Drink More Water! (or get it in your fruit).

In 1980, when I was in fifth grade, my family took a trip to the West Coast. After 7 hours on the cross-country flight listening to The Captain and Tenille’s Greatest Hits, I couldn’t stop humming “Love will keep us together” and tapping out such tunes as “Muskrat Love” and “Shop around” on the back of my dad’s seat. TWA lost our luggage upon arriving in Los Angeles and soon after my dad strained his voice. When we were at the claims counter I swear I heard Bugs Bunny describing a small leather bag that should have taken a right at Pismo Beach. My dad made the international sign for “Mel Blanc (AKA: all the voices for the Looney Tunes) is standing in front of us,” but I was too cool in my red velour shirt and white wrist bands to ask for an autograph. I secretly hoped that he would demand to see the manager in Daffy Duck.

Two days later we were in San Diego. As Dad and Mom looked out onto the harbor from Shelter Island my sister and I ran excitedly through the light drizzle toward the Yokohama Friendship Bell in the middle of a wide open-air gazebo. About 30 feet from the bell Jenna and I fell into the moat surrounding the, now obvious, island. We swam to the other side, covered in lily pads and soaking wet. My dad nearly fell out of the car and I thought I saw tears coming from his eyes. It was only when he came closer than I realized he wasn’t terrified, he was laughing. (Whether he was laughing at us or with us varies in our family based on who tells this story.) “Jump…back… .in,” he strained hysterically while trying to catch his breath. “But Dad,” we whined, “we’ll get wet!” Dad calmed a bit and reminded us: “It’s just water, it’s good for you.” We slid into the water secretly worried about the deadly San Diego water pythons that, as kids, we knew inhabited all civic peace symbols in Southern California. In the end, however, I have to admit, dad was right water is good for you.

Did you know that our bodies are over 70 percent water? Yet most people drink very little water each day. In fact, most office workers drink only coffee and sodas during a typical workday. But did you know that fruit can also provide your body with water as well? Some fruits like watermelon are more obviously full of water. But there are other fruits that contain water. Depending on size, some fruits can contain almost a cup of water. Here are some juicy fruits to help increase your daily water consumption: oranges, grapes, grapefruits, apples. Did you know that:
1) 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
2) Mild dehydration can slow metabolism by 3 percent.
3) In 37 percent of Americans, the thirst mechanism is mistaken for hunger.
4) Dehydration is the primary cause of daytime fatigue.
5) A 2 percent drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty in focusing on a computer screen or printed words.