The problem occurs when water is taken from the intra vascular storage sites to
be used in other areas, forcing a person's blood pressure to rise accordingly.
Therefore, athletes who perform their activities without replacing the water lost
through sweat are taxing their bodies in more ways than they might realize.
In addition to creating an unhealthy atmosphere for the body, a lack of water places
the entire system in a survival mode, forcing it to retain any water that is consumed
from that point on. This is one of the main reasons nutritionist insist that people
who retain water naturally, gradually consume more water until their body's
defense mechanism is dropped, and they begin to excrete the optimum amount of fluid.
This takes the pressure off of the body and allows it to freely excrete both the
old and the new water on a regular basis. When this balance is not attained, the
cells are forced to function with the old, more polluted water within them. Think
of your cells as existing in a lake of water. Where would you rather live? In a
lake that is stagnant and filled with mildew, or in a lake that is constantly being
refreshed with a clean supply of water? The answer is obvious.
Pure water is, by far, everybody's natural choice as a coolant and thirst quencher.
Soda's and sports drinks that contain sugar (sucrose, fructose, glucose) and
sodium actually increase the body's need for pure water. In a country blessed
with some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, it is hard to believe that
most Americans consume far more carbonated, sugar filled drinks than plain water.
THE ENZYME/WATER LINK
Truly the healthiest supply of water lies not only within our great water reservoirs
but within the foods those reservoirs help us to grow. The most natural and nutrient
rich state of both enzymes and water is their live state. Although that might sound
a bit unorthodox or even gross, think of it this way:
A vegetable has both a massive supply of enzymes and water. Even better than that
those enzymes and water are combined in their most natural and useful state. When
we, as humans, were created we were given certain vegetation and animals to help
us quench our hunger.
Whatever religious background you adhere to, you must believe that those things
were not given to us in a cooked or chemically cleaned state. Humans were designed
to function at their peek level of efficiency only
When consuming adequately combined nutrients. ‚Nature' took care of that for
us by combining life giving nutrients inside of these pretty packages we call vegetables,
fruits, grains, fish and meats.
Each of these were given the exact amount of enzymes needed to digest that particular
type of food. The problems arise when we ‚put our two cents in' and cook that
food. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not
suggesting or advocating the consumption of raw meats. Exactly the opposite.
What is so helpful about this whole equation is that there is one exception to this
rule that allows us to eat and properly digest some cooked meats. Vegetables were
given an abundant supply of both water and enzymes. As a matter of fact, they were
given so much that if we consume just that particular category in its raw state,
assuming that we consume enough of it, we can get away with digesting quite a bit
of the other four categories of foods in a cooked state. Therefore, cooking your
meat and fish and in the same meal combining raw (preferably organic) vegetables
will provide you with a broad spectrum of enzymes. The enzymes in the raw vegetables
we eat will help us digest the meats that we consume in that meal.