Some may find it odd that I’m taking time in this largely popular magazine to discuss bodily fluids — but it is the very popularity of Go Inside Magazine that begs me to address this issue for wider appeal. We are made mostly of water. The replacement of this vital fluids is our lifeline to better health and here’s why…

*** Disclaimer!!! ***

Before you read any further, I want to make it clear I am not a doctor. I make no guarantees. I share with you here my experiences and insights. Take everything you read here with a grain of salt and apply it to your own experience. Check with a doctor before you employ, attempt or invoke any of the advice you read herein. If you are easily influenced or timid of mind and weak of volition, I urge you to read no further! Hit the back button on your browser now and read no more!

The Common Cause of the Common Cold
Okay, then! Glad you stayed. Here’s the scoop: When I was a graduate student at Columbia University, the most valuable thing I learned while getting my M.F.A. was not the history of the world or how to construct a dramatic story. The most valuable thing I learned was that the most common cause of the common cold is… dry air!

Mucus Membrane
The best battle to ward off a cold is water in the air and water in your body. Keeping your mucus membranes moist doesn’t let a germ grab a foothold in your body — they simply slip and slink away.

We Are Water
It’s a difficult task to keep yourself watered. Eight glasses of water a day is a minimum for us all and very few of us meet that watermark. Since we are mostly water, we need to continually replenish our lifestream and our body gives us clues when we get too dry. One sign that we need water is a headache. Lots of folks take an aspirin when their head begins to throb and they mistakenly believe the aspirin is the cause of the headache fading. Often the headache was a sign your body needed water and the water you drank to wash down the aspirin was the solution to the resolution of the headache.

Pee Pale!
Another clue that you’re not getting enough water in your system is when you don’t pee pale. Dark urine is usually a sign that your body needs more water to support the thorough cleansing of your body. Some medications can cause coloration of your urine, so if you’re drinking eight glasses of water a day and your urine is still dark, consult a doctor.

Unite & Urinate Every Two Hours
You should pee pale often. I get teased by folks who don’t understand the need to pee frequently. I use the bathroom with regularity, and that’s not a bad or unhealthy thing. If you aren’t urinating every two hours, you’re not getting enough water in your body. It’s that simple. If you’re drinking a lot of water a day, your system needs to get rid of that fluid and when you get rid of it often, your pee will be pale! If you’re peeing pale every two hours, congratulate yourself. You’re right on target for good health. Note that frequent urination can be a signal of a deeper problem (like diabetes) so if your urine has a sweet smell or other unusual look, smell or feel, consult a doctor immediately. Do you see how your urine is a window into the soul of your good health?

Easy Weight Loss
If you want to lose some weight, the easiest way to do this without feeling hungry is to drink water often. Sure, you’ll gain some “water weight” but the fact that your body is burning calories processing all the water you’re drinking gives you a double whammy for each glass you drink: You’re losing weight while you keep your innards clean! You’ll never go hungry on a diet if you drink lots of water. Drink water when you’re hungry. Water is filling. Water is calorie free. Water has no cholesterol. Water is fat free. Your stomach won’t have an opportunity to rumble when you drink water, because it will be filled with waves of wonder instead.

Columbia University
Another thing I learned at Columbia from the Health Center doctors is that IF you get a cold, or IF you have allergies, it is most important to drain that fluid that builds up in your sinuses.

Drain, Don’t Stop
For years I’d always taken the opposite approach to fighting a cold or sinus infection. I’d try to stop the drip and drain with allergy tablets or a nasal spray like Afrin. I discovered that I was very wrong! The idea is to get rid of that nasty fluid as soon as possible. You want those sinuses to drain. You NEED that nose to run because that is how your body copes with allergies and infections. To un-naturally stop the body’s ability to drain away substances it is trying to reject is to prolong your discomfort. I have found this to be absolutely true. Now, when I get sick or have an allergy attack, I do everything I can to get all the reactive fluid out of my body. Drinking a lot of water makes this process easier to manage since you’re immediately replacing the fluids your body is expunging.

Wetter is Better
Remember that wetter is better. Not just for your body, but for your computer as well! Dry air is not only your main enemy in battling the common cold — dry air also helps cause static electricity build up and that is the death kiss for your computer system if a static discharge slams your CPU. Keeping the air moist will not only benefit your body, but it will keep your computer components safe as well. Computers and monitors and printers and scanners all put dry heat into the air, so if you’re in a computer environment for long periods of time, you not only need to drink a lot of water for yourself, but you need to find ways to put water back into the air for the health of your computer and mucus membranes.

Your Nose and Your Computer
If your nose feels dry inside, then you know the air is too dry for you and your computer. You can get moisture back in the air quickly by spritzing the carpeting with mistings of water to cut down on the static electricity. Major department stores “water the floor” in order to keep down static discharges. If you’re at home, turn on your shower for awhile and leave the bathroom door open. That will get moisture into the air fast. If you have a cold, go into the bathroom, close the door and steam yourself for 15 minutes — that does wonders for loosening up your ears and sinuses.

Humidity is Your Pal
Humidity, in moderation, is a good and healthy friend to make sure you have around all the time. Humidifiers also can help keep your environment moist. Get one. Air conditioning is notorious for pulling water out of the air (that is its reason for being, after all), so keeping the air moist is a prime concern when the AC is blasting. You can boil water on a stove to shoot water into the air for a quick air moisture fix. During the winter here in New York City when the air becomes dry in my apartment, I take a wet towel and I place it over the steam heat radiator to put a nice flow of moisture into the air all day. If you don’t have a closed-pipe radiator you can cover, placing a wet towel on a sunny window sill will give you the same all day moisture coverage.

New World Motto
Our new international term of goodwill should become: “Pee Pale, My Friend”, for in that wish stands a new understanding that a basic key to great health is the shared universal treasure of peeing pale.