Nutrition

What you drink is equally as important as what you eat.

It's recommended that you drink 7-8 cups of water a day - this is especially true for people with disabilities who may be at risk for pressure sores and need to ensure that their skin is optimally hydrated, or for those who may be on medications that need to be broken down, detoxified and flushed from your body after they are utilized. However on average most people only consume 4 cups of liquid a day. Unfortunately, much of this liquid consists of diuretic beverages such as pop, coffee, and some brands of caffeinated teas sport drinks. Not only do these types of drinks dehydrate you further, but many of them contain artificial colourings, flavorings and refined sweeteners. What you need to be aware of is that the synthetic chemicals used to make many of these drink 'enhancers' have a host of negative health effects. For example, studies have linked artificial colourings, flavorings and sweeteners with hyperactivity, learning misbehaviors, allergies in children, and they are shown to have carcinogenic and/or neurotoxic properties.

So what if you're like me and get bored of drinking 7-8 cups of water every day? Here's a fantastic, natural and healthy option-coconut water! What's wonderful about this pure tropicall drink is that it has no cholesterol and has less fat than milk. It has less calories than a can of coke (60 vs. 105 per 8 oz) -so great for those of you trying to lose weight. And the 5 mg of sugar it contains are natural compared to the 10-25 mg of synthetic sugars you find in a lot of sport drinks.

And speaking of sports, for those of you who are athletically inclined, coconut water is a natural isotonic beverage with more potassium than most sport drinks (294 vs. 117 mg), less sodium than most sports drinks (25 mg vs. 41 mg) and has a higher chloride content than most sports drinks (118 mg vs. 39) For those of you who may not be familiar, chloride is a type of electrolyte which works in conjunction with sodium and potassium. So coconut water  makes for a super-healthy post work-out hydrating drink. I think you'll find this little factoid I discovered about the electrolyte balance in coconut water as fascinating as I did - coconut water has the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. During the pacific war of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water - siphoned directly from the nut - to give emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers!

You can buy coconut water in cans at your local grocery store in the drink section.

Cheers!