When I talk about a healthy and balanced diet, how many of you think of water?
Normally you only care about the calories and the amount of food you eat, establishing a love and hate relationship with your scale! You rarely stop to evaluate the importance of the quantity and quality of water you drink during the day. I don’t know if you are aware that most people are in a subclinical condition of dehydration. When I analyze your “eating style” I realize that you always attribute a secondary role to water. A lot of the symptoms you tell me about can be traced back to an insufficient daily intake of water.
Water is our cells’ favorite food! Yes, because, for optimal health, you need to drink pure, alkaline water, loaded with nutrients and with an ideal molecular structure. A water capable of neutralizing the acidic waste accumulated as a result of nutrition and metabolism and, if consumed daily, also capable of removing toxins from our body, with the help of the excretory organs.
The real problem is that the damage that cells can suffer is underestimated when they become deficient in this very important nutrient. During life, a person drinks about 25 / 30,000 liters of water for the maintenance of his biological functions and organic structures. In fact, all our systems are in contact with water: circulatory, urogenital, respiratory, digestive, nervous, sensory.
Most of the water in our body is found in our cells, interstitial space and in our blood. The cells of the body are as healthy as the fluids they are immersed in. We don’t have to worry about replenishing lost fluids through sweating, only during physical activity or in the summer. There is no greater mistake!
Our cells need water at all times, which is why the best way to take it is to take it in small sips throughout the day. The problem is that many people, regardless of whether they are exercising or not, tell me that they have even lost the urge to thirst!
This means that the physiological mechanisms that should avoid the dangerous subclinical dehydration have been skipped. Look in the mirror. How is your skin and the sclera of your eyes? Maybe you have a swollen abdomen and suffer from constipation, or you can’t concentrate and lose your temper easily. Does your mood wobble and anxiety and depression alternate in your days as faithful “unwanted companions”? Lack of hydration is increasingly indicated as a contributing cause of psychoemotional and nervous system disorders. Do you know which organ is the richest in water? Needless to say: it’s the brain! He needs water as much as a seedling to grow strong and fruitful.
Nutrigenomics always emphasizes this: our cells, in order to function, reproduce, grow and repair themselves, essentially need oxygen, the nutrients contained in food, water and good thoughts. Four factors that can directly influence not only health, but also pathogenesis, that is the mechanism by which a disease is established. Well hydrated cells facilitate the healing process, delay aging, determine the general health of the body, prevent diseases and dysfunctions, better regulate daytime energy consumption, conciliating deep night sleep, but above all they are able to achieve and maintain internal homeostasis.
Nutrigenomics is always looking for the quality of nutrients, so “drinking” is not enough! It is necessary to choose water that is as free as possible of poisonous and cytotoxic substances such as phthalates, those dangerous toxic substances that form in plastic bottles, if forgotten in the scorching sun. Phthalates are synthetic endocrine disruptors, i.e. substances which, despite being composed of synthetic material, are exchanged by our body for hormones, thus upsetting the delicate balance of the endocrine system on which very important glands depend such as: the thyroid, pituitary gland, ovaries, adrenals and testes. So, when you tell me that you “drain” two or three liters of water a day, the first question I ask you is: which water? If you are drinking “polluted” water, the only goal you will achieve is to increase your toxin load and your acidosis, with considerable stress for all the excretory organs, primarily your kidneys. If there are no specific pathologies, the best water to consume is the slightly alkaline one, capable of neutralizing the acidic waste accumulated due to diet and metabolism. Of course, when we talk about water we cannot fail to refer also to all the other drinks that accompany our meals or our daily breaks.
At a nutrigenomic level, the worst are carbonated and sugary drinks. I have already pointed this out many times: the number one enemy of our cells is refined white sugar. Sucrose depresses the immune system and drains valuable minerals from the body. Think that taking ten teaspoons of sugar, equivalent to about a can of a drink, can reduce the germicidal activity of our white blood cells by 40%. This immunosuppression begins about half an hour after its intake and lasts up to five hours. White sugar is also harmful because it causes a glycemic peak, subjecting the pancreas to severe stress, while the recalled insulin will facilitate the transformation of excess sugars into fats that will accumulate in those already in surplus.
In addition, in order to be metabolized by our body, sugar takes away magnesium, an essential element for the optimal functioning of the immune system, muscles, brain and heart. But not only that, because high doses of sugars also increase the urinary excretion of calcium and zinc: minerals destined for our bones. Do you understand how important it is to drink the right quantity and quality of drinks? And if you really don’t love pure water, as always I suggest some alternatives, perhaps drinking something with a different flavor.
In addition to the well-known freshly squeezed orange juice (not everyone, however, tolerates it on a gastro level), you can try natural drinks that can be prepared at home following simple recipes, with natural foods such as lemon and mint or with fresh basil and the pink grapefruit.
My favorite is a fresh Acai berry juice mixed in plain water to which I add some lime juice. Or you can opt for the delicious fruit and vegetable extracts: pears, carrots and celery; green apple and cucumber; spinach, oranges and lemon; beetroot, lemon and ginger. The important thing is to have a good extractor which, unlike the centrifuge, works cold, thus keeping all the precious nutrients of the food unaltered. In short, as always, I encourage you to learn how to take care of your body at 360 °.
Do not underestimate how a correct intake of water and natural drinks can improve your health. You may be amazed, perhaps managing to solve problems that you have been carrying around for a long time.
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