Water, Water Everywhere!

Toilets were flushing around the county during week one of the Healthy Heart Challenge!

Employees from a number of participating Mesa County businesses were downing eight glasses of water (or 64 ounces) a day as a first step in becoming healthier. It takes awhile for your body to adapt to that level of fluid intake, especially if you were dehydrated before. (Most Americans are, and the caffeine in coffee and soda pop is a big contributor!)

With the exception of those folks who drink water on a regular basis as they religiously tote their water bottles with them throughout the day, the newbies commented that this would be daunting.

There were those few who confused an 8 oz glass with a tumbler ( 8 ounces really isn't that much!). Others complained about the lack of taste, and some wondered how they would find the time.

But the advice to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water a day has been around for ages, so it must have been a common practice at some point!

I'm well past 60, and I've heard it eversince I was a kid.

But then I think back to the way life was ~ simpler, slower, and there were fewer choices. I remember spending a few weeks each summer at my grandma's house in Kentucky. The water came out of a well, and in the heat of the summer, a dipper full of water was a welcome thirst quencher. People weren't rushing about, although there was plenty of work to do.

When Kool-aid came on the scene, we downed lots it, along with all the sugar the mix called for. It was cheap, it was sweet, and we loved it. What better foray into the pricier world of soda pop? By that time, water was the last drink of choice. Milk was served with breakfast and dinner ~ Kool-aid came with lunch, and soda pop was for parties and weekend TV viewing, and of course, any trip to the movie theater.

Somewhere back there, water lost its rightful place as an underpinning for good health. It's tough to figure since we are fortunate enough to have the cheapest, best water in the world!