Water is important to all living things; a person can live up to 6 weeks without food but only a few days without water. Every cell in your body needs water to function properly and if you do not drink enough you may feel tired, develop a headache, suffer from dry eyes and a dry mouth or find it difficult to concentrate. Men's body is made of water 60% and women 50%. To stay healthy you need to drink at least six to eight glasses of water every day. When you are playing sport, when is hot or on any other occasions when you lose fluids through perspiration, your requirement increases and you need to drink even more water or other fluids. For  positive healthy life you have to drink plenty of water. Studies show that people if drink plenty of water have fewer kidney stones, are less likely to suffer from constipation and are at lower risk for developing cancer of the colon or urinary tract.

The power of the water

Water is involved in all function of your body, control temperature, gives you energy, weight control, help for transport nutrients and waste products out and in of cells, help to prevent dehydrated the body after sweating and is needed for all digestive, circulatory, absorptive and excretory  functions.

Children are more vulnerable to heat than adults because adapt less efficiently to hot weather. Their bodies sweat less but produce more heat and therefore they take longer to change their body temperature. Children's thirst mechanism is not as full developed as that of adults and they may not express the need to drink. They must be encouraged to drink water before, during and after exercise to prevent the risk of dehydration and heatstroke.

What is your caffeine intake?

Coffee has caffeine, which is a mild stimulant. The amount in a couple of cups of coffee has been shown to improve mental alertness, concentration, reasoning, reaction time and memory. Caffeine is also found in tea, cola drinks, cocoa and chocolates. Some people are more sensitive to the effects than others, and find that too much caffeine can make me feel anxious, restless or unable to sleep at night. In addition caffeine can interact with certain medications, it may react with some antidepressants and diminishes the effect of some tranquillizers. high consumption of caffeine may also increase the excretion of calcium in urine and the risk of osteoporosis.

Amount of caffeine in a drink can vary enormously according to how strong it is made, but in moderate intake is not  associated with any healthy risk. Recommendation is for pregnant women to limit their caffeine intake to about 300mg a day.

There are some concerns about Decaffeinated coffee containing harmful chemical residues. Solvent Methylene Chloride is the harmful chemicals that caused all the concern during the early 1980's, that chemical is used in the process of removing caffeine from coffee. This Methylene chloride has been linked with cancer in some research. In Europe this substance is still being use legally, but in a safe level, but it is rarely being use nowadays for decaffeination. Most coffee manufacturers are now using either liquid carbon dioxide or steam to remove caffeine from beans. Both process doesn't contain harmful chemicals. The European Union imposes strict limits on the level of permitted residues in decaffeinated coffee, so products offered for sale will only contain very small amounts, often none at all. The label will not indicate the method of decaffeination used, but you can take it that all are now perfectly safe.
 

DRINK	SERVING SIZE	CAFFEINE
Coffee (drip method)	150ml	115mg
Coffee (percolator)	150ml	80mg
Instant coffee	150ml	65mg
Tea	150ml	40mg
Espresso	30ml	40mg
Instant tea	150ml	30mg
Soft drinks (cola)	180ml	18mg
Chocolate milk drink	225ml	5.0mg
Cocoa	150ml	4.0mg
Decaffeinated coffee	150ml	3.0mg

 

Soft drink and health

Soft drink are composed largely of water, sweetened fruit juice, cola, fizzy lemonade and other popular drinks do provide the body with essential fluids. They also contain large amounts of sugar, which when consumed in excess, causes tooth decay and leads to an unhealthy increase in weight. Sweet drinks also cause a sudden increase in blood sugar levels.

Overweight and obesity in children in increasing and the excessive consumption of soft drinks is believed to be a major contributory factor to this problem. Children who consume a lot of calorie-laden soft drinks eat less at their regular meals, causing them to miss out on essential nutrients. To prevent nutritional deficiencies and obesity in all age groups, have to drink healthier drinks such as semi-skimmed milk or water for carbonated drinks and squashes. 

Fruit juice and healthy

They are good source of vitamin C, some fruit juices are fortified with calcium and other minerals. Drinking too much juice can contribute to overweight and obesity, tooth decay and digestive problems, such as diarrhea and bloating, also can decrease your appetite for other more nutritious food like milk.

You have to choose 100% fruit juice and not a juice drink or powdered drink mix, fruit juice can be one of you five a days serving of fruit and vegetables, but regardless of how much you drink it can only count as one daily serving. Babies should not be given juice until after the age of six mounts. Then until age one fruit juice should be diluted and offering only with meals. Better eat whole fruits instead of drinking juice, so you can benefit from the fibre skins and flesh.

