Wonderful Water

The view from my office window this morning looked more like mid-winter than spring!  Oh, well. Life at 7000 feet.  As I watched the snow fall, I thought again about the marvelous molecule water. In the winter when plants are dormant, it changes from a fluid to a solid that builds up as snow on the mountains. The snow is white and reflects the sun’s heat remaining in storage as the days get longer before turning back to useful fluid as the weather warms.   It’s perfect for our world of cold winters and warm summers.  It also expands when it freezes thus helping break up solids such as rock.

Wonderful water! It makes up over 80% of our body.  We drink it, boil it, run it, dump it, steam it, store it.  We need it!  Some suggestions about water and your health:

1.      Drink enough that when you go to the bathroom your urine is light colored. If your urine is dark, your kidneys are telling you you’re not drinking enough. Regardless of the time of year or the activity, this is a pretty good way to tell if you’re getting enough water. (This may not apply if you’re taking a diuretic for your heart or blood pressure – ask your doctor).

2.      Running a cool mist humidifier will help if you’ve got a cold, congestion or extra dry mouth at night. It will also help relieve symptoms of eczema (dry itchy skin).

3.      If you cut yourself – run the wound in tap water for 2-3 minutes. Studies show tap water rinsing is as good, if not better, than the rinsing we do with sterile water here in the clinic. I think it’s because of the volume of water you can move through a wound with it under a tap.

For those who like a lot of water – ski it, swim it, dive it, boat it – stay close to your life jacket and don’t forget how much kids love water!  Keep a close eye on those children when water is near.  Here’s looking forward to summer!

Water on Boulder Mountain