24

Dying for a Drink

Water I

Instruction for Presenter: When presenting the topic have water bottles out for participant or pitchers of water with
cups. Floating slices of lime or orange or lemon make the pitchers attractive and gives a little flavor to the water.
Ask during the presentation how man 8-oz. cups of water did they drink yesterday—today.

PowerPoint© Slide 1
Dying for a Drink

In October 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, winner of the US Congressional Medal of Honor, climbed into a B-
17 Flying Fortress in Hawaii, carrying a message from President Roosevelt for General Douglas MacArthur. His
purpose was to visit US bases in Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. While on the way, the pilot
became lost and the plane ran out of fuel, so he ditched in the Pacific Ocean.

As green salt water rushed in through the plane’s broken windows, the eight occupants rushed to evacuate. The pilot
said they had only thirty to sixty seconds to clear. In the confusion, they left the emergency rations and jugs of water
behind. The men spread out onto three life rafts. One had stuffed four oranges into his jacket pocket, and another
had a couple of fishing lines and hooks. They tied the rafts together so it would be a larger object for search planes
to see. Although Rickenbacker was no longer in the military, he assumed leadership.

By the sixth day, the men were starving and thirsty. They sang spiritual songs to keep their spirits up. On the eighth
day, a seagull landed on Rickenbacker’s hat. Carefully he reached up and grabbed the gull. The starving men ate it
all, including the bones, and then they used the entrails to bait the fishing line. For Rickenbacker, the gull was a sign
from God and a token of hope that they would soon be rescued. He insisted that God had a purpose in all this and
continued with evening prayers every night. That night it rained. The water was carefully collected on their clothes,
wrung out into Rickenbacker’s big hat and rationed sparingly. Each man received one to two fluid ounces a day. It
was their sweetest water ever!

As the days passed, their situation grew more perilous. The blazing sun burned and blistered exposed skin, and sea
brine stung parched, cracked skin and salt-water ulcers. Sharks circled them constantly and scraped against the
flimsy rafts, threatening to overturn them. But Rickenbacker believed that there was a God in heaven, and he
encouraged the men to hang on. Small things would happen to encourage them, such as two fish jumping and
landing in their raft, providing that evening’s supper. Even so, the men could never get enough water, and every cell
in their bodies called out for more.

On the seventeenth day it rained again, and the water tasted so good! That was the day they spotted the first airplane.
Sadly, its engine drone quickly faded away into silence; the pilot had not seen the small band of rafts bobbing on the
vast ocean. On the morning of the twenty-first day, Rickenbacker poured rationed water for each of his raft mates,
who were too weak to raise their heads to drink. Meanwhile, every available navy airplane was combing the ocean
for hundreds of miles around, trying to find the little rafts. Finally another plane flew into view. The men worked up
enough energy to wave their clothes. The pilot spotted them. Rescued at last!
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Rickenbacker had lost fifty-four pounds during the ordeal. In the hospital, medical attendants limited him to two
ounces of water every two hours that first night to prevent shock. But during that night he craved water more than at
any time during his harrowing episode at sea. Two weeks later, he had regained twenty pounds, mostly in water. The
other survivors returned home, but Rickenbacker insisted on flying on to Australia to deliver President Roosevelt’s
verbal message to General Douglas MacArthur.1

Many factors helped ensure the men’s survival, but none of these was more important than the fresh rainwater.
Drinking water had made the difference between life and death.

Water is essential! In our own bodies, water can also make the difference between life and death, between health and
sickness. Having sufficient suitable drinking water is critically necessary for optimizing body health. As we start
considering this topic, if you have a water container with you, pause and have a refreshing drink of water.

Power Point© Slide 2

Drinking sufficient water can:
 Relieve intervertebral disc pain
 Relieve chronic constipation
 Help you lose weight

Water dehydration

Did you know that your body has a priority system in place if it has inadequate water? It will take water from less
vital areas like bones, joints, and skin to give to the brain and heart and some other organs.
 Continued dehydration has consequences such as urinary problems, stress on the kidneys, arthritis, and
even premature aging.
 The average person is chronically dehydrated.
 According to the Mayo Clinic, the average adult loses ten cups of water a day through breathing, sweating,
urinating, and eliminating waste.
 Dehydration most often occurs when a person takes in less fluids than is expelled through these normal
bodily functions.
 Children and the elderly are more susceptible to dehydration.2
 When a physician asks a patient how much water they drink per day, often the answer is “one cup.” This
means that the patient’s body is forced to get additional needed water from other fluids and foods, and this
causes the body to operate at less than optimal levels.
 Good hydration gives us better endurance and mental alertness.
 Other results of dehydration include weight gain, lethargy, fatigue, headaches, confusion, light-headedness,
wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity, dry mouth and dry eyes.

