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Neera
completed a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University
of Alberta. She has gone on to do a combined Masters in
Public Health Nutrition and her Dietetic Internship upon
which she will be registered with the Dietitians of Canada.
She has worked as a Community Nutritionist for the South
Asian population and has been featured in Flare Magazine
and Family Health Magazine. Questions about food and nutrition?
Calories in Indian foods? Low-fat desi-recipes or fad diets?
Email her! neera@mybindi.com
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Water:
Reasons to Drink Up
Sipping water from fancy bottles is not just a trend, it's
essential! Everything your body does it does better with a
healthy supply of water. Traditionally it is recommended to
have eight glasses of water a day - that's about 2 litres
- but this does not mean strictly water. Hydrating yourself
can come in the form of fruit juice, soup/broth, pop/diet
pop, milk (including the milk in your cereal) and sports drinks.
Now when you know that, getting eight glasses of fluid - fluid
being the key word here - may not be as hard. But keep in
mind fruit juices often contain a fair number of calories
(mostly sugar) and vegetable drink are often high in sodium.
Water: What is it good for?
Here are just a few reasons to fill up on H2O: Prevent Cancer
Colon, urinary tract and bladder cancer rates go way down
in people who drink plenty of water. A Harvard Medical School
study found that those who drank over 2.5 L a day had a 50
percent reduced risk of cancer. Recent research suggests staying
well hydrated may also lower the risk of breast cancer, possibly
because water flushes hormones out of the body faster (too
much estrogen may cause breast cancer.)
Protect Your Kidneys
People who drink less than 1 L a day are at higher risk for
developing kidney stones, a common digestive problem. For
people who already have stones, drinking water can prevent
or delay recurrence.
Protect Your Teeth
You need a healthy amount of saliva - which is made up almost
entirely of water - to keep your mouth clean and free of cavities
and gum disease. Most tap water in Canada is fortified with
fluoride, a proven cavity fighter.
Get Your Nutrients
Water contains many trace minerals required by your body.
By drinking sufficient water, you get a dose of potassium,
magnesium and other nutrients…and it's calorie-free! Better
Memory Studies show dehydration affects short-term memory
and decreases performance in math in some people.
Better Performance
Studies on athletes reveal that dehydration can impact endurance,
aerobic capacity and strength. A mild case of dehydration
can result in a 20 percent drop in physical and mental performance.
One reason for this is that water regulates the pressure and
consistency of the blood, which delivers oxygen to muscles.
How do you know if you're getting enough?
You may need more water if you:
· Have dry eyes and mouth
· Experience burning in your stomach
· Have a mild headache or fatigue
· Notice that your urine is darker than usual
and has a strong odour
Often people who get mild headaches believe it is their pain
reliever that helps them feel better, when in fact it may
just be the glass of water they used to guzzle their pill
down with that did it. Keep in mind that by the time your
brain tells you you're thirsty, you're already slightly dehydrated.
Hydrate yourself before you get to this stage.
The Infamous Question: Is bottled better than tap?
In a word, no. Let's look at the pros and cons. Tap water
is super cheap, available everywhere, and besides carrying
trace amount of iron and magnesium, most municipal water is
fortified with fluoride and monitored constantly for purification
very closely. Both mineral water, such as Perrier, and spring
water, like Evian, come from underground sources. Mineral
water usually contains more minerals and is naturally carbonated.
But once bottled neither of these waters are monitored for
safety once they hit the store shelves. Just like tap water,
spring water can contain chemicals and parasites. When you
bottle something straight from the ground, you don't really
know what's in there.
But thanks to bottled water, Canadians may be drinking more
water overall. So if you should be so lucky to afford bottled
water all the time or have spring water gushing from your
office cooler then drink up…besides those fancy bottles can
look ever so chic!
In the spirit of health and wellness,
Neera Chaudhary
Nutritionist
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