Re: no fluids with meals? How much water?

[Guest guest]

When I was macrobiotic, they also told us that drinking with meals

dislutes the digestive juices... They put a big emphasis on chewing

your food thoroughly. Many people drink with their meals because they

don't chew enough, and need the liquid to wash it down.

Though Anne Marie Colbin wrote once that she thought it was OK to

drink with a meal, if you made sure to mix the drink with your saliva

in your mouth before swallowing -- not just gulp it down.

I wonder about the rule to drink so much water per day - usually based

on body weight -- I think I'm supposed to drink 8 - 12 glasses a day

by that theory... I get really uncomfortable after 6 glasses, it

really feels WRONG... Who decided we have to drink so much water, and

on what basis? The macrobiotics were the opposite on that one. They

said drink only when thirsty, and if you're thirsty, you are eating

too much salt and sugar. I drank very little water as a macro...

during that time I was working in Egypt one summer - hot hot hot -- I

didn't drink much water, but I was fine. The other people I was

working with were drinking lots of water and geting dehydrated anyway

-- but they were also drinking alcohol, caffiene, sugar and lots of

salt... which I was not.... it worked for me back then....

- Tamara

> > Fluids slow the digestive prosess.

>

> So it is being siad - but *How* could they possibly do that?

> They improve the solubility needed for digestion so how can fluids

slow it down?

>

> Namaste,

> Irene

> --

[Guest guest]

If you are having trouble with water, it could be the water you are drinking.

Things like tap water chemicals, minerals, pH balance etc. can make a

difference.

What water do you drink?

Also, too much at once.

Try 4 oz every hour.

The reasoning is that your body is about 75% water. It is what carries away

wastes.

Kathy

Tamara <tamaratornado@...> wrote:

When I was macrobiotic, they also told us that drinking with meals

dislutes the digestive juices... They put a big emphasis on chewing

your food thoroughly. Many people drink with their meals because they

don't chew enough, and need the liquid to wash it down.

Though Anne Marie Colbin wrote once that she thought it was OK to

drink with a meal, if you made sure to mix the drink with your saliva

in your mouth before swallowing -- not just gulp it down.

I wonder about the rule to drink so much water per day - usually based

on body weight -- I think I'm supposed to drink 8 - 12 glasses a day

by that theory... I get really uncomfortable after 6 glasses, it

really feels WRONG... Who decided we have to drink so much water, and

on what basis? The macrobiotics were the opposite on that one. They

said drink only when thirsty, and if you're thirsty, you are eating

too much salt and sugar. I drank very little water as a macro...

during that time I was working in Egypt one summer - hot hot hot -- I

didn't drink much water, but I was fine. The other people I was

working with were drinking lots of water and geting dehydrated anyway

-- but they were also drinking alcohol, caffiene, sugar and lots of

salt... which I was not.... it worked for me back then....

- Tamara

> > Fluids slow the digestive prosess.

>

> So it is being siad - but *How* could they possibly do that?

> They improve the solubility needed for digestion so how can fluids

slow it down?

>

> Namaste,

> Irene

> --

[Guest guest]

I go back and forth between Brita pitcher filtered water and bottled

water, usually spring water, though I have tried distilled water also.

I have not bought any of those expensive water filters for my faucet,

which is what i imagine would be the best...

- T

>

> When I was macrobiotic, they also told us that drinking with meals

> dislutes the digestive juices... They put a big emphasis on chewing

> your food thoroughly. Many people drink with their meals because they

> don't chew enough, and need the liquid to wash it down.

> Though Anne Marie Colbin wrote once that she thought it was OK to

> drink with a meal, if you made sure to mix the drink with your saliva

> in your mouth before swallowing -- not just gulp it down.

>

>

> I wonder about the rule to drink so much water per day - usually based

> on body weight -- I think I'm supposed to drink 8 - 12 glasses a day

> by that theory... I get really uncomfortable after 6 glasses, it

> really feels WRONG... Who decided we have to drink so much water, and

> on what basis? The macrobiotics were the opposite on that one. They

> said drink only when thirsty, and if you're thirsty, you are eating

> too much salt and sugar. I drank very little water as a macro...

> during that time I was working in Egypt one summer - hot hot hot -- I

> didn't drink much water, but I was fine. The other people I was

> working with were drinking lots of water and geting dehydrated anyway

> -- but they were also drinking alcohol, caffiene, sugar and lots of

> salt... which I was not.... it worked for me back then....