BENEFITS OF WATER
Here are just a few of the ways water benefits our health.

 Water makes up 70% of the brain.

 We have ten to thirteen billion cells in our brain, and each is made up of 70% water.
 The lungs are 90% water
 83% of our blood is water that circulates to the brain, lungs, and throughout the body.
 A hydrated body helps every organ and system to function optimally.
 In a dehydrated brain, brain-cell functions begin to disappear.
 Dehydration affects our moods and worsens depression.

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  A dehydrated brain begins to shrink like a plum, gradually turning into a prune.
 Hydrated elderly live longer, think more clearly, and tend to be healthier.
 In the elderly thirst diminishes and dehydration increases especially after age 85.
 Dehydration of older people is the most frequent cause of hospitalization.
 Some caretakers of seniors are asked by family members to keep daily charts of the water intake of their
loved one.
 One caretaker of individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s reports that when she gives her patients
sufficient water daily, they seem less confused and are more alert.


Power Point© Slide 3

Students on all levels will do better academically if their brains have adequate water—
not sodas—just pure fresh water.

Some students take a break on the hour from study to drink from their water bottles, walk around a few minutes and
then resume their studies. They are more alert. Learning, brain function and grades improve when there is movement
and when the brain gets sufficient water.

Heart disease and water

PowerPoint© Slide 4 - Water can Reduce Your Risk of Heart Attack

Heart attacks occur most frequently in the predawn hours of morning when blood is
thicker because people are dehydrated

Want to decrease your risk of a heart attack? Drink water. 3

A study at Loma Linda University discovered that people who drink five or more glasses of water each day were
less likely to die from heart disease than people who drink less than two glasses a day.4 5

“Thicker” blood is more apt to clot. Imagine how it would be to have a tank full of a thick, gooey liquid.
 You try to pump the liquid, but the pump motor strains trying to do the job.
 If you pour some solvent into the tank, the pump motor will have a much easier time. Sometimes our heart
motor just stops because the blood is too thick and it gums up the coronary arteries.
 Most heart attacks occur in the early morning when the body is deficient in water and the blood is thick.

Water drinking reduces arthritic pain

PowerPoint© Slide 5
Water drinking reduces arthritic pain

Sufficient water intake helps to reduce arthritic pain.

 Water helps relieve intervertebral disc back pain.
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  Joints are cushioned by fluid-filled sacks, but if dehydrated, the body will take water from these
nonessential areas to supply water to more vital areas.
 As a result, the joints are not cushioned sufficiently and movement contributes to pain.
 Water drinking helps cushion the discs and joints and reduces back and joint pain, while dehydration may
contribute to bone rubbing against bone.

Natural killer cells need water

Our country may have the greatest and best-trained soldiers in the world. But if at a time of national emergency they
can’t get to the place where the battle is being fought, they will be of little use.
 Likewise, the body has its soldiers, like natural killer cells and other white blood cells, which can kill the
invaders.
 Water in the circulatory system gets them to where they can do their job.

Removal of toxins and kidney health

PowerPoint© Slide 6 - Your Amazing Kidneys

Your kidneys are more efficient recyclers than the International Space Station

The International Space Station recycles water from urine and respiration and returns it to drinkable quality. Without
this recycling, forty thousand pounds of water would be needed every year for the four-crew members. 6 But the
human kidney is even more amazing.

PowerPoint© Slide 7
Every minute, 24% of your blood goes through the kidneys and is cleansed. One to two
quarts of water are excreted each day as urine. Water is a key to the removal of toxins.

Without the kidneys, your body would require 2,500 gallons of water (40,000 glasses) daily to keep the body organs
functioning properly. In other words, the body is an environmental recycling plant of amazing efficiency.

Our kidneys want and require much water.

 They filter out waste products in about two hundred quarts of blood each day, and then the detoxified blood
is recycled into the blood stream.
 Water is the magic substance that makes this exchange possible.
 Six to ten cups a day ensures proper kidney function and helps to prevent kidney stones.
 Water flushes out impurities and guards against urinary tract infections.
 Sufficient water helps urinary flow and may reduce urinary urgencies.
Kidneys filter out about a barrelful of waste each day, but then recycle, concentrate, and reabsorb fluids after toxins
have been removed. The result is that we need to replace only about six to ten glasses of water each day.

