“Water is the most essential element of life, because without water, you can’t make coffee.” This quote is from an electronic greeting card from a company that many of us have seen on Facebook called Someecards. They post funny and whimsical cards for all occasions, and I found this one to be particularly funny because I know how some people feel about their coffee in the morning, the afternoon, the evening and on and on. However, I wanted to make a point that water is essential to life. If you love coffee, then you understand that water is the basis for coffee. Water is the basis for life.
Besides the necessity of water for coffee, water is essential to sustain your body’s function as a whole. It transports nutrients, lubricates and protects tissues, organs and joints, helps with muscle energy, helps with digestion, regulates body temperature, keeps skin looking vibrant, balances body fluids, helps with weight control and maintenance, helps with maintenance of normal bowel function, helps with kidney function, and removes toxins from the system. If we’re not careful, we can take water for granted. Many people do not like water because they don’t like the taste. We have to get past that, though because it is so vital.
Seven years ago I had a surgical procedure that almost took my life. During the time of my hospitalization, I realized how essential water was for keeping me alive. I went over a week without food, but had I gone without water for just a few days, I would not be here. The intravenous (IV) drip that I received contained vital nutrients to sustain my life. Sodium was one of the minerals that I received through the IV, which is very important to keep the body in balance. Because I had a bowel obstruction, I couldn’t take in anything by mouth. However, many experts suggest drinking sports drinks and clear broth to keep a person from dehydrating.
I remember, back in the day, the experts said to drink 64 ounces of water per day. Now, I hear experts saying to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. However, there is discussion about drinking too much water. Who ever thought you could drink too much water? As a child I always heard, too much of a good thing is not good. Here is what I found out concerning too much water. While reading some articles, I discovered there is a condition called hyponatremia or “water intoxication” that causes death due to over-hydration.
If you have too much water in your system, your sodium levels will be out of balance which is what causes the fatality. Sodium is responsible for balancing fluids in and around your cells. If you overconsume water, the excess can go inside your cells causing swelling, which can lead to death.
In an article written by Madlen Davies, a British woman died from brain swelling in 2015 after a hike because she drank too much water. Although you would have to drink gallons and gallons of water to have this condition, it deserves mention because people have died from it so it is important to be careful. If you do high impact exercise and sweat a lot, you have to replenish what your body has lost, but don’t overdo it. It is so important to keep everything in balance. Who ever thought that you could die from overconsumption of water?
So, as I previously mentioned, many people do not like the taste of water. While surfing the web, I found on www.shapefit.com some flavorful ways you can increase your water consumption. Here are some ways you can do that: add lemon to your water, eat foods like watermelon, celery, lettuce, grapes, tomatoes, oranges and cucumber which contain high levels of water, drink non-fat milk, or create a smoothie with the fruit mentioned and ice. You can drink decaffeinated tea and decaffeinated coffee also as a way of increasing your water consumption. Just be careful with caffeinated drinks particularly on hot days or if you spend a lot of time outside on hot days.
For all my coffee drinkers, I know many of you like “high test” as my co-worker would say, but be particularly careful in your consumption and make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day. I understand that serious coffee aficionados feel that coffee is your life so I dare not take that away from you! I drink coffee sometimes, but not often. My drinks of choice are the green smoothie and, of course, water with lemon, plain, or with a little Bragg’s apple cider vinegar!
To help you with drinking enough water throughout the day, I found a daily water consumption schedule on Google Images.
Daily Water Schedule found on Google Images
I like this schedule because it allows you to stop drinking by 7:00pm and hopefully will not cause you to wake up excessively throughout the night to use the bathroom. There are so many different schedules that can be found on www.google.com if this one doesn’t work for you. Whether you drink it plain, with a lemon twist, or in a smoothie make sure you drink enough water every day. Your life depends on it!
Live, laugh, love, and pray.
God Bless You with Good Health and Wellness,
Antoinette
Antoinette Shar’ron Johnson
“Empowering, inspiring, motivating, and uplifting your mind, body, and soul!”
Article Sources:
Image Source found on Google Images: Keep Calm Studio
Image Source found on Google Images: Daily Water Schedule
Image Source found on Someecards