every day for an experiment (YouTube/Dreamlet)

However, he stated a ‘more useful’ effect of drinking so much water in the early days of the challenge was that he no longer felt ‘foggy’ the morning after completing a late-night editing session.

“Now that I started this water challenge, I chug half a liter of water in the morning and it’s like drinking clarity,” he explained.

“I can feel an immediate difference in energy, and it’s a bit freaky.

However, Luu claimed he was: “99 percent sure that’s just my mind reacting to the stimulus of drinking a lot of water because my body can’t really access that energy.”

Moreover, Luu claimed he no longer needed to include naps in his daily routine.

“Before the experiment, I took one daily 20-minute nap in the afternoon. During the experiment, it turned into six [days] out of the 30. Energy levels: a definite increase.”

Intriguingly, the social media star noticed that as the challenge progressed, he stopped feeling an ‘immediate’ power surge when chugging H20.

This is probably because his body was adjusting to the sheer amount of liquid being poured into it.

Hundreds of people have commended the creator for documenting the challenge (YouTube/Dreamlet)

Rounding up his successful experiment, Luu mentioned that drinking water isn’t a ‘magical pill’ that can solve all your problems.

He stated: “If you don’t have your s**t together, the water would just give you more energy to keep on doing unproductive tasks.

“However, if you have intention and focus drinking more water will help boost clarity and energy, increase focus stamina, make you nap less, and cause you to pee a lot.”

Luu’s video has amassed 201,000 views since it was uploaded to YouTube in April 2020 and has collected hundreds of comments from admiring platform users.

One viewer typed: “This is so motivational and inspirational. Thank you so much for this! I am really grateful.”

“I remember i went a year replacing every drink with water (even at family gatherings, etc.) and I have to say that was my best year, my bloating went down a tiny bit and I didn’t feel groggy after a meal as when I used to drink soda almost non stop,” replied someone else.

A third said: “My blood sugars are under control after drinking 3+ litres of water everyday for 2 weeks. It makes me wonder whether diabetes is a symptom from a lack of water weight.”

An expert has spoken out on the downsides of following an influencer’s extreme diet that has seen her apparently skip carbs completely for the last six years.

Social media influencer Bella, who goes by @steakandbuttergal on Instagram, is a musician – but her page largely documents what she eats as part of her unconventional diet.

Bella claims to have not eaten any carbs, fruit or vegetables in six years.

A woman has claimed that she’s not had a carb in six years (@steakandbuttergal/Instagram)

“I hate to break it to you, but you do not need to eat carbs,” she told her 420,000 followers in one video. “I have not eaten a single carb, piece of fruit or vegetable in six years and I’m not dying of low energy, nor have I wrecked my hormones.”

Ultimately Bella, who also says that she eats a whole block of butter a day, claims that the carnivore diet has helped her lose 25 pounds, made her periods ‘painless’ and made her taller.

She added that her body now burns fat for fuel.

In the wake of her outlandish claims, a PhD pharmacy student and fitness coach has spoken out and warned about the negative long-term affects this kind of diet can have on a person.

“You can believe some random influencer, we can believe the entire science community,” Angel began.

Bella follows a carnivore diet (@steakandbuttergal/Instagram)

“Carnivore diet might put you in a calorie deficit, so you might lose weight. Cool. [But] you could also just be in a regular calorie deficit, flexible dieting, eating chocolate, eating pasta and still having some balance there.”

She continued: “Over the long term, you might have a low fibre intake that will affect your gut. That is not good for you.

“You’ll also get less vitamins and minerals, for example vitamin C. So it might be well and good that you’re getting lots of iron from these meats, but if you don’t have any vitamin C to help you with absorption, you’re actually not going to be getting the benefits you think you are.”

Angel went on to warn about the issue of having too many saturated fats in your diet, which could lead to high cholesterol in the long-run.

Long story short, it’s good to have a diverse diet.

Explaining why, Love Your Gut’s website states: “Different foods are made up of varying amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates as well as vitamins and minerals.

“All these nutrients provide your body with energy and elements to help it function at its best day after day.”

It adds: “How can you ensure you’re getting enough nutrients to fuel your body every day? Well, the answer is to have a diverse diet and to diversify your dietary choices.”

Before embarking on extreme diets such as the one Bella follows, it’s always important to consult a healthcare professional first.

We’re all told about drinking two litres of water every single day, but what happens if you drink nearly three times that in soda instead?

Well, Tom Bowey did that, and he’s revealed the shocking changes that have happened to his body that will make you think twice about embarking on a sugary drink habit.

Tom was so much of a sugary drink lover he was known as ‘Dr Pepper Man’ by his pals, as he forked out around $325 per month on soda.

The father-of-two is said to have spent $38,000 on Dr Pepper in the last decade, leading to a huge hole in his wallet.

As you’d probably expect, Tom has suffered many health implications over the years, including sleeping problems and poor oral health.