Water drinking helps the digestive system

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PowerPoint© Slide 8
Water is good for the digestive system

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Drinking warm water first thing in the morning flushes the digestive system and reduces constipation problems.
 Drinking water between meals is also good for digestion.
 Many people have a ritual of enjoying two glasses of warm to hot, pure water when they first wake up in
the morning.
 Later their schedule calls for two glasses of water mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and evening.
 Many attempt to drink all their water by 4:30 or 5:00 so that there will be fewer nighttime trips to the
bathroom.
 This program avoids water at mealtimes, which dilutes the stomach enzymes and affects the digestive
system.

Importance of water during strenuous exercise

PowerPoint© Slide 9 - Water Essential for Muscles

An experiment at Harvard University School of Health compared three groups:

PowerPoint© Slide 10
Athletes who exercised without water
1. Their temperatures rose to an exhaustion zone of 102 degrees F. in just 3.5 hours.

PowerPoint© Slide 11
2. Athletes who exercised and drank water as desired
 They lasted 6 hours before exhaustion set in.

PowerPoint© Slide 12
3. Athletes who exercised and were forced to drink 1/3 more water beyond desire –
their temperatures never reached 101o F.
 They still had not reached exhaustion at the end of 7 hours and felt they could
go on indefinitely.

In long-distance running or any endurance activity lasting more than an hour or an hour and a half, if we become
thirsty, we’ve essentially compromised our ability to do well for the remainder of that activity.

No matter how much water we drink thereafter, once we become thirsty, we have already compromised the entire
event, and we will not reach optimal performance.

When climbing mountains, drink plenty of water

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 PowerPoint© Slide 13
How Hillary made it to the Summit of Mt. Everest

When Sir Edmund Hillary studied the records of repeated failed attempts to summit Mt. Everest, he wondered what
had gone wrong. He suspected that dehydration was a culprit. He made sure that his team increased their water
intake. They were the first to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain. Water contributed to the difference.

Water drinking will help you lose weight

Lucy had a well-paying job in a building where the temperature was frequently hot. She was trim and attractive
when she began working there, but to satisfy her thirst she drank a number of sodas daily, and gradually the soda
calories passed from her lips to her hips. One day she looked in the mirror and saw herself as others saw her, bulging
and overweight. Not happy with the increase in body size, Lucy began a weight loss program.

The pounds came off rapidly. When Lucy’s instructor asked her what contributed to her thirty-five-pound weight
loss, she responded, “I just started drinking water instead of pop, and after work I joined an aerobics class for an
hour’s workout five days a week. That’s all! Didn’t change my diet; just started drinking eight glasses of water a
day.” Her instructor smiled and nodded. “That makes sense. Water is calorie free!”

Many individuals who live in hot countries are overweight because of their drinking habits. Cokes are cold and
available. With just the added calories from pop drinks come added pounds. Added pounds may lead to overweight
and diabetes. This is becoming a worldwide problem.

About drinking water

PowerPoint© Slide 14 - HOW MUCH WATER IS ENOUGH?

 Water should be taken during activity at regular intervals to = DESIRE + 1/3
MORE
 One should urinate at least one quart per day and have clear urine at least once a
day.

PowerPoint© Slide 15
How many 8 oz. cups a day?
 Water drinking should be planned as a routine.
 A general guideline is to drink 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of body
weight.

PowerPoint© Slide 16 - Thirsty?

 Thirst is an inaccurate indicator of the body’s need of water.
 Thirst should always be satisfied.
 Certain thirst-quenchers, such as alcohol, coffee, decaffeinated beverages, cola,
soda and tea, can dehydrate.

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 PowerPoint© Slide 17
How much water should we be drinking daily?
 For adult women, 6 to 9 cups.
 For men 6-12 cups or more depending on the weight of the man.
 If engaged in heavy physical activities in hot weather drink more.

 Children drink less and need to be encouraged to drink water and not juice. Water should be taken at
regular intervals.
 A rule of thumb is drink to satisfy your thirst plus one-third more.
 One test is to drink enough so that you urinate a liter or more per day and have clear urine at least once a
day.
 The formula is: weight in pounds divided by 2 = _____. Divide by 8 = _____, the result is the number of
eight-ounce glasses you should drink daily.

Choose the best water available—spring water, tap water that is filtered, water that is processed by reverse osmosis,
or bottled water.
 Distilled water loses some minerals, but that is better than drinking impure water.
 If the water seems flavorless, just add a bit of lemon juice. The drinking water in your area may need to be
boiled for safety.

Even though water drinking is a healthy habit, if taken to excess it can be harmful. Drinking too much water lowers
the level of blood sodium, which can lead to the brain swelling. It also depletes the electrolytes, causing swelling,
slow breathing, irregular heart beat, lightheadedness, cramping, confusion, nausea, and muscle spasms. Excessive
thirst and water intake merit medical attention, as these may indicate diabetes or other serious conditions.

