Bottoms Up

     No this has nothing to do with your bottom, it's the first of a few posts on being better to yourself. Incidentally, one of the hardest to get real information on. The experts don't agree, on anything. What am I talking about? Hydration. That's right, getting your drink on. This is by no means the definitive piece on staying hydrated, feel free to add corrections or comments as you see fit. It's just my musings.

     Everyone who tries to lose a pound or two always gets the, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day routine. It's not exactly wrong, but it isn't exactly right either. I'm going to back track a little, using myself as an example, because I know my routines, what I drink blah blah blah.

     Why is water so important?

     It makes up about 60% of our total body weight. It drives every bodily function of every cell. We need it to survive. As a baby, it makes up about 75% of our weight, decreasing as we age. The other factor is fat. The more weight you have in fat the lower your total body water. At 6 feet, 200 pounds and 47, my body water is around 48 litres. I'm rounding things out for the sake of making all of this easier. Because I'm about 25 pounds off my ideal weight, that number is probably closer to 45 litres. I'd need to get an actual medical test on my body fat and water content to be truly accurate.

     The average person, in a temperate climate, under normal circumstances loses over 2 litres of water a day. Through urine, sweat and the one everyone forgets, breathing. What that means is I lose between 3-5 % of my total body water every day, just being me. Turn up the heat, throw in some exercise, you're sweating more, breathing heavier, more water loss.

     Between 2 and 5 percent loss, you can experience a dry mouth, headaches, tiredness, muscle aches, attention loss. An athlete can see a potential 30 % reduction in their performance at 5 %. A loss of 10 -15 percent can be fatal. It's a surprisingly small margin before dehydration starts to have some serious side effects. Interestingly, it is a big problem in seniors.

     Get thirsty, drink, problem solved right? Do you always drink the minute you're thirsty? I don't. I can put it off for hours if I'm busy. Every summer on every patio I've ever worked, I've seen one co worker or another take the dive and faint.

     Always grab water? I never do. I don't really like plain water. Coffee, tea, beer, ginger ale, iced tea, those are my beverages of choice. It is all fluid and does go to making up the fluid loss. This is where the experts go crazy. Some say no, only water, others call that crazy talk, everything counts. Throw in the water content in our food and we should all be fine. Who do you believe?

     There is the myth, then the debunk about caffeine being a diuretic. True and false. Under about 5 cups of coffee a day, no real diuretic effect. I'm well over that. In my case drinking coffee helps hydrate and dehydrate me. Add in caffeine from soft drinks, teas and chocolate and you may be over the 5 cups too. Don't even start with energy drinks. Alcoholic drinks are also open to debate.

     The other problem with my personal selection is that they all contain a ton of sugar, artificial colours, flavours, salt/sodium and preservatives. Not necessarily the best things to be tossing back.

     Add a high sodium diet, that causes water retention and you can see how easily this can all go so very wrong.

     What to do?

     I'm going to cut back on my coffee intake ( a little) and try replacing it with this. The following recipe is not mine but I don't know where I got it. The page it's on says Bert Wood 1901, I'm pretty sure my great great grandfather didn't pen this. It is essentially a variation of the Master Cleanse and is a detoxifying drink, but no starving. Fairly easy to make and no juicer required.

Ginger Citrus Water

Ingredients

Juice of 1 grapefruit, orange and lime.

Fresh ginger, peeled and pressed/grated

cayenne pepper-optional

maple syrup or honey to taste, teaspoon by teaspoon

water, about 2 cups

Directions

Juice the citrus.

It's better to do this fresh because while you are juicing you also get the phyto nutrients from the pith which help your body absorb more of the vitamin C.

Peel and grate or press the ginger.

I use a piece about the size of a quarter and put it through my garlic press. 

Add to juice

Add a pinch of cayenne, or not.

Add 2 cups of water, preferable purified but I won't tell.

Add first teaspoon of honey or maple syrup, adjust sweetness to taste.

     This is kind of a hard recipe to write out because so much of it depends on what you like. You can adjust the sweetness, the heat, the amount of ginger, the amount of water until you have something you'll drink. I let this sit a bit, an hour or so and strain it as I use it. I hate the chunks of ginger floating around in my glass. Up to you.

     What you get out of it. Lots of vitamin C, lemon and cayenne are cleansing and good for your body, ginger is good for your digestive system.  No preservatives, no refined sugars, no salt/sodium, no caffeine, no artificial anything. A guilt free drink, designed to help you be less toxic. You can have it hot or chilled depending on your mood.

     If this isn't to your taste, plain ginger or mint tea is also good hot or cold. Just boil water, throw in a couple of pieces of peeled ginger or sprigs of fresh mint, or both and let steep 5 minutes. Strain, or not, but I hate things floating in my cup, and enjoy.

     Got a "good for you" way to re hydrate? Feel free to share in the comment section. 'Til next time, bottoms up.
     

    

  

Why is it so hard to be good?

     Okay, I'm not going all spiritual on you. I did that Sunday. I'm not talking about being good to others, I'm talking about being good to ourselves. Specifically, to our bodies.

     A couple of weeks ago, in another of my favourite memes, we were listing things were were bad at. It seemed like every other list mentioned exercise, eating right, losing weight. Being in need of shedding more than a few pounds, taking care of myself has been on my mind a lot. Throw in the fact 50, yes I said it, 50 is coming up faster than I'd like, taking care of my body has become more of an issue.

     So why is it so hard?

