LiveLongAgeWell

(a continuation of Friday’s post….)

•    A home water filter is a very good investment, and a true necessity if someone in your home is pregnant, very young, or has a weakened immune system. There are various filter types, but the ones that attach to your kitchen faucet or fit in a carafe are the best overall. Look for one that has a certification “NSF [National Sanitation Foundation] International Standard 53” on the packaging, and don’t trust the filters that might be part of your refrigerator, because many of these are not NSF 53 certified, and only filter out bad tastes, not contaminants. It’s critical you replace the filter as recommended on the packaging; otherwise, you will end up with a clogged filter that actually ends up putting more guck into your water. I recommend Pur filter products.

•    Even with a filter, use water from the cold water tap, not the hot water tap, because the hot pipes dissolve more of the metal into the water.

•    Bottled water is not the perfect solution, but when you are on the go, it’s healthier than a soda. For traveling, especially foreign travel, it’s clearly the safer alternative to tap water. If you do drink a lot of bottled water, you should investigate your brand to see how careful the company is with the testing and certification of their product. This will take some digging, as the label will probably not give much information, so you will need to look at the company website which might be heavy with cool mountain images and trim bodies, but not the facts you need. Then call or send an email, and if you get a runaround, look at other brands.

•    Beyond the environmental issues of all that potential plastic waste, it’s not safe to reuse your plastic bottles, as over time the plastic itself may leach bad things into your water, along with the bacterial contamination concerns. So be on the lookout for the re-usable bottles sold just for this purpose, and consider filling them with filtered tap water. You’ll save a lot of money, and you will be much more “green”!

•    For efficient exercising you need adequate water, about a quart or two per hour of vigorous exercise (some marathon runners have been known to over-do the water, so listen to your body carefully). Be aware that alcohol will make you urinate more and tend to dehydrate, so drink more water with those. If your skin and mouth and lips are dried out, know that being dehydrated makes you look older than you are. One reason young people tend to have nicer skin is because it is plump and hydrated, and, thinking internally, if you are dry on the outside, your brain may also be dried out some, and you may not feel as sharp. So to feel better, look younger, and function better, drink enough water. (Next time you feel a bit low energy, check your mouth and look at your urine. Your “batteries” may need a recharge!)

In the U.S. these days, there’s a sense of going back to some basics, so the next two posts are about the most basic health food imaginable. These are extracts from my upcoming book: How To Drop Dead Dancing In Your 90s: Live Long Age Well. Today…background information, next post…specific water hints!

We’ve all probably heard that it’s good to drink eight glasses of water a day. That sounds like a lot and it’s inconvenient to keep count, so an easier and better way to know if you are drinking enough is to just look at the color of your urine, and if it’s light-colored—like straw or lemonade—you are probably OK, and if it’s darker than that, you need to drink more water.

Our body, mostly water, is like a very complex and demanding factory, and to work well we need adequate water to keep the big machine running smoothly. If we are dehydrated we won’t feel great or have our normal energy, and also we won’t look as good as we should. As an example, if you have ever experienced a hangover, and you look in the mirror in the morning, you might be shocked at how badly you look.  Much of that is because you are just dried out, and once you start drinking lots of water you will start to look and feel better.

Water is our body’s preferred lubricant, and the water we drink is quickly absorbed and our marvelous body converts it to whatever we need.  It is the building block of all of our cells. It transports our nutrients and waste products, and is critical for keeping our temperature regulated. When well hydrated, we are less likely to suffer from urinary tract infections, kidney stones, constipation, and even bad breath, because thinner well-hydrated saliva will help keep our mouth fresh. And it’s the water content in many fruits that fills us up and helps keep our weight under control.

