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| WEDNESDAY | April 21 |
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).
Meditate upon this text. What promises can you take from it for yourself? How can you apply it to yourself?
An historic experiment conducted by Dr. Pitts at Harvard University had athletes—walking on a treadmill at three and a half miles per hour in a hot environment—consume as much water as they lost in their sweat. At the end of the experiment, the athletes felt as if they could continue walking—seven hours later!—G.C. Pitts, R.E. Johnson, F.C. Conzolazio, “Work in the Heat as Affected by Intake of Water, Salt, and Glucose,” American Journal of Physiology 142:253, 1944. The same athletes, deprived of water during the experiment on another day, reached the point of exhaustion within three and half hours.
The message is obvious. Water can give us power and energy, especially when we are doing strenuous work. In contrast, inadequate water intake may result in dehydration, which leads to fatigue and exhaustion much more quickly than if we were drinking enough water. Also, insufficient water can impair our vital functions. Though compensatory mechanisms may come into play, a chronic water deficiency will lead to ill health.
It is possible that adequate fluid intake may limit some symptoms such as headaches, thus decreasing the need for headache medicine, which can cause bad side effects, especially if used often. As most athletes know, during prolonged and arduous exercise, water requirements increase significantly.
Nevertheless, it is possible to drink too much water, resulting in water intoxication. The appropriate amount of water intake depends upon multiple factors, such as temperature, body size, and kidney function but it should be sufficient to result in pale or clear urine in normal circumstances. In most cases people should make an effort to drink at minimum of six to eight (at least 250 ml. per glass) glasses of water per day, more when doing strenuous work in hot environments.
How much water are you drinking each day? Make a conscious choice to keep track of how much water you are drinking, and if you’re not getting enough, what’s holding you back from doing something so simple and yet that holds so many benefits for you?
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