Ah, the process of aging. This is when you find that things that used to be fine suddenly aren’t any more. Things change as we age, sometimes very quickly, and particularly when it comes to how we react to food. I have a friend who never had a single allergy when he was young, but once he hit 30, WHAM! Allergies galore. He is not the only one, either. Milk was never my favorite drink growing up, but I did enjoy an ice-cold glass every now and then, especially with cookies. Who wouldn’t? But nowadays, I very rarely drink it because I’m lactose intolerant. This is so annoying. Over the years I’ve found I can handle small amounts of dairy products, as long as I don’t overdo it. This can be problematic when it comes to ice cream, however. I love ice cream. =sigh=
Anyway, for a couple of weeks I’d been feeling out of sorts, and could not figure out why. I had a slight headache that just never seemed to go away, I was always tired, and a patch on my tongue felt like sandpaper. I couldn’t understand it. The fact that the symptoms were constant made me think that I was having an age-related reaction to something I was eating. Well, I was partly correct.
I found out what was happening while re-reading The Hunger Games. The first couple of days when Katniss is in the arena, she struggles to find water. The symptoms she was experiencing were the exact same ones I was having: headache, fatigue, raspy tongue. They’re the early signs of dehydration.
Now, I was not roaming around a forest struggling to survive. I was your typical middle-aged urban dweller, navigating the city streets like I’d done for my entire life. Something had to be different, however. I couldn’t just start exhibiting these symptoms for no good reason. Something must have changed recently.
I thought about it some more and realized that for the last two weeks I’d eaten at McDonald’s more often than normal because they had that Monopoly game going on. This would normally mean that I might gain some weight due to the poor food choices I was making, but it didn’t explain the dehydration. Then I realized…it actually did explain it.
Each time I’d get a meal at McD’s, I’d also get a drink. And every single time, I got a soda. Coke if it was in the morning, Sprite if it was in the evening. Every. Single. Time. I don’t normally drink this much soda. This is most definitely an age-related issue, because I used to drink Coke like it was going out of style. However, a few years ago I’d started having problems from drinking too much of it. It was the caffeine as well as the carbonation. I couldn’t handle it anymore. My doctor very sternly told me I had to stop drinking soda.
For the most part, I did as he said. I don’t usually order soda when we go out to eat; I get iced tea instead if they have it. At work it’s either water or juice, and at home I drink nothing but water. The occasional trip to a fast food joint would result in drinking a soda once, maybe twice a month. But that Monopoly game….I’d drunk more sodas in two weeks than I usually do in six months! No wonder! It all made sense now.
My aging body has very clearly reminded me that I simply cannot do this again. Soda may seem refreshing but clearly it’s not in the same class as plain old water. To be fair to McDonald’s they do have bottled water available, but I was so used to ordering a soda with a meal that I didn’t even think about it. The past few days I’ve been forcing myself to drink as much water as I can, trying to repair the damage. I’ve had to go to the bathroom a lot, but – surprise, surprise! My tongue feels a lot better, and the headaches are going away. (big sigh of relief)
In the meantime, if I go on any more trips to get more Monopoly pieces (this is the last week) then I’ll definitely get water with my meal. I haven’t had nuggets in a while…
Anyway, for a couple of weeks I’d been feeling out of sorts, and could not figure out why. I had a slight headache that just never seemed to go away, I was always tired, and a patch on my tongue felt like sandpaper. I couldn’t understand it. The fact that the symptoms were constant made me think that I was having an age-related reaction to something I was eating. Well, I was partly correct.
I found out what was happening while re-reading The Hunger Games. The first couple of days when Katniss is in the arena, she struggles to find water. The symptoms she was experiencing were the exact same ones I was having: headache, fatigue, raspy tongue. They’re the early signs of dehydration.
Now, I was not roaming around a forest struggling to survive. I was your typical middle-aged urban dweller, navigating the city streets like I’d done for my entire life. Something had to be different, however. I couldn’t just start exhibiting these symptoms for no good reason. Something must have changed recently.
I thought about it some more and realized that for the last two weeks I’d eaten at McDonald’s more often than normal because they had that Monopoly game going on. This would normally mean that I might gain some weight due to the poor food choices I was making, but it didn’t explain the dehydration. Then I realized…it actually did explain it.
Each time I’d get a meal at McD’s, I’d also get a drink. And every single time, I got a soda. Coke if it was in the morning, Sprite if it was in the evening. Every. Single. Time. I don’t normally drink this much soda. This is most definitely an age-related issue, because I used to drink Coke like it was going out of style. However, a few years ago I’d started having problems from drinking too much of it. It was the caffeine as well as the carbonation. I couldn’t handle it anymore. My doctor very sternly told me I had to stop drinking soda.
For the most part, I did as he said. I don’t usually order soda when we go out to eat; I get iced tea instead if they have it. At work it’s either water or juice, and at home I drink nothing but water. The occasional trip to a fast food joint would result in drinking a soda once, maybe twice a month. But that Monopoly game….I’d drunk more sodas in two weeks than I usually do in six months! No wonder! It all made sense now.
My aging body has very clearly reminded me that I simply cannot do this again. Soda may seem refreshing but clearly it’s not in the same class as plain old water. To be fair to McDonald’s they do have bottled water available, but I was so used to ordering a soda with a meal that I didn’t even think about it. The past few days I’ve been forcing myself to drink as much water as I can, trying to repair the damage. I’ve had to go to the bathroom a lot, but – surprise, surprise! My tongue feels a lot better, and the headaches are going away. (big sigh of relief)
In the meantime, if I go on any more trips to get more Monopoly pieces (this is the last week) then I’ll definitely get water with my meal. I haven’t had nuggets in a while…