>

> - Tamara

>

[Guest guest]

Tamara wrote:

>

> When I was macrobiotic, they also told us that drinking with meals

> dislutes the digestive juices...

Ah yes - but diluting the digestive juices has been assumed to be a bad

thing when it is actually a good thing.

The idea comes from lack of understanding of the chemistry.

A dilute acid is not less acid if you compare 100 units of acid in a

thimble of water, to 100 units of acid in a cup of water. But if you

stick your finger in the thimble, it will feel 50 of those units in one

go and get burned, where if you stick your finger in the cup it will

feel 5 units and not get burned.

But for digestion the 100 units inside is there with a thimble of water

or with a cup of water as the digestion work is not on the surface but

in the solution as a whole where everything has to dissolve. Later it

will be spread out over huge surface area in the small intestine for

absorption. But in the stomach it is not absorbed and the acid is only

useful in solution.

Acid burning is what you'll get with the thimble of acid in the

stomach - be kind to your stomach - add more fluid for it to work with.

It was a mistake to *assume* dilution of digestive juices was a problem,

it's concentrating them into one spot that can be a problem.

> They put a big emphasis on chewing

> your food thoroughly.

There's a totally different reason for that. It is that human saliva

contains enzymes like amylase to start the digestion of starches in

particular - which are hard to digest compared with say meat. Also if

you were going to deprive your stomach of fluid for dilution then adding

a bit of saliva would help that mistake :-)

> Many people drink with their meals because they

> don't chew enough, and need the liquid to wash it down.

You don't need to chew a lot unless you eat a lot of starch. Cats for

example have no digestive enzymes in their saliva as they are designed

to eat meat and no starch.

> Though Anne Marie Colbin wrote once that she thought it was OK to

> drink with a meal, if you made sure to mix the drink with your saliva

> in your mouth before swallowing -- not just gulp it down.

She's possibly thinking of the starch in most drinks - sugar. But

generally saliva has a specific role to play and otherwise is not a good

thing to swallow more than normal. If you eat natural food the food will

cause you to get the right saliva in the right places. It's junk like

pop swallowed without chewing and with lots of sugar - that causes a hassle.

If you eat whole fruit you chew it and get saliva involved with the

sugar. Especially if it is sweet fruit. It's just designed that way.

Same as carrots in natural form. They take longer to eat and get more

saliva mixed in and that make sense as carrots have a high glycemic

index. If you eat a carrot that way and have protein with it, it will

not bother even an insulin resistant diabetic either.

> I wonder about the rule to drink so much water per day - usually based

> on body weight

It has to do with detoxification of tissues and the principle that you

need fluid to dissolve the problems and hence wash them out. Odd as it

sounds, edema needs fluid intake to increase in order to reduce edema.

Edema is fluid retained because there is not enough water to dissolve

the toxins and get them out.

So you might use your state of hydration and toxicity as a partial guide

to your water needs. If you really overdo the water, you will lose water

soluble vitamins as your kidney has to lose some as part of the

mechanism of excreting the water.

If you have edema and/or other toxicity you need to increase your

water AND your vitamins for excreting it.

> -- I think I'm supposed to drink 8 - 12 glasses a day

> by that theory... I get really uncomfortable after 6 glasses, it

> really feels WRONG...

It may be wrong for you. We are all individual.

On the other hand going by feel is not always right either. I hate

drinking water - but only recently learned that the severe edema I have

is from NOT drinking enough water. All of a sudden I hate it a bit less

and am looking for ways to make it enjoyable.

Like you I want a *reason* that makes sense as incentive :-))

> Who decided we have to drink so much water, and

> on what basis?

It's a balancing game between retaining vitamins and excreting toxins.

Your electrolyte balance is also part of this complex balance. I have a

special problem with this as a kidney defect causes my potassium to be

pumped out and my sodium to be retained (backwards from normal) so I

always have low potassium in my blood and way high sodium. It aggravates

the retention of toxic substances in edema fluid. I land up in the

emergency room quite often due to dehydration with edema. Weird combo

but happens with this condition and so a " normal " person can also be

dehydrated and have edema by eating too much sodium and too little

potassium.

Again the further from nature we go, the worse it is.

