Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Water

Water is such an amazing thing. Besides the usual things about water being a universal solvent, appearing naturally in all three forms (solid, liquid, gas) on earth, having a high heat transfer coefficient, and other relatively amazing properties given it by the Creator, water is also, of course, necessary for life as we know it (for the most part).
We don’t usually drink enough water. Our modern lifestyle, which includes forced air heating and cooling, little exercise, and other things, tends to wring water out of our systems. We don’t feel thirsty, however, and don’t replenish ourselves as we should.
I am amazed at how much better I feel physically just a few minutes after downing a large glass of water (12 oz or better). I’ve learned that if I begin to feel lethargic or just not feel very well, many times if I drink a large glass of water, perhaps followed an hour later or so by another, that I feel better just a few minutes after the first, and continue feeling good and refreshed.
I also learned a couple years ago from an Audiologist that water is important to mitigate the dizzy spells I’d been having. My conventional thought was that I was harboring too much water in my system, causing my balance sense to become out of whack. The Audiologist said that just the opposite was true. He said that a lot of water is needed by those of us who have these spells to maintain the proper ratio of sodium to water in our bodies. He said it was sodium, not water, that causes the dizziness in many people, and a lot of water will not only dilute the sodium, but flush it out of our bodies.
Since I’ve been drinking water, I’ve not had another dizzy spell. And if I feel one coming on, a couple large glasses of water usually do the trick. The Audiologist’s fee was well worth the value of the advice he gave, since those spells would debilitate me for upwards of a day or more. Besides that, those spells were worse than any flu bug that has ever bitten. You think you wanna die when you have the flu….
So drink lots of water. Take in three or four glasses a day (12 oz or more each) even when you don’t feel thirsty. You may just feel a lot better for doing it.

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