Water, Water Everywhere ...
By Theresa Becker, RN, MS
Johnson County Health Department
Scientists claim, evolutionarily, all life arose from the sea, and that we are all creatures of water. It is said that our bodies are 75 percent water. Poets claim that, subconsciously, we all yearn to return to our native home, the sea.
Speaking for myself, I think it’s true. Even though I grew up in “the asphalt jungle,” and the only water I ever saw was in my bathtub, I love the ocean. I’ll never forget the first time I saw the breakers crash on the rocks and swirl up on the shore. I was entranced.
I was 42, the mother of five growing youngsters, had a full-time job and a bad case of the “poor me” blues. My husband suggested that we take a three-day weekend, fly to L.A., rent a car and drive up the Pacific Coast Highway for a short, second honey- moon in Carmel. Needless to say, Carmel is still my favorite place in the whole world!
I could just sit and watch the waves washing on the shore forever! I told my husband that I wanted to move to Carmel when we retired. (He laughed and said we would both have to work two jobs, after we retired, to afford it!)
There is no doubt about the hypnotic way we seem to be drawn to water, but this being so, why is it so hard for us to drink the proper amount of water each day?
It’s true that as we grow older, we lose our sense of thirst. In fact, by the time we feel thirsty, we are already dehydrated. We need to stop and drink a half a glass of water every hour, even if we’re not thirsty. Over a 12 hour period, this is only about six glasses, but if we drink some at mealtimes too, we can still make the recommended eight glasses a day. However, when it is really hot, we need to drink more. In fact, if we are exercising in hot weather, we need to drink at least two glasses every hour or risk heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Scientists are disagreeing these days about the amount of water needed per day. Some are not convinced that eight full glasses are really needed if the person is eating the right kind of food. (Fruits and vegetables can be composed of 80 to 90 percent water.) Nevertheless, experts do agree that it’s best to err on the side of caution and drink more rather than less.
Also, I know some of us are a little “compromised” and feel the need to purposely “dehydrate” ourselves to stay dry at night. However, this practice is hard on our bodies and limits our ability to flush toxins and waste products out of our systems.
Rather than limiting water, the first thing we need to do is to eliminate caffeine from our diets. Caffeine is definitely a diuretic, more so with some people than others. But the significant thing about caffeine is that it has a half-life of six hours. That means that even after six hours, we still have 50 percent of the caffeine in us that we had when we first drank it. A lot of people who have a problem with overnight dryness, will try to stop drinking after their evening meal. Often, this is not soon enough. If you have caffeine earlier in the day, the diuretic effect can still be strong long after you have retired to bed in the evening. And the older we get, the slower chemicals metabolize out of our bodies. So, instead of restricting water, restrict the caffeine. Water nourishes both our body and our souls.
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