Nature does not add loads of sodium to food, though it odes provide

ability for kidneys to get rid of an excess. What nature provides in

food is lots of potassium and a little sodium. We need both, but the

story I have seen on this list to eat salty food is not a healthy one.

Eating the sodium nature provides is healthy yes, but not the thousands

of milligrams in the average diet. The body has to do something with

that sodium and it needed and uses up other nutrients in the mechanism

to do so.

So again - how far you are from a natural diet including a natural

electrolyte balance and natural trace mineral balance per original

design and not per modern man's meddling, and how much toxin is in your

system from everything from pop to popcorn, will determine how much

water you really need for your individual body chemistry to be optimal.

> The macrobiotics were the opposite on that one. They

> said drink only when thirsty, and if you're thirsty, you are eating

> too much salt and sugar. I drank very little water as a macro...

> during that time I was working in Egypt one summer - hot hot hot

Ooh - hot weather will lose you electrolytes, especially if you perspire

a lot. If yo perspire them out to do cooling you need to eat more of

those, plus the water to dissolve and manage them. This is why athletes

use fluids with electrolytes or drop dead.

-- I

> didn't drink much water, but I was fine.

You must have had a good electrolyte ratio in your food routine and also

a good kidney concentrating factor and also a metabolic rate that did

not require a constant re-supply of electrolytes from perspiration. All

factors that can vary from one person to another.

Some people also just have better kidneys than others, and again - just

goes to show how this is an individual balancing act.

> The other people I was

> working with were drinking lots of water and geting dehydrated anyway

Dehydration is not only to do with water - it's to do with electrolytes.

Drinking water does not replace them.

> -- but they were also drinking alcohol, caffiene, sugar and lots of

> salt...

Sodium is opposite of what you need. Alcohol is extremely dehydrating

too. Dehydration causes increase in potassium salt needs. Stress needs

more sodium salt. So taking " salt " (sodium salt) for hot weather would

have *increased* the need for the depleted potassium salt. Recipe for

dehydration.

>which I was not.... it worked for me back then....

The combination worked for you.

It will work for you again - just figure what you are *needing* and

supply it in enough water. And figure what you are *losing* and add that

too.

The folks you were comparing with were running their electrolytes and

water out on an express train. You were not :-) You did not need to

replace what you were conserving.

Namaste,

Irene

--

Irene de Villiers, B.Sc; AASCA; MCSSA; D.I.Hom.

P.O.Box 4703, Spokane, WA 99220-0703.

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html

Veterinary Homeopath and Feline Information Counsellor.

[Guest guest]

The jug filters are really not too great, the best filters now have ultra violet

technology which kills micro-organisms which carbon can't do.

I've just recently looked into this because we have a block carbon filter but I

know things have moved on - from what I have found out so far the best on the

market at the moment is

'e-spring' which is not cheap but is certified Independently by both the NSA

and WQA

http://www.espring.com/

hth

)

http://www.freewebs.com/inspire/

[Guest guest]

) wrote:

> The jug filters are really not too great, the best filters now have ultra

violet technology which kills micro-organisms which carbon can't do.

Why would you need to kill bacteria in the water?

City water is usually full of Chlorine to make sure the bacteria were

killed. I feel the filter is for removing toxins rather than bacteria.

Is there data to show tap water is causing significant illness from

bacteria?

....Irene

--

Irene de Villiers, B.Sc; AASCA; MCSSA; D.I.Hom.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/9/2004 6:33:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,

firesprite68@... writes:

The jug filters are really not too great, the best filters now have ultra

violet technology which kills micro-organisms which carbon can't do.

OK, but does killing all micro-organisms a good thing? We could also

irradiate all of our food and kill all micro-organisms. We wouldn't even need

refrigerators. We weren't built to eat ultra-violet treated, irradiated food.

Our

stomachs and digestive tracts are full of micro-organisms we need to survive.

Just an opinion.

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 11/9/2004 6:33:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> firesprite68@n... writes:

> The jug filters are really not too great, the best filters now

have ultra

> violet technology which kills micro-organisms which carbon can't

do.

>

>

> OK, but does killing all micro-organisms a good thing? We could

also

> irradiate all of our food and kill all micro-organisms. We

wouldn't even need

> refrigerators. We weren't built to eat ultra-violet treated,

irradiated food. Our

> stomachs and digestive tracts are full of micro-organisms we need

to survive.

> Just an opinion.

>

>

>