     One reason is easy, temptation. I have zero will power. I can resist anything but temptation in any way shape or form. And I have lots of enablers. Damn you Kitchen Slattern for posting these delicious cookies, you too Niki Woo, for not one but two mouth watering German Chocolate Cake recipes (although you do have some delicious healthy recipes too). Movita's birthday is on the horizon, so testing recipes for frostings, fillings, cakes and decorations. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Baker Bettie and her  Cookie 101 showing me the way to make the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Yes, I place the blame squarely on your shoulders for every notch on my belt. Wipe that smirk off your face Alexander Keith, you've added more than a few calories yourself.

     I have been accused of being an enabler too. Left Brain told me to lay off the recipes because Rory was baking so much that he was gaining weight. I do believe in spreading the calories around.

     Being slightly more than 20 pounds over my ideal weight, I was shocked to find I fall into the category of clinically obese. That has all of the associated health issues. A bit of a sobering read.

     Other than not being able to unstrap the feed bag, there is another reason it is hard to take care of ourselves. As anyone who has ever tried to research a food allergy will tell you, reliable information can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

     I know a lot about food. Between growing up on a farm and working in the industry almost 30 years, I've picked up a thing or two. Few things raise my hackles faster than mis information about food. Here are a few of my current favourites.

     I read an interview about a well know RAW restaurant and chef. Raw eating is basically not cooking your food, Google it if you'd like more information. It's an interesting premise. I'm not knocking the movement, the restaurant or the chef but... During the interview, she spoke about lycopene, a very potent anti oxidant found in tomatoes. Check, then she went on to say you'd never find a cooked tomato in her restaurant. Okay, but lycopene isn't heat sensitive, cooking tomatoes concentrates it and a tablespoon of tomato paste (or ketchup) has more than a whole raw tomato. Kind of a misleading comment.

     The subway has been inundated with these ads promoting vegetarianism. Quite frankly, I don't care if you eat meat or not. I do. I don't debate the ethics of my meals. The reality is something dies so something lives, be it plant, animal or fungi, every meal of every species on earth. We're omnivores, not carnivores, not herbivores, we're designed to eat everything we can cram in our grubby little cake holes.

     What I do take exception to are the ads and the misleading information about the animals with in. Pigs are not imprisoned in crates for no reason, they eat their young. Are notorious for it in fact. Never have I heard a sow "sing a lullaby" to her piglets, unless of course she's lulling them to sleep so she can eat in peace.
Piglets teeth are snapped off because they're tusks, and dangerous. People die every year in North America from pig attacks. They aren't like Babe, no matter what Disney tells us.

     Cows are very maternal and will often search for their young for days. Yes, that would be the calf you are lying on and have just crushed or perhaps the one you just stepped on. Cows are kept on a vicious cycle of forced pregnancy to keep milk production. What exactly do you think happens to them if left alone? They give birth, nurse, wean, go into heat, breed, repeat. They don't take a time out to pursue a career, or just have a holiday, they breed. As does every other animal on the planet. Whether they're physically ready for it or not.

      Cows enjoy solving intellectual puzzles and have been know to "jump" for joy. WTF, the only jumping I've ever noticed is the fence, usually into a swamp, away from plentiful food. Mensa material I tell you.

     You don't want to eat meat, fine. I respect that. Don't feed me bullshit to justify it, you don't have to. Not only do I not care, I don't judge. Do what feels right for you.

     The top of my list has to go to this little catch phrase I've been seeing around for a bit. "If you think organic is expensive, try paying for cancer." Offensive, dismissive and just plain incorrect. No health care worker on the planet will tell you if you eat organic you won't get cancer. That would be criminally irresponsible.

     I get it. We live in an age of the 15 second sound bite and catch phrases. Everyone is trying to sell you something, from their ideology to the tricked out 9 layer forced air food dehydrator for a mere $999.99. I have the answers, the way, your life will be better if you just do this. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it is crap, pseudo science at best.

     Our bodies are finely tuned machines. It takes surprisingly little to throw them off balance. Sure we go on, much like your car will even if you don't change the oil, but with a little care it runs so much better. Over the next little while, I'm going to post bits on healthier eating, sleep, hydration and exercise. Hopefully we'll all learn a little, lose a little and be ready for rockin' the summer.

      Just so you don't all despair, here is a little comfort food you can feel good about.

Apple Pear Crisp

Ingredients

4-8 cups of peeled, cored and sliced fruit, apples and pears for this recipe

1/2 cup of brown sugar, divided 1/4, 1/4

1/3 cup of butter, softened

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of rolled oats

3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, divided 1/4 , 1/2

3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, divided 1/4 , 1/2

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare and 8x8 baking dish. I use cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine apples, pears, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Mix until fruit is lightly coated.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Whisk until well combined.

Add softened butter and using a fork or pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour mixture.

You should have soft clumps, about the size of grapes or smaller.

Put the fruit mixture in the bottom of the baking dish, then dot the top with the flour and butter mixture.

Bake in preheated oven 30-45 minutes. Cooking time varies with the amount of fruit used.

I normally use 6 cups and 30 minutes is about perfect.

Serve warm or cold, with or without whipped cream or ice cream.

     Why feel good? All the taste of pie with out all the calories. Far less sugar, fat, flour, no salt. What it does have, fibre, anti oxidants from the fruit and cinnamon and most importantly, taste. To really punch up the healthy? Throw a tablespoon of ground flax seeds into the flour mix, you've added lots more fibre and an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids. Boost the protein with some ground or crushed nuts, it's even better for you.

     Dairy allergy (or want to cut even more calories), use soy margarine instead of the butter. Gluten allergy, use gluten free flour and oats. Don't like apples and pears, use what ever fruit is in season or that you like. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. (or what your kids will eat) You're welcome.

     Drop by Rory's and see what's on everyone else's mind.