Transcript Become Hot Spot Healthy

60-DAY
Group Wellness Program
think about what you
DRINK
Think about what you drink
• Drinking the right drinks is a crucial part of the BluePrint for Life.
• It goes hand-in-hand with eating the right food and living the right
way.
• It can have a strong impact on your health.
• The main drink in the Hot Spots is water – fresh, pure and clear.
• Other popular drinks are herb tea, green tea, modest amounts of
wine, and, in Costa Rica, modest amounts of coffee.
Sodas
• Carbonated drinks are high in sugar – a can of Coke has the
equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar in the form of high fructose
corn syrup (which is debatably even worse for health than sugar).
• Most sodas are high in sugar.
• We should not have more than 2 teaspoons of glucose (liberated
from healthy foods) in our system at any one time. 10 teaspoons is
a major assault.
• Sugar-free sodas are likely to contain artificial sweeteners such as
aspartame which are linked with health problems (over 92 bad
effects on health have been listed) including cancer.
Sodas
• Sodas contain phosphoric acid which causes loss of minerals from
bones and can lead to osteoporosis.
• Switching to water can be an effective way to lose weight – one
can of soda daily can cause an extra 15 pounds of weight
annually; it also causes sugar cravings and insulin problems leading
to excess weight.
• One soda daily increases the risk of diabetes by 85 percent,
according to studies.
Coffee
• Coffee gives us a temporary buzz, followed by a low, leading to a
desire for more caffeine. Thus, giving up coffee should actually
give you MORE energy.
• Coffee can cause headaches and migraines.
• Coffee prevents the body from absorbing important minerals such
as iron and zinc.
• Coffee halves the amount of vitamins and minerals absorbed with
a meal.
• Coffee contributes to high blood pressure.
• Coffee impairs insulin function.
• Coffee is a diuretic, causing loss of water from the body.
Are you addicted to coffee?
• Try having fewer cups of coffee – Nicoyans have just one daily. Try
having just one, and really enjoy it.
• Try having smaller, weaker cups.
• Try gradually replacing coffee with tea (1 or 2 cups daily), green
tea, herb teas, and water.
• Coffee substitutes made from roasted barley or chicory are a
good alternative to coffee.
• Roasted barley drink is popular in Campodimele, where it is drunk
in the mornings instead of coffee.
Spirits
• Alcoholic spirits such as vodka and gin are high in alcohol which is
damaging to the liver and linked with cancer, including cancer of
the mouth and esophagus. If you want to drink alcohol, try
replacing spirits with the odd glass of organic red wine, as is drunk
in the Hot Spots.
Beer
• Beer has some health benefits, such as vitamin and mineral content,
but is high in sugar and contains alcohol, so enjoy in moderation
only.
Fruit juice
• Fruit juice does contain fruit, so has some health benefits, but is high
in fructose which is a form of sugar.
• Some studies suggest that fruit juice lowers heart disease risk, but
others suggest the opposite due to the effect of concentrated fruit
sugar on LDL cholesterol, blood glucose, and insulin levels.
• Eating whole fruit is better.
• If you drink fruit juice, dilute it with water.
Fruit juice
• Vegetable juices are lower in sugar than fruit juices. Fruit and/or
vegetable smoothies containing the whole fruit or vegetable are
preferable to juice.
• However, acidic fruit smoothies such as those made from berries, or
very sweet fruit smoothies, may be damaging to teeth, so limit
intake. Adding healthy fats and proteins to your smoothies will
make the smoothie less acidic.
Water
• Water has been the main drink for mankind ever since humans
have existed.
• Today, many people almost never experience the pleasure of a
simple glass of fresh, clean, cool, hydrating water.
• Around 60 percent of our total body weight consists of water.
• The brain is 70 percent water.
Water
• We need water for circulation, to transport nutrients into and waste
out of cells, to prevent constipation, and to keep our organs and
tissues hydrated.
• Water is a natural appetite suppressant.
• Water helps keep our skin clear.
• In the Adventists‘ Health Studies in Loma Linda, drinking water was
found to be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Hot Spot water
• In Hunza, people drink clear water which trickles down from the
glaciers.
• Hunza water has low surface tension, making it extra-hydrating to
body cells.
• In Bama, people drink water from the Panyang River. This water is
high in beneficial negative ions.
• In Okinawa, water filters through calcium-rich coral, making it
alkalizing and good for bone health.
• In Nicoya, water filters through calcium-rich limestone bedrock.
• In Sardinia, locals fill their water jugs with mountain spring water
from taps installed on the roadside.
Our drinking water
• Our tap water is high in chlorine and other substances which may
not be good for health.
• Bottled mineral water can be good, but is expensive and creates a
lot of plastic waste.
• Try filtering tap water to remove chlorine and other heavy metals.
There are jug filters available these days which also add
antioxidant, alkalizing minerals to tap water, and reverse osmosis
systems which can be installed to improve tap water quality. Some
water purification systems ionize the water, making it closer to the
natural mountain stream waters found in nature.
How much should we drink?
• We need approximately six to eight glasses of water daily,
although this will vary depending on where else you are getting
liquids from (fruit and vegetables, for example, contain water, or
you may drink a lot of soup or herb tea) and how much you
perspire that day.
• If you haven’t been in the habit of drinking water, and you don’t
tend to feel like drinking it, try drinking a few glasses daily and
you may soon find that you start to notice your own thirst for it.
• As a rule of thumb, consume at least one-half ounce per pound of
body weight per day; more if you are losing water through, for
example, exercise, heat, or breastfeeding.
How much should we drink?
• A good way to tell how hydrated you are is by checking the color
of your urine. Too yellow means it is too concentrated—but too
clear means that it may be too diluted.
