From Amanda's very early writing (1990s to early 2000s), shared as it was originally written.
WATER
Well, it's week one of my holidays and I made the annual trek up to my parents property in Queensland. It's 45C and dry. My skin feels like it's on fire. I'm sure this is not a wellness temperature! But then wellness consists of a balance, so one day like this is good - it makes us realize how lucky we are the rest of the time.
But we've had this for five days. I'm dreaming of winter. The only way to stay sane ( that is, below 45C) is to spend the day totally submerged in water. This is not good for long periods!
This little heat wave has demonstrated to me the importance of water. And avoiding dehydration. We heard on the news this morning about children and old people dying from dehydration. That led me to thinking about the water we drink and the amount of it.
I remember when I was growing up a Mrs Summers (her real name) used to make us drink at least eight glasses of water a day. She was right of course! We need an intake of at least a litre of water a day - we are, after all, mostly water.
You've heard all the stories about people living for weeks without food but a maximum of days without water.
So, how much water do You drink? Water without additives like caffine, sugar or syrup. And(fizzy) cans of drink don't count. Each one of those has seven teaspoons (at least) of sugar in it. I'm not sure any of the "diet" drinks are any better. Cordial is usually straight sugar - we just dilute it with water.
All this talk about water is making me thirsty - I'm off for a glass of pure, clean, countryu tank water. (So, what's a few mosquito larvae between friends?)
Right, that's better. So, how can we build drinking more water into our daily routine?
- If the water in your city tastes like a swimming pool gone wrong try buying bottled water. It's not very expensive and costs a few cents more if you want a unit that refrigerates the water on its way out. Most workplaces have units like these now and an increasing number of homes are making space in their kitchens for them. Toddlers love these units because they can reach them and pour water all over the floor - and sometimes into the glass. (I recommend keeping a plastic glass under the tap at all times.)
- Teach your children to drink water. Offer it to them instead of cordial, tea or coffee. If they want something different, use pure fruit juice in a half juice, half water mixture. Discourage fizzy soft drinks (don't have themin the house). Beware the mineral water/fruit juice combinations - look at the ingredients of the side of the can first - sugar is usually the second or third ingredient listed. That means in this ti, water is the number one component, closely followed by sugar.
- When drinking alcohol realize it's a powerful dieuretic. That means when you drink any alcohol, your body gets a message to wee more. So you actually lose more water, and can dehydrate even though you're drinking fluids. It's fluid with chemicals that affect your body. Dehydration is one of the main reasons we suffer a hasngover - we drink a couple of bottles of wine, go to bed and wake up feeling like death cos our body is screaming for water. Hence the old adage, drink lots of water before we go to bed after a night/afternoon/day of drinking. What about always having a glass of water beside the glass/bottle/flagon of alcohol and alternating moutfuls? Always ask for a jug of water (and glasses) when at a restaurant. Always have water for your gusests at a dinner party. It's cheaper than wine anyway!
- Don't be fooled into thinking "water doesn't quench my thirst, - Ineed a can of fizz or a cup of something." For your thirst to go, the water has to be absorbed and starting to pump round your system. Then yourbrain sends a message to your mouth and says "OK, we're not thirsty any more." Water does quench your thirst better than anything else - it just takes a little longer.
- Develop a habit of keeping a container of water on your desk, or in your work area (car, construction site, farm, truck etc) and keep sipping all day. Air conditioning is a fantastic way of sucking moisture out of your body - drink a glass of water each hour and see if you feel more energetic at the end of the day. Who cares if you have to pee more?! It just means you're flushing more toxins out of your body. And it says you're kidneys are working well.
- Offer people wate, coffee or tea. It seems in business we assume people only drink coffee or tea! Perhaps your guests would prefer water but don't want to ask for it, so they mutter "tea please" to be polite, maybe herbal teas are a good alternative - that flavours the water but doesn't add chemicals. Make sure it's real herbal tea!
- How often have you woken up at night, hot or thirsty? Or thirsty anyway? Keep a bottle or glass of water by your bed so that it's there - far enough away so you can wake up and reach it without ending up in a bath of water!
- If you smoke, drink more water. Smoking is a gread dehyrator - and makes your skin wrinkle.
Find lots of ways to increase your water intake so you're up to eight glasses - at least - a day and see what it does to your energy levels. It's only 44C now and I'm off for another huge glass of water. This is great weather if you're a cactus!
