Ethan and I have spent some time with the masses this week at a very busy theme park. And, like all the others, this theme park sells not just bottled water, but also a variety of other drinks (think: sodas, frozen lemonades and electrolyte drinks like Gatorade and PowerAde). Now, it is no secret that at one time I was totally addicted to Dr Pepper. Trust me, I know it tastes good and sometimes feels like it is the most thirst-quenching thing ever created. I love the sweet, fizzy feel and taste of it and had to literally detox myself down from the stuff a few years ago. I knew the empty calories weren’t doing my figure any good, but when I learned that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS – which is used to sweeten most sodas) has mercury, I gave the Dr. “the boot.”

But I digress…Ethan has always been primarily a water drinker. I do allow some juice and an occasional glass or two of chocolate almond- or hemp-milk. I have never felt that Gatorade and PowerAde (with stiff artificial colorings) are a good thing for developing bodies and brains, so Ethan was never introduced to the stuff. Here’s the thing though – Ethan appears to be in the minority. As looked around at the many families we encountered livin’ it up in the heat, I realized that most children [understandably] prefer sweet sodas (often of the caffeinated variety) or colorful electrolyte drinks; but what astounded me was that these kids’ parents supply said drinks seemingly without a moment’s thought or hesitation.

Call me crazy, but I was dismayed watching a little boy (about 3-years-old) drinking his own bottle of Coke (not just sips from mom's or dad's) at 9:15pm. Really? Maybe that was just a special treat for this little guy for making good choices throughout a busy day at a theme park. Maybe. But I doubt it. My instinct tells me that that little boy drinks Cokes all the time. Which brings me back around to my point!

Water is vital. That sentence seems to bear repeating in this day and age: Water Is Vital. We don’t “get enough” from our coffee, our sodas, our juices or our electrolyte drinks. (Parents, this is true for us, too!) We all have to get it directly from the source…good ole’ H2O.

Our bodies rely on water to function appropriately and detox the way we were designed. Kids need water – and lots of it – in the summer heat. If your child is drinking anything other than water on a regular basis, I urge you to stop and think, long and hard, about what it may be doing to his/her body. So often our children with Autism Spectrum Disorders are not processing nutrients properly and/or detoxing appropriately, so why give them something else (especially sodas with HFCS or electrolyte drinks with artificial colorings) which will make it harder for their delicate systems to balance and function well?

☼

Leigh Attaway Wilcox is a writer and editor for the projectLD family of companies. Leigh is Assistant Editor of the internationally acclaimed AutismSpot.com and her work can be found on many of the pLDNetworks sites. Leigh is the author of ALL BETTER: A Touch-and-Heal Book published by Piggy Toes Press in 2007. Leigh lives in North Texas with her husband and young son who loves reading, LEGOs, Mario Bros. and also happens to live with Asperger's Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder.