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Water.
I have been thinking more about water. I love my water. I know by instinct I am drinking properly. Out of interest, and for a challenge, I just started charting my water intake - which is why I'm thinking about it. It's a good thing to think about.
I do realise that many people looking at my water intake are horrified that I am over drinking. I reckon most days I drink 5 litres. Spread over a 16 hour waking day day, that's only a regular cup an hour. Not a lot.
Guideline for minimum recommended intake is just that - a minimum, not a maximum.
Here's a thing. I eat lots of veggies and fruits (except bananas which I can't tolerate)and I naturally have high potassium intake, and though I don't add salt there is plenty sodium in my foods too. I eat a lot of celery for instance, and that is salty, as is the tinned fish I eat, such as salmon. 1% salt in a tin of red salmon, 213g, so that's 2 grams salt in just one tin - 825mg sodium, almost half my daily recommendation.
When eating clean and fresh there is absolutely no need to add salt for health, unless one were working extremely hard and in hot conditions. Given I am in Wales there is no liklihood of excess heat to cause sweating, and although I work out and get sweaty I don't work that hard ;) I get enough sodium and potassium, I'm not worried about that at all.
The sodium/potassium imbalance happens when the body is dehydrated, or in extreme cases where of a lot of water drunk in a short time, not when it is well hydrated.
Excess salt consumption causes thirst in an attempt to rid it from the body, which takes water. That's not the same thing as saying you lose needed salt if you drink properly.
Excess blood sugar also causes thirst in a diabetic, a classic symptom of uncontrolled diabetes - for exactly the same reason. It's the body's last resort to get it out of circulation in the blood, where it is dangerous if levels are elevated for any length of time.
Our bodies know how to maintain balance and what's needed, we just have to let them. We need to drink water in plentiful amounts to enable our bodies properly to take care of themselves. Given that thirst is actually a sign of dehydration we should never really experience it if we are drinking and eating properly.
Here's a thing. We can last longer without food than we can without water.....
I like my water and will continue to drink it as I have done for most of my adult life. Water is good.
Maybe that's why I came to Wales ;)
Diet Calendar Entry for 05 January 2016:
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1596 kcal
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Fat: 121.47g | Prot: 97.72g | Carb: 40.13g.
Breakfast: Sainsbury's So Organic Organic Chestnut Mushrooms, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Water, The Co-Operative British Organic Somerset Farmhouse Mature Cheddar Cheese, Yeo Valley Butter, Ginger, Sainsbury's Celery Fresh and Crunchy, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water, Alpro Unsweetened Almond Milk, Coffee (Brewed From Grounds), The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water. Lunch: Infinity Foods Organic Walnut Halves, Organic Almonds, Clementines. Dinner: Sainsbury's So Organic Organic Chestnut Mushrooms, British Spring Greens, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Pork Leg (Rump Half, Cooked, Roasted), Asda British Spring Greens, Yeo Valley Butter, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water. Snacks/Other: Cheshire Cheese, Montezuma's Dark Chocolate 73%, Infinity Foods Organic Almonds, Semi-Skimmed Milk, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water, The Montgomery Spring Water Company Celtic Spring Still Natural Mineral Water. more...
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