"You're going to die (fall ill, get sick, etc)"

Scandinavians have been doing this for
centuries, even people in their 80's do
it. It's all about shocking your system,
it's good for you, not harmful.

Scandinavians eat well and exercise regularly, often with a pre=breakfast five kilometer run.

Nudity and outdoor exercise is common.

Downtown Oslo has its own Sauna House...open 24 hours a day, no charge. Wood already cut for fires, bring your own sausages and favorite sauna beers... even get naked and wait for another member of the public to show up and experience Sauna with you. No abuse, no destruction, a simple free Sauna for anyone to use right in the middle of town.

Growing up in the New Mexico mountains, it was generally excepted that if you drank lemonade from a canteen, they would find your lifeless body on the trail. Most canteens back then were galvanized steel, so I am sure that the combination of citric acid and zinc was not healthy but I suspect it wasn't as lethal as we thought.

Quote: JimRockford

Most canteens back then were galvanized steel, so I am sure that the combination of citric acid and zinc was not healthy but I suspect it wasn't as lethal as we thought.

There may be something to that. There are documented cases of lead poisoning arising from drinking orange juice from unglazed ceramic cups or jugs. But even these are long-term affairs, like drinking the stuff from that type of container several times a day, habitually for weeks or months.

Many metals are poisonous in small doses, especially heavy metals. The body needs few and in really small quantities. One usually gets them from organic sources, like iron compounds in beef or leafy greens. Though iron supplements are usually inorganic.

So, sure, you may get ill from zinc leaching off a canteen due to the action of citric acid (and/or sugar??), but I agree it doesn't seem like you'd be poisoned so quickly that you'd fall over dead right after having some lemonade. You do need zinc, but not that much. It might have been a good idea at the time not to drink lemonade, or for that matter orange juice, from a canteen on a habitual basis.

It turns out, those old canteens were probably aluminum, not galvanized steel.

Quote: JimRockford

It turns out, those old canteens were probably aluminum, not galvanized steel.

There's been a "theory" around for a while saying aluminum may cause or contribute to Alzheimer's. A lot of cookware these days is aluminum, which is light weight and a good heat conductor, but covered in Teflon, ceramic, or other non-stick surfaces.

But Alzheimer's isn't terminal. It makes life not worth living, but it doesn't kill you.

Quote: Nareed

But Alzheimer's isn't terminal. It makes life not worth living, but it doesn't kill you.

http://alz.org/news_and_events_60_percent_incorrectly_believe.asp

Quote: Nareed

But Alzheimer's isn't terminal. It makes life not worth living, but it doesn't kill you.

Alzheimer's does eventually kill you Nareed. Typically 8 to 10 years. Unfortunately I have had the experience twice with parents.

Quote: Nareed

.

But Alzheimer's isn't terminal. It makes life not worth living, but it doesn't kill you.

Maybe not in Mexico, but it sure does
everywhere else.

Quote: kenarman

Alzheimer's does eventually kill you Nareed. Typically 8 to 10 years. Unfortunately I have had the experience twice with parents.

I had no idea. I really thought it was a terrible degenerative disease, but not terminal. In all I've read about it, terminal aspects are not discussed much.

I'm sorry you had to live through such an experience.