PowerPoint© Slide 18 - Schedule your water drinking time

 Drink at certain hours, such as 6:30 am, 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 2:00 pm, 4:00 and 5:00,
or drink on the hour until adequately hydrated.

 Measure the appropriate amount of water in hard plastic bottles or glass jars. Keep nearby. Follow your plan
and not your thirst. Avoid soft plastic bottles, as high temperatures may have leeched health-damaging
estrogen-like chemicals out of the soft plastic and into your water.
 Busy people who get engrossed in their work and forget to drink should set an alarm clock as a reminder to
drink water.

Millie was a sipper and had a hard time getting the adequate glasses finished daily. Then she started drinking fifteen
swallows at a time but still needed more at the end of day. Then she increased to twenty-two to twenty-five
swallows at a time. She now drinks an adequate amount and has moved from being a sipper to being a real
“drinker”— of H2O, of course!

What about water substitutes?

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 PowerPoint© Slide 19
What about water substitutes?

There is nothing better than water. Water is more beneficial to your health than sodas, tea, and coffee. The vast
majority of people fail to drink enough water each day and drink substitutes. Substitute drinks contribute to health
risks.

People say, “I’m trying to increase my fluids” by taking in large amounts of soda, juices, diet drinks, tea, and coffee.
In fact, most products don’t really address the body’s certain need for water.
 Many of these liquids actually cause or promote dehydration, as opposed to rehydrating the body according
to its needs.
 Studies have revealed that the use of tea, coffee, and sodas results in a diuretic effect.
 Even though large amounts of fluids may be taken in with these beverages, the net effect can be
dehydration of body tissue.

PowerPoint© Slide 20
Heavy tea drinkers often have vitamin-B deficiencies. Tannin, a chemical component
of tea, has been shown to interfere with iron absorption.

PowerPoint© Slide 21
Soda pop is a primary cause of osteoporosis because the soda absorbs calcium from the
body. Soda pop is a leading cause of diabetes. A twenty-ounce bottle of soda may
contain sixteen teaspoons of sugar.

Juices are fine occasionally but may contain large quantities of sugar. It is better to eat the raw fruit that has more
fiber and fewer calories.

PowerPoint© Slide 22
The research on water is clear: Drink lots of beneficial, pure water every day!
 Make it a daily priority.
 Like reading the Bible, praying, brushing your teeth, eating a meal, and taking
a bath, it should be part of your daily routine.

Water for a thirsty African village

PowerPoint© Slide 23
The Ryan Story

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“Dad, Mom, I need seventy dollars,” six-year old Ryan announced when he got home from school. He was a first-
grader living in Canada. “What for?” they asked. “It’s for people in Africa who don’t have clean water to drink. My
teacher says for seventy dollars they could dig a well. Can I have the money?”

Dad and Mom decided it would be best if Ryan worked for the money. They gave him odd jobs, and the dollar bills
began piling up in a cookie tin on top of the refrigerator. After school, he and a neighborhood friend sold lemonade,
and the money kept coming in. Every night Ryan prayed, “Jesus, help me to get clean water for the poor people in
Africa.”

Four months later, carrying the cookie tin, Ryan walked into the office of a famine-relief organization. Workers
counted the contents. Seventy-five dollars! Then he heard bad news: the money was enough to buy only the hand
pump. It would cost $2,000 to drill a well. Six-year-old Ryan was undeterred. “OK, I’ll just do more chores,” he
said.

The local newspaper wrote up Ryan’s story, and more funds trickled in. Then a newspaper in Canada’s capital city,
Ottawa, picked up the story, and a TV station ran a feature on the project. Checks poured in. Ryan didn’t know what
to do with checks, and he hadn’t learned yet how to write his name. “That’s all right,” his mom encouraged him,
“just print your name. The bank will accept them.”

Then a project coordinator for Uganda contacted Ryan and asked, “Where do you want your well to be drilled?” He
answered, “Drill it near a school so the kids can take water home every day.” Together they picked Angolo Primary
School.

On New Year’s Day in the year 2000, Ryan’s next-door neighbors came over. “Ryan, how nice it would be for you
and your dad and mom to go to Uganda to see your well. We will give you all our frequent-flier miles so you can all
make the trip.”

Summertime found Ryan and his parents in the back of a pickup bouncing down a dusty Ugandan road. As they
entered a village, they heard hundreds of people chanting, “Rayan! Rayan! Rayan!”

