Healthnotes Newswire (September 13, 2007)—Staying well-hydrated during a basketball game might improve your chances of winning, a new study suggests.

The body loses water continuously: through the skin, through moisture in the breath, and through the water used by the kidneys to remove toxins when producing urine. Exercise speeds up water loss as the breath rate increases to keep up with oxygen demand and the skin sweats to help release excess heat. Without proper fluid replacement, a person exercising can quickly become dehydrated.

I bought this property for the beautiful view and for it's connection to a protected wetland. I now have four tractors out my window. The city has decided to reconstruct the wetland portion that borders my porch. Somehow I think they have the wrong idea; that they can improve it by plowing it under and starting over. The first day the trees came down the birds went crazy. Where will they land? Where will they nest? They had lost their homes. Then the massive earth plowing began. The ravens went crazy picking up the carnage that was left. The next thing to go was the pond. As the digger arm came down I felt sorry for the frogs that had sung me to sleep night after night.

I know it sounds simple and is a no-brainer, but drinking a lot of water really helps build your endurance. And I'm not talking about a glass or two a day. Try drinking 8 glasses of water, then going on an evening run. I promise, you'll feel the difference and will be able to go much longer/farther without much more effort.

Some of us probably take our tap water for granted — not paying much attention to exactly what, besides H-2-O may be in it. I was shopping for a new shower fixture, and uncovered a very useful site. According to Lifekind, “There is growing evidence that chlorinated drinking water causes bladder cancer and rectal cancer. Many chlorinated water supplies probably contain some amount of THM (trihalomethanes), which are carcinogenic compounds.”

When warm summer days get too hot for comfort, try Nature's ways to cool down instead of reaching for the air conditioner.

How Hot Are You?

The first step is to simply assess how hot you are. If you're only a little warm, you might be able to cool down by drinking a glass of naturally-sweetened lemonade. I like to squeeze a quarter of a lemon and a quarter of a lime in a tall glass of ice water and add a little stevia powder. (For more cool drinks made with natural sweeteners see the Beverages page of sweetsavvy.com

Just drink it. I know it can be difficult, just do it. No excuses.

The key to caring for cut flowers is to remember that, even when cut, they are still living. Cut flowers drink, breathe, and eat, just as they do when they are connected to their plant. Some flowers, such as tulips, even continue to grow after being placed in a vase.

Most of the little packets of commercial floral preservative that come with cut flowers contain the basic components needed to support the life of cut flowers in their vase environment: a chemical biocide, an acidifier, and sugar.

The most common question we get asked is about the effects of bottled water. Here's the skinny: plastic is bad, and no amount of convenience can justify that. Americans add over 30 million plastic water bottles to our nation's landfills everyday.

In addition, plastic can be harmful to our health, which multiplies the negative effects of bottled water since we're consuming it at such a high rate. According to our friends at Idealbite:

"I think there’s a few things we can do, very simple steps, that we can take to have healthier lives.

“One is having a good foundation of nutrition, so take a good multivitamin, multi-mineral, along with a fish oil, and a probiotic everyday.

“Drink fresh, clean water. It’s a very simple thing to do, but just increasing your water intake can increase your health.

“And exercising half an hour. Just walking 3 or 4 times a week for half an hour can really dramatically increase one's health overall."

“First, I would recommend incorporating lots of good, clean water.

"Water is very important, and clean water – good quality water – is most important. I would recommend looking for a good source, such as spring water – a natural artesian source is always best. And look for a glass bottle.

Plastics often release xenoestrogens, which as we know can cause a lot of imbalances on the endocrine system, for both males and females. So look for good, clean water, such as Voss, in a glass bottle. And drink lots of it every day.