[rescue] Cooling (Long Message, sorry)

[Greg A. Woods]

[ On Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 17:26:35 (-0700), Rick Hamell wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: [rescue] Cooling (Long Message, sorry)
>
> 	I've been working on that too... I've found that flavoring it just
> a bit helps a LOT. Lemon or lime juice, powdered teas, Crystal Light...
> just a bit of each, I don't mix according to the directions. I'm up to
> three litre bottles now days. When I don't get that much I can tell it
> fairly quickly too.

You and probably most everyone here no doubt know not to drink too much
water too quickly, but don't over do it on long-term quantity either --
watch your pee and your state of mind.  You can O.D. on water alone, and
water intoxication (hyponatremia) is not much fun (and can lead to a
coma and even death if untreated, though normally that'll only happen
with some complicating medical factor).  If you start feeling more
apathetic and/or confused than normal, and/or get a headache, and/or
experience muscle twitching, and/or feel any nausea, and if your pee has
no colour, then you don't need any more water for a while (and though it
may do a number on your kidneys, eating a small amount of salty food
wouldn't hurt, especially if you're sweating too of course which will
deplete electrolytes like sodium and potassium).

My Mom the nurse always warned us as kids not to drink too much water
too quickly (and small children are the ones at most risk of water
intoxication) but I've been reading more about people way over-doing it
when they think they're in risk of de-hydration or even when they think
it'll make them sweat more(*).  Even marathon runners are increasingly
suffering (over one quarter of the finishing runners in a recent
Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon were water intoxicated after the race).

People who eat a lot of "dry" foods will need to drink more during the
day.  The average adult needs about 24-60 fl. oz. of liquid intake per
24-hrs, but even a long distance runner needs no more than 8-16 oz/hr
while running on a hot day.

(*) you usually have to do some physical work to make yourself really
sweat, though sitting still in a sauna will do it for me, and a hot
humid day in my office can be as bad as a sauna!  ;-)

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;  <gwoods at acm.org>;  <g.a.woods at ieee.org>;  <woods at robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods at planix.com>; VE3TCP; Secrets of the Weird <woods at weird.com>