The pickup rounded the final corner and all the children of Angolo Primary School, in their blue and white uniforms,
cheered and applauded. The village elders came forward and, in triumphal procession, led Ryan to the well. An
inscription at its base reads, “Ryan’s Well, Funded by Ryan H.” Ryan and his family pumped the well handle, and a
stream of pure water gushed forth.
It brings to mind Jesus’ promise:

PowerPoint© Slide 24
“Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water . . . , assuredly, I say
to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Jesus

PowerPoint© Slide 25
Water wells that are gifts of love bringing joy to often forgotten villages of Africa.

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 PowerPoint Slide 26 - Prayer
©

Lord, thank You that I have water to drink to give health to my brain, bones,
respiratory system, circulatory system, immune system, and kidneys. Like Ryan, may I
help thirsty people to find water and help thirsty souls find the water of life.

PowerPoint© Slide 27 - Prayer

When the Master rewards the faithful of earth, may I hear His voice saying,
“Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water . . . assuredly, I say
to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Amen.

PowerPoint© Slide 28 - Reflect/Discuss

1. What impressed you about this topic? What were the spiritual applications that
spoke to your heart?
2. Reality check—How much water did you drink today? Hold up fingers to
indicate number of 8-ounce glasses you drank. Discuss whether or not it was a
healthy amount.
PowerPoint© Slide 29
3. Discuss the health value of combining exercise with drinking water and choosing
not to drink soda, coffee or tea.

PowerPoint© Slide 30 - Personal Reflections

1. What steps can you take to ensure that you drink more pure water every day for
your health’s sake?
2. Evaluate how many extra calories you get a day from liquids that are not water.

PowerPoint© Slide 31 - Intentionality

 I plan to regularly drink ______ eight-ounce glasses of water daily.

Supplementary Handouts
You have permission to duplicate handouts for participants.

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 A Record of My Water Intake

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

My Goal
Intake
Week One
Intake
Week Two

The formula for water drinking is: weight in pounds divided by 2 =_____. Divide by 8 = _____,
the result is the number of eight-ounce glasses you need to drink daily.
After reviewing my water intake record chart, my choice is to ___________________.

Following is some additional information on the topic of water.

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 Water—Key to a Healthy Body

All your body functions are dependent on water—ALL! Next to air, water is our most urgent body need. Here
are a few ways the body uses water and signals us when there is not enough water for continued and optimal
health:
 Water helps soothe breathing problems. Dehydration makes allergy symptoms worse—94 percent of
asthma patients found relief in drinking large amounts of water at the first sign of breathing problems.
 Drinking water thirty minutes before meals gradually eliminated the need for ulcer medication in
3,000 cases of dyspeptic pain.
 Alternate hot and cold packs can fight infection and increase circulation.
 Chronic constipation is relieved with an increase in water intake.
 Low back pain can be a signal that water reserves are low.
 Water is the vehicle for body defenses and immunity.
 Moving water in nature will relax your spirit.
 Water promotes healthy digestion.
 Water washes away germs.
 Boiling water will kill microorganisms. Near sea level, a rolling boil of one minute is sufficient. At
5,000 feet or two kilometers altitude, boil three minutes.

Did you know?

 If you drink only when you are thirsty, you will experience dehydration.
 Body dehydration levels of 2 percent or more result in significant deterioration in various mental
functions such as ability to do math and short-term memory.
 Insufficient water may contribute to the formation of gallstones.
 People misinterpret the body’s messages when dehydrated. They think they are hungry, but actually
their body is thirsty for water.
 If we are thirsty after overeating, it is a message that our body needs water to dilute our blood sugar
level.
 Many people live most of their lives with partially dehydrated bodies.
 Going without water two or more days is life threatening.
 Sufficient daily water can reduce risk of getting bladder, breast, and colon cancer.
 What is thought to be arthritic pain may actually be dehydration affecting the bone joints.
 Dehydration causes the body to constrict the air passages to avoid the evaporation of water. Most
people then treat the resulting “asthma” with antihistamines, ignoring the true cry of the body for
water.

For more complete REFERENCING see text and endnotes for chapter 24 in book Finishing Strong.

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www.essortment.com/biography-wwi-ace-eddie-rickenbacker-20413.... Retrieved from internet 02-23-2012.
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www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000982.htm. Retrieved from internet 02-23-2012.
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ga.water.usgs.gove/edu/propertyyou.html. Retrieved from internet 03-03-2012.
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Loma Linda University researchers studied more than 20,000 healthy men and women, and found that people who drank
more than five glasses of water daily were 40% less likely to die from a heart attack than those who drank less than two
glasses. American Journal of Epidemiology, May 2002.