The man from Buckinghamshire in England also suffers from persistent headaches and bloating.

Tom became addicted to soda (Kennedy News and Media)

“For a while my teeth weren’t too bad, but then I went to the dentist and he said the level of acid erosion was similar to what he’d expect in a 70 year-old,” he said.

“I’ve basically got the teeth of a pensioner. I was also feeling really bloated all the time as well, you gain a lot of weight when you’re just drinking sugar.”

Speaking about how his sugary drink addiction began, Tom recalled: “It started with one [drink] with lunch and then me and my work colleagues started buying each other drinks throughout the day.

“They’d bring them over from the cafe near work. There was also a vending machine so I could just pop in and get them whenever I wanted.

“Before I knew it, that’s all I was drinking and then I stopped drinking water completely.”

Tom drank a LOT of fizzy drinks (Kennedy News and Media)

The Brit continued: “I used to buy the 24-can multipacks, so I always had them and had at least five cans in the fridge all the time.

“I’d have my first one as soon as I woke up, and I would always take a can with me for the drive to work as well.

“I’d buy two bottles before I got into work from the shop for the morning, then I’d have another two in the afternoon.

“Then when I went home I would drink more throughout the evening before I went to bed.”

With his waistline increasing too, Tom knew he needed to make some drastic changes so decided to go down the hypnotherapy path.

And these days, Tom opts for water and weak squash when he is in need of a drink.

It was a two-hour session with Dr David Kilmurry on Zoom that saw him quit completely.

“I don’t look at fizzy drinks, I’m not remotely tempted,” he said.

A health professional has revealed what happened to a man who drunk 12 energy drinks in just 10 minutes.

If you’ve gotten through life so far without ever having to reach for an energy drink to see you through the day, I salute you. However, for most of us, multiple coffees or a quick energy drink have become a very regular occurrence. But how do you know when you need to find other means – such as a good night sleep – opposed to grabbing yet another drink to boost your energy levels?

Well, clinical pharmacist and toxicologist Dr Bernard Hsu has revealed what happened to one gamer when he chugged multiple drinks in just 10 minutes – take this extreme example as a word of warning.

Dr Hsu – who goes by the name Chubbyemu on YouTube – took to the platform to reflect on a case involving a 36-year-old patient named JS.

In a bid to make friends with his colleagues, JS – said to be an avid gamer – is reported by Dr Hsu as deciding to ‘chug 12 energy drinks in 10 minutes’ at work after finding a stash in the fridge.

And the effect on him was immediate.

YouTube/ @Chubbyemu

JS’ throat began to ‘burn’ and that sensation soon turned into ‘discomfort’, which ‘felt like sores were growing and tearing up his mouth’.

“Immediately after chugging all 12 energy drinks, JS didn’t feel well,” the clinical pharmacist continues.

“He was short of breath and to take his mind off everything, he stated playing some games.”

Hours later, JS’ heart began ‘fluttering,’ but he dismissed his symptoms as he regularly had over the daily recommended amount of caffeine when partaking in gaming marathons. However, he then started vomiting. Emptying his stomach contents in the kitchen sink, feeling his ‘heart beat in his eyes’ and suffering from severe ‘back pain,’ after a few days, JS decided to call 911.

Dr Hsu saw JS come into the emergency room with ‘breakthrough abdominal pain’. But what was actually wrong?

Getty Images/ Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times

Well, doctors identified JS had hyperglycaemia. “Hyper meaning high. Glyce referring to glucose,” Dr Hsu explains.

Instead of it being the caffeine, which was severely affecting JS, it was the sugar he’d consumed, which was negatively impacting his body the most.

Each can had over 50 grams, which means he chugged over 600 grams in total.

JS hadn’t eaten since chugging the drinks, and despite questioning if his pancreas wasn’t releasing insulin to lower his blood sugar levels, the doctor’s tests showed he wasn’t diabetic.

A high resolution scan revealed he had hyperlipasemia – ‘high lipase presence in blood’ – which meant JS’ pancreas was ‘starting to digest itself’.

YouTube/ @Chubbyemu

Overall the doctors resolved JS had ‘acute pancreatitis’ and quickly administered him some IV fluids, medicine for the pain.

However, on the day he was set to be released, they realised he’d developed an infection and his liver and kidneys were shutting down.

Thankfully, with ‘supportive care and antibiotics’ JS was ‘able to make a recovery’.

The doctor resolves: “Energy drinks are more than just caffeine. And we don’t know exactly how much of any one of these ingredients are in a single can.

“No one intended for someone to chug five-and-a-half liters of anything in 10 minutes.

“What we do know, is there might be an association with excess energy drink consumption and pancreatitis. It’s not just the caffeine and stimulants in there that’ll get you in the heart. Whether it’s chugging 12 cans in 10 minutes, or drinking three, four, five, six cans a day everyday, the pancreas can get injured.”