• Try keeping a bottle of water near you to sip from throughout the
day – you can fill an old glass bottle with water from the water
filter if you don’t want to buy bottled water.
• Avoid drinking all of your water at once, since hyper-hydration can
be dangerous.
• Water is best absorbed when it is drunk at room temperature.
• Try to drink water mainly away from meals so as not to dilute your
digestive juices.
Healing herbal tea
• Herbal teas are popular in the Hot Spots and can have many
health benefits.
• Okinawans drink large amounts of turmeric tea which is antiinflammatory and has anti-cancer properties. Try mixing turmeric,
lemon and honey with hot water as a remedy for inflammatory
conditions.
• Hibiscus, mugwort, thyme, ginseng, astragalus and other herb teas
are all regularly enjoyed in the Hot Spots.
• There are many good-quality herbal teas available to us today
with a huge range of different healing properties.
Healing properties of herbal tea
• Ginger: for nausea, morning
•
sickness
• Valerian: can help insomnia
•
• Raspberry leaf: helps menstrual
complaints; relieves colds
•
• Lemon: helps sore throat
•
• Mugwort: for respiratory
problems
•
• Turmeric: anti-inflammatory
• Chamomile: alleviates tension •
• Cinnamon: aids digestion
Dandelion: reduces water
retention
Elderflower: relieves cold
symptoms
Lemon balm: relieves anxiety
and indigestion
Peppermint: aids digestion,
relieves headache
Fennel: aids digestion
Ginseng: stimulates vitality
Green tea time
Green tea
• Japanese green tea workers have extremely low incidence of
cancer.
• Many studies suggest that drinking four or more cups of strong green
tea a day lowers the risk of cancer, particularly cancers of the
breast, colon, prostate, lung, skin, bladder, stomach and esophagus.
• Green tea contains a powerful antioxidant called epigallocatechin3-gallate (EGCG) which kills cancer cells and prevents tumor growth.
EGCG can also get into our brain cells to protect them from free
radical damage.
• Green tea also contains B vitamins for energy and immunity,
E vitamins for heart health, and has more vitamin C than an orange.
Green tea
• Green tea reduces levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and it is also
anti-inflammatory.
• Green tea is antibacterial and antiviral and can help kill
Helicobacter Pylori.
• Green tea contains small amounts of caffeine so can be a good
drink to wean yourself onto from coffee.
• Green tea improves insulin use so that glucose is burned for energy
rather than being stored as fat. It also enhances fat-burning
enzymes in cells. Scientists have found that these two effects work
together to make green tea a potentially very effective weight loss
aid.
Green tea
• For good-tasting green tea, use good-quality loose leaf varieties.
Add water which is not quite boiling and steep for just a short time.
• If you feel nauseated after having green tea, this is thought to be
because of the combination of polyphenols and caffeine, which can
stimulate the production of gastric acid. Try drinking it after a meal
so as to avoid any nausea.
• If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, it may be best to
limit your intake of green tea, since EGCG is thought to block an
enzyme required to use folic acid in cells. Pregnant women are
advised to avoid drinking it during the first trimester and limit intake
to one or two cups daily thereafter.
• Decaffeinated green tea is contained in Akea Essentials.
What about black tea
Black tea
• Black tea is the same as green tea except that the leaves have
been oxidized.
• Black tea can help you relax – a study shows that the polyphenols
it contains can lower blood pressure enough to reduce the risk of
cardiovascular disease by ten percent.
• However, black tea is higher in caffeine than green tea, lower in
antioxidants, and higher in tannins, which block the absorption of
iron, so limit intake.
Wine
Wine
• Organic, home-made red wine is popular in many of the Hot Spots.
• In Okinawa and Bama, rice wine is drunk (similar to saki), including
a variety containing a snake in the bottle.
Wine
Wine
• Alcohol is always drunk in moderation (one small glass) and with a
meal.
• In Hunza, wine is made from fruit including grapes and mulberries.
• Red wine is believed to be the most beneficial of alcoholic drinks
since it contains powerful antioxidants, including one called
resveratrol. Resveratrol has been found to increase the lifespan of
laboratory animals and it also has the power to prevent induced
cancer in animals.
• It is also thought that red wine can protect against heart disease
even when the diet is relatively high in saturated fat. This is a
syndrome known as the French Paradox, due to the low heart
disease rates among populations of cheese-loving, wine-drinking
French.
Wine
• Red wine may also be able to help prevent Type II diabetes, since
polyphenols in red wine have an effect on blood sugar regulation
– in one study, a small glass of red wine was found to be as
effective as a daily dose of a potent anti-diabetic drug.
• White wine has the same relaxing effect as red wine, but contains
lower levels of resveratrol, while rosé wine is often made from both
red and white grapes and can therefore is likely to have a higher
resveratrol content than white wine.
• Some studies have shown that wine raises levels of estrogen and
that it may raise the risk of a woman getting breast cancer by
about 6 percent.
Wine
• In addition, all types of alcohol are linked with cancer even in
small doses.
• An alternative to red wine is red grape juice which contains some
resveratrol, although less than is found in red wine. Alcohol-free
red wine extract and resveratrol are also in Akea Essentials.
• Pinot Noir from New Zealand and Cannonau from Sardinia are
especially high in antioxidants.
• Organic wine does not contain sulfites so is a good choice; second
best is wine made from organic grapes, which may contain sulfites
but should not have pesticide residues.
ACTIVITY:
Try to drink half of your body weight in ounces
each day and include 2 of the items from the
“good drinks” list daily.
Suggestion: mix your daily Essentials with 3 oz. of
red grape juice and 5 oz. of water!
NEXT WEEK:
are we meant to supplement?