Detox your Diet: Why Should You Drink More Water?

• to improve your energy
• to increase your mental and physical performance
• to remove toxins and waste products from your body
• to keep your skin looking healthy
• to help you loose weight by regulating appetite and increasing metabolism
• to prevent headaches and dizziness due to dehydration
• to allow for proper digestion
• to reduce blood pressure and high cholesterol
• to ease joint pain
• to decrease the risk of some cancers
• to decrease the risk of developing kidney stones

How Much water is enough?

• 1.5 to 2 liters a day or more if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, in a hot climate, or doing heavy exercise.
• Drink throughout the day, drinking large amounts all at once won't be absorberd by the body.
• Breast fed and formula fed infants don't need any extra water they should be getting all the hydration they require from either breast milk (ideal) or if this is not possible from formula.
  

Health Tips - Cold and Flu

1. To fight off a cold or flu use warming socks. Get a knee-high pair of cotton socks and a pair of wool socks. Soak the cotton socks in cold water, wring them out and then put them on your feet. Put the wool socks on top and then go to bed. The body will respond by warming the feet, thus draining the congestion from the head.

2. When you are coming down with a cold or the flu get plenty of rest and relaxation. Allow time for your body to heal. Eat warm, cooked food and drink plenty of warm liquids. Avoid dairy and sugar.

3. To reduce a fever drink a couple of glasses of water, apply cold wet compress to the forehead and chest and take a long tepid bath or sponge bath. Rest, drink plenty of fluids and limit food intake until the fever breaks. Fevers below 39C (102F) are seen as “friendly” and a reaction of the body to eliminate toxins.
Remember: fevers are one of the most important defenses our body has against disease. The intention of a fever is to raise the temperature of the body to create uncomfortable living conditions for bacteria and viruses (i.e. “to cook the bugs”).
In order to build a healthy and strong immune system, it is extremely important to support the body’s natural immune defenses – fevers should be encouraged, not suppressed.

4. To aid the elimination of toxins through the skin induce perspiration by taking long hot baths, using an infrared sauna or steam room. Increasing perspiration through the skin is one of the safest and most effective ways of eliminating toxins.

Detox your Body: Add Lemon to your water

A good rule of thumb is to drink 8 glasses of water a day.

Many feel that drinking 8 glasses of water is difficult to do, because it is not palatable for them. So, to make water taste better - I add a slice of lemon to my glass of water.

Here are the benefits of lemons:

• The sourness of lemon juice stimulates the production of stomach acid (HCL) which helps digest your food (tip: drink a glass of lemon water 15 - 30 minutes prior to your meals)
• Good source of potassium, an  in alkaline mineral, and therefore increases your pH levels in your organ tissues (making your body more alkaline).
• Good source of vitamin C, an antioxidant which helps boost your immune system and helps prevent tumor growth
• Plus, it tastes great!

Fact: the liver does most of its actions at night; the liver is known to be our detoxification organ. Therefore, it may be beneficial to also drink a glass of lemon water at night prior to bed, to stimulate the liver.

Detox your Diet: Why we love Green Tea...

Green tea is one of the least processed teas, and thus provides the most antioxidant properties. Green tea contains Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which is believed to be responsible for most of the health benefits linked to green tea. Green tea not only tastes great, but it also delivers the highest concentration of beneficial nutrients and contains a minimal amount of caffeine.

Green tea is particularly rich in health-promoting flavonoids, which are commonly known for their antioxidant activity. EGCG found in green tea is thought to play a vital role in green tea's anticancer and antioxidant effects.


Most of the research showing the health benefits of green tea is based on the amount of green tea typically consumed in Asian countries; about 3 cups per day. Just one cup of green tea supplies 20-35 mg of EGCG, which has the highest antioxidant activity of all the green tea flavonoids.

Green tea drinkers appear to have lower risk for a wide range of diseases, from simple bacterial or viral infections to chronic degenerative conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, periodontal disease, and osteoporosis.

If you don't like drinking plain water, try adding green tea to your water. Remember you need to drink at least 8 cups of water a day! (Another tip: instead of plain water - add some lemon for taste; lemon also helps stimulate your liver, thus aids in digestion and detoxification).