Increase water intake for healthy life

Some people believe that they get enough water from coffee, tea, soft drinks and fruit juices, but these it's not fully satisfy the needs for fluids. If you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, but do not drink enough water, you will not burn fat efficiently. This is because when the body perceives thirst, its processes slow, just as if you had skipped a meal.  Eight glasses of water per day is definitely not enough. If you have edema, consult your physician or heart doctor for there might be a need for limiting your fluid intake. Whether you drink fizzy or still bottled water, filtered tap water, or just plain tap water, any increase is beneficial to your health. The food also supply your body with water, especially fruits and vegetables, like watermelon contain more than 90% water. On a warm weather eating plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers and green salad leaves will boost your water intake.

Water is essential for efficient circulation of the blood which is 90% water. The bloodstream carries oxygen and nutrients to every body cell and transports the cell's waste products to the kidneys, lungs and skin for removal. The bloodstream transports the white blood cells that fight disease-causing germs in the body.

Water during meals. The body prefers slightly warm to cool water because very cold water shuts down the digestion (if taken at mealtime) and diminishes the body's thirst signals. Avoid drinking water within 30 minutes before a meal and 1-2 hours after mealtime. Drinking with meals dilute the enzymes (that digest the food) and delays digestion.

Water helps prevent and relieve mental fatigue. This is not surprising as the brain is 85% water. Many headaches are relieved by drinking one glass of water every 10 minutes for one hour.

 

Health Benefits of Wine and Beer

It is not known how wine and beer affect the heart - some research suggests that antioxidants are responsible; other studies point to the blood-thinning effects of alcohol, which improves blood circulation. Moderate drinking of beer or wine may lower the risk of coronary heart attack and could in general be good for your health, a study has reiterated. It's called the French Paradox -- the link between the low rate of heart disease among the French and their fat-laden diet was a daily dosage of red wine. Well, there's no denying the results of that study. But what the public doesn't know is that the health value of beer has been known, documented and applied for centuries.

People who drink 14 or more glasses of wine or beer a week have the lowest risk of a heart attack, they said. Those who had between one and six drinks a week were seven percent less likely to have a problem than long-term abstainers.

Red wine is a particularly rich source of antioxidants flavonoid phenolics, so many studies to uncover a cause for red wine's effects have focused on its phenolic constituents, particularly resveratrol and the flavonoids. Resveratrol, found in grape skins and seeds, increases HDL cholesterol and prevent blood clotting. Flavonoids, on the other hand, exhibit antioxidant properties helping prevent blood clots and plaques formation in arteries.

Red wine may prevent the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis (hardening or "furring" of the arteries). Atherosclerosis starts when blood vessels begin to lose their ability to relax. Both the alcohol and polyphenols in the red wine appear to favorably maintain healthy blood vessels by promoting the formation of nitric oxide (NO), the key chemical relaxing factor that plays an important role in the regulation of vascular tone.

Nutrient Content of Wine: Vitamin A, B, C and minerals like calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.

• Wine contains flavonoids and tannins, which are components presumed to prevent cardiovascular disease.

• Wine is also mixed it with local water to avoid cholera and free the stomach from diarrhea.

• Wine may help prevent gallstones and anemia.

• Wine may help improved lung function because of its antioxidants content.

• Wine is good for figure-conscious individuals as it is not fattening.

Beer, on the other hand, is made from grains, water and yeast. Grains commonly used are barley and wheat (with cheaper, mass-produced beers relying on corn and rice), both of which are loaded with a variety of vitamins that survive the fermentation and filtering process. And the vitamin value of the yeast is conserved in the hundreds of unfiltered beers that are on the market -- both on tap and in bottles.

The hops in beer contain a phytoestrogen that mimics the action of the body's natural estrogen. This can create an apparent overload of the hormone in the body, signaling the liver to store calories as fat, an effect that grows more pronounced with age. To avoid this it is recommended to eat a handful of nuts (like cashews) whenever you have a beer. Nuts' monounsaturated fats nourish the liver, helping it more efficiently break down phytoestrogens to avoid a fat-packing overload.

Beer contains vitamin B6, which prevents the build-up of the amino acid homocysteine, that has been linked to heart disease. Those of us who have high levels of homocysteine are usually more prone to an early onset of heart and vascular disease. Beer has proven to have positive effects on elderly people. It helps promote blood vessel dilation, sleep and urination.

Moderate amounts of beer would lower one's chances of coronary heart disease by 30-40%, compared to those who don't drink at all. (Beer contains a similar amount of 'polyphenols' -- antioxidants -- as red wine and 4-5 times as many polyphenols as white wine).