So it’s unfortunate but important that we need to be concerned about the quality of our water at home. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulates tap water, but many cities have occasional contamination problems, and even if your city monitors the unwanted chemicals within published limits of acceptability, there is concern that the EPA standards for certain substances, like arsenic, are too loose. Plus the EPA tests for only a minority of the thousands of noxious substances that can seep into our water systems and increase the chance for certain cancers and miscarriages. The infrastructure of some municipal water systems can be over 100 years old, and even if the water your city pumps out is fine, who knows what happens as it churns through your pipes and out your kitchen faucet. If you live in an older tall apartment building, possibly with lead pipes, you can picture the situation, and it’s not appetizing. The best solution—unless you are very confident of your home’s water—is to use a filter for the water you drink, cook with, and feed your pets.

It would be great if bottled water solved the issue of contamination, but it doesn’t. Surprisingly, the government standards for bottled water are not as strict as for tap water, so buying bottled water gives no guarantees at all. Further, between 25-40% of all bottled water sold in this country is not from any “natural” source at all; it is actually processed city tap water. It is more likely from Detroit than the mountains, and the nice picture on your bottle means nothing; you really need to study the fine print on the label to see if you can figure it out.

Not that bottled water is necessarily bad; it’s just that you can’t assume it’s necessarily safe. Some bottled waters will give you a nice dose of minerals such as magnesium, which is a good thing for your heart and blood pressure, but you can also get these important minerals from a well-rounded diet. Fluoride in water decreases dental cavities, especially for children, and you need to investigate to see if your bottled water contains it.

Last Wednesday I presented some information about average weight gain during the holidays, and while the problem may be exaggerated in the media, none of us wants to arrive at New Year’s needing to make a weight loss resolution. More significant, the data indicates that whatever weight you gain during the holidays is especially difficult to lose and keep off, and that year after year, many people’s weight may creep up because of the those cumulative gains.

When we think of high calories, we might think more about what we eat, and less about what we drink, but beverages could be a big part of the problem. There was an interesting WebMD feature last week regarding the best and worst beverages for weight loss. You can watch the slide show here, or if you don’t want to slog through fifteen pages (and see lots of ads), you can read my summary below. I have added my own spin on their recommendations.

Let’s start with the drinks BAD for your diet:

SODA: The single biggest source of calories in the American diet, and switching to diet soda is of questionable help (paradoxically, may just induce you to eat other sweet foods). Best to avoid.

FANCY COFFEES: The ones you buy at coffeeshops with the fancy names that cost $3 to $6. May have close to 600 calories in a large. I detailed these in a recent post.

WINE COOLERS: A 12 oz. bottle may have 190 calories and 22 gm. of carbs. Regular wine or a mix of wine and sparkling water much healthier.

FANCY COCKTAILS: If add sugary syrups, chocolate, or cream watch out. For example, a white Russian has over 700 calories, and a super-size margarita more than 1000. Yikes!

Here are the QUESTIONABLE drinks:

FRUIT JUICE: May have as many calories as soda, but at least has nutritional value. Look for “100% Fruit Juice” on label, and note the calories per 8 oz. serving. Mix with water or sparkling water to cut calories.

SMOOTHIES: If someone else makes for you, probably full of calories. Make your own with low-fat milk and fresh fruit.

Now, the GOOD beverages:

WATER: May fill you up so you eat less. Pass on the bottled water and go for filtered tap water.

VEGETABLE JUICE: Lower in calories than fruit juice and usually more nutritious (look for ones with more fiber, which helps control hunger). Try to find “Low Sodium” versions, as regular often full of salt.

COFFEE: If black, calorie-free. Full of great anti-oxidants, and caffeine is healthy for most people. Again, see my recent post for details.

GREEN TEA: WebMD says it helps with weight loss but that effect is small. Still, it has some caffeine and is full of great phytonutrients, so drink up.

LIGHT BEER: About 50% less calories than regular beer.

LOWER-CALORIE ALCOHOL DRINKS: Not on the WebMD list, but for some people, can be both healthy and low-calorie. This is the topic for next Monday, just in time for New Year’s.

This Wednesday “A Simple, Inexpensive, And Valuable Last-Minute Gift”. In the meantime, enjoy your Holidays!