Oil for your Muscles

One of my chronic bad habits is poor hydration. I am constantly drinking less water than I should. As a result, I get more sore after exercise; recover slower; wake up groggy and get more fatigued throughout the day. In extreme conditions (walking through equatorial jungle for two days) I have experienced extreme dehydration in the form of nausea and severe vertigo. Not fun and potentially dangerous. On the flip side, when I start hydrating early in the day and keep it going for a few days, I find myself more alert, more eager to exercise and full of energy when I do. Bottom line: I need to drink more water. We all do.

I was talking with a man in his 80s yesterday and he mentioned that he had had bad leg cramps for years and only recently learned that "water is like oil for your muscles." I would not be surprised if this was a revelation for people of all ages. Unless you play organized sports, hydration is rarely emphasized as a health matter. For most of my life, I never really consciously hydrated. I just drank when I was thirsty, which is a sign of dehydration. It wasn't until I started to really push myself physically that I realized you have to hydrate. Most of us spend our lives in a perpetual state of semi-dehydration, not knowing what it's like to be truly hydrated. We all need water to survive.

I've met people who prefer soda to water because they don't like the taste of water. In some places (coastal areas, usually) I can relate. Water's taste can range from delicious to rotten egg to chlorine. Our tap water is gross and flouridated so we bought a 5 gallon glass jug that we fill for 25 cents per gallon about once a week. We go to a local store that filters their water to remove ". . .bacteria, mold, viruses, chlorine, fluoride, prescription drugs, MTBE, arsenic, and lead." This option is cheaper and healthier than buying plastic bottles of water (most of which is just tap water and can have BPA leach into it). And it tastes better. Yet I digress.

How do we make sure to drink enough water every day? Here are a few of the habits I've been trying to adopt:

• Start Early - I make sure to down a glass of water upon waking each day. This ensures that, even if I don't drink anything else until the afternoon, I still get some water in me. The alternative is nothing but coffee until late in the day; a bad option.
• Use the Same Vessel - I use the same 20oz aluminum bottle every day. My daily intake goal is four of these bottles.
• Keep Track - I've found that keeping track of how many ounces I drink each day makes it more likely that I will meet my daily intake goal.
• No More Sugary Drinks - While I'm not on board with the NYC ban on giant sodas, I do think that we drink way too many drinks that are full of sugar. Soda, frilly coffee, sports drinks and even fruit juices are mostly sugar. If water bores you, try a sugar free tab or powder. I like Nunn (http://nuun.com/) and Ultima (http://ultimareplenisher.com/).

Water is the essence of life. And wetness. Wetness is the essence of moisture. We are fortunate enough to have abundant fresh water available. Make sure you drink enough.

PS - If you are interested in the effects of flouride in water, here is an article with some good info. There is much debate on both sides of the argument, but I choose to avoid flouride intake. It seems that something intended as a topical dental hygene chemical should not be ingested in any scenario, let alone daily. http://www.naturalnews.com/038217_fluoride_tap_water_side_effects.html