William C. Wadsack
I’m trying to be healthier, and drinking enough water everyday is one of the tasks I’ve taken on to accomplish that.
I know not everyone likes drinking plain water, but I’ve always enjoyed it — in moderation. It was never something that I made sure I drank every day, but a big glass of ice water every so often hit the spot. I usually made sure I drank enough fluids by focusing on things that had more flavor — like tea, cola and juices.
Carbonated water is still water, I would always argue.
However, after a recent health issue, I’ve taken to drinking two liters of water a day. Initially I had a one-liter bottle I would fill up twice a day, but I recently bought a reusable water bottle — it actually looks more like a jug — that holds two liters all by itself.
Without looking it up, I thought, for sure, I was hitting the recommended level of daily water consumption. When it was recently suggested to me that I needed to double my daily intake, I balked. That’s well over a gallon.
There’s only so much water a person can take.
So I looked up the old adage that a person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day. That equals a little under two liters, which meant I was right and had been drinking the right amount.
Then I found another article, written by the staff of the internationally renowned Mayo Clinic, that cites the Institute of Medicine — founded under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences. The article stated, an average adult male should drink about three liters of water a day, while an average adult woman should drink a little over two liters a day.
Dismayed, I started to click away to begin my search for a reusable water jug that could hold three liters — when the end of the article caught my eye.
The Mayo Clinic staff recommended that the adage be changed from water to read “fluid,” because all fluids count toward a healthy daily total. So I can stick with two liters of water a day and fill in the rest of the requirement with lemonade and root beer.
Because carbonated water is, in fact, still water.
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Happy birthday Thursday to LeVetta Wimbish and Polly Staley, both of Denison; Louis Anthony Hughley, Rhonda Mask, Linda Cripps, Karissa Cox, Monique Davis, Ron Woodworth and James Dickerson, all of Sherman; Taylor Brown and Billy Clinton, both of Savoy; Lynne Dingley Gartman of Uvalde, Texas; Anita Strange of Colbert, Okla.; Chris Murdock of Shreveport, La.; Patsy Bullock of Gordonville; Judy Galvez of Whitesboro; Gary Reed of Gunter.
Happy anniversary Thursday to Ray and Jessica Monday of Denison.
