I was thinking about a topic for today’s post which, if I were following a schedule (and by now we all know I am decidedly not doing that), would have something to do with mental health or related topics. Actually, come to think about it, aren’t most topics mental health related topics? If your mental health is going wonky, then pretty much everything goes wonky. I like this loophole! I can write about anything on Mondays, somehow put a “if one isn’t feeling particularly healthy mentally then…” blurb, and I’m golden! Anyways, I just derailed my own train of thought, as this becomes a Stream of Consciousness Saturday post on Monday…

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

Thyroid problems have been in my life lately, and I thought I’d write about that. Instead, I got a bit of a wake up call on another topic this morning by just going through my daily email newsletters. Well+Good just sent out an article about the longevity connection to staying hydrated. I scanned it. I read a horrifying statistic about how chronically dehydrated the majority of Americans are: “In fact, research estimates that about 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated. This becomes even more prevalent (and risky) as we age, especially for adults over 60, because the body retains a lower water volume, and the thirst sensation decreases as we grow older.”

Plus that has the extra added bonus of pointing out that “as we age…” life sucks more. 🎉

That article prompted me to wonder, “Is there a dehydration and depression connection?” Well, I should have known that the answer is a resounding, “YES!” Duh. Dehydration results in producing less serotonin, which plays a big role in depression.

I had already been stomping around the house, grumbling at myself, because I know I should drink more water. We all know we should drink more water, just like we all know brussel sprouts are good for us, but bleck. For me, I actually like drinking water, but I just forget. It is a hassle, and plus then I just spend way too much time trotting back and forth from the bathroom. But I have been trying to lose weight, and I have been retaining water, and in case you are not familiar with this counter-intuitive truism: the more water you drink the less you retain! So, if you want to lose water, drink water. (It makes sense if you think about it, the less you drink the more your body thinks, “I shouldn’t let go of a drop!” and so you don’t. When you get plenty, your body thinks, “We’re just fine, go pee!”)

Fine. I’ll live longer and healthier. My serotonin production will increase. I’ll probably lose a little water weight. I give up.

I have these cute little pint milk bottles from a local dairy farm. They are heavy, old-timey glass and have plastic snap on caps. According to the Mayo Clinic I should be drinking six of those a day. Sigh. I have six. That’s easy. Fill them up in the morning. Keep track. Hopefully have empty bottles at night to refill for the morning. When I’m not doing that, I’ll be in the bathroom. Note to self: Put more reading material in there. I think I’ll start with four bottles per day, get that under control, then increase to six. How hard can that be?

Fill this with water (not their omg delicious chocolate milk! sob) and repeat x 6

Featured image: Photo by Chris Ralston on Unsplash

7 Comments

  1. It’s hard to find any bottles made of glass anymore  especially if you need a secure lid.  I put mine through the dishwasher fill with water and put in the fridge.

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    1. I love these old-fashioned milk bottles so much (and I also have a half gallon size too). Like you said, glass with good tops, which these are, are hard to find. I also like the “kitsch” of the label. There’s a good chance these things will be shipped across the ocean with me in a few years. 🙂 Not everything (by a long shot) will.

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  3. M. yes we should drink 6 glasses of water per day. Except this is based on someone’s theoretical bell curve. It is like the suggested serving size on food packages. So if you fit the bell curve it is right. And if you are to one side or the other it is mostly right. And if for some reason your activity levels and metabolism are much higher or lower it gets filed under bad information and adjust as needed. For example if you are running a marathon you might need those six bottles just for the race not counting the rest of the day. And in the same way increased activity levels can alter the need for increased calorie intake. Am I parking in the first spot next to the store or walking all the way from the end of the lot ? Am I sitting behind a desk or on the move all day long ? It should all be tuned to who I am, what I am doing, and what my body needs for this situation. So yes 6 glasses is a great rule of thumb. Sometimes…

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    1. Thank you, for your thoughtful comment, John! Thoughtful AND quite correct. Very few of us humans fit in the “average” suggestions all of the time. One thing I learned while raising cats, of all things, because kittens can get dehydrated quickly and die, that if their pee was yellow that showed they were dehydrated. If the pee was clear then they were good. You checked by wiping their teeny tiny bums with a white tissue. Guess what? That holds true for humans, too. 🙂 So we should “check.” Now, that’s not “across the board” either, like you were saying in your comment. Certain substances, like vitamin B for example, can color the pee, etc etc etc. But hey yeah, in the “life is glamorous and exciting” arena, we should check the color of our pee, too. 🙂

      I’m just hoping I can manage four of those cute little bottles with some regularity. 🙂 I mean, ffs, truly, how hard is that?

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