Have you ever been so completely dehydrated that no amount of water could quench your thirst? I think that last night I learned to never, ever go to bed thirsty. I had a couple handfuls of these new crackers while I was packing Gavin's lunch and I swear they sucked all the water out of my body, including my brain. Seriously. You have to understand that none of this makes any sense because I probably drank a gallon of water yesterday. I don't think I will ever eat Crunchmaster sea salt gluten- free crackers again. Ever.
As it would follow, I woke with a ridiculous migraine. So I had a glass of fresh juice for breakfast, took my daily vitamins and my magnesium supplement, and sucked down about 3 bottles of Aquafina on the way to work (not too hard to do since there was an accident on 90 E, making my drive take nearly an hour). I was trying to not take any medication. I don't know why I bother trying to avoid medication because nothing else ever works. Listen, people. Coffee doesn't work; in fact, it just sucks more water out of your body. Don't do that. Excedrin Migraine? Gimmick. Save your money. If it's getting rid of your headaches, you probably don't have migraines.
But I digress. What I really want to talk about is water. The migraine just got me a little off track because, well, dehydration can cause one. And I am not kidding when I say that I think those crackers gave me a hideous migraine.
I borrow the following information from "Why Your Body Needs Water: For Dummies." Since it is allegedly written for idiots, I hope it is clear enough:
"You need water to
- Digest food, dissolving nutrients so that they can pass through the intestinal cell walls into your bloodstream, and move food along through your intestinal tract.
- Carry waste products out of your body.
- Provide a medium in which biochemical reactions such as metabolism (digesting food, producing energy, and building tissue) occur.
- Send electrical messages between cells so that your muscles can move, your eyes can see, your brain can think, and so on.
- Regulate body temperature — cooling your body with moisture (perspiration) that evaporates on your skin.
- Lubricate your moving parts."
I have a secret. Just. Drink. Water.
Last summer, I was roped into being a den leader for my son's cub scout daycamp for a week. It was about 95 degrees outside all week, and we couldn't stress enough that these kids needed to be refilling their water bottles every single time they walked past the drinking fountain at the campground. Yet some of these parents kept sending their kids with big bottles of Gatorade, and then the kids didn't want to run out of Gatorade so they would purposely NOT drink enough. Because a 24 oz bottle of Gatorade is enough to last a kid eight hours in the sun on a hot summer day, right? There was one kid who kept actually adding packets of artificial sweetener to his Gatorade--and this was the kid whose mother made her own babyfood and fancied herself to be all about feeding her kids the healthiest foods. It was ridiculous. Parents, please just give your kids water.
The next time you think about buying that ridiculously overpriced bottle of high caffeine, high fructose corn syrup laden "energy drink," consider a good old fashioned bottle of H20 instead. You will save a lot of money and you might just be surprised at how much better you feel once your body is getting what it actually needs. If that isn't enough incentive, think about the countless numbers of unnecessary calories you consume every time you pick up a Frappacino or a Powerade. I don't know about you, but I like to save my calories for real, chewable food.
