Let's clear some myths

We all know that without Water we could not live. It represents 70% of the composition of our body and is essential to keep it healthy because, in addition to cleaning the body and eliminating toxins, It is an efficient vehicle to transport essential vitamins and mineral salts to nourish our cells.


However, recently there has been a debate about whether it is good or bad to drink water during foods. Does it make us fat or thin? When ingesting it with food, do we retain more liquids or not? Fortunately, an interesting book came to our hands entitled Eat or not eat.

Falsedades y mitos en el alimentación, by the Spanish journalist Antonio Ortí and nutrition experts Ana Palencia and Raquel Bernacer, where we find a chapter where the role played by water in our diet and why it does not make any sense to attribute slimming or "fattening" properties to the vital liquid.


Let's clear some myths


To begin, ingested at the beginning, during or at the end of the meal, the water has zero calories . In any case, say the authors, drinking it right before a meal can trick the stomach and lead to eating less.


There is also the belief that, if taken during meals, it causes fluid retention. On the contrary, they say, drinking water stimulates the functioning of kidneys and contributes to a good water balance.


In the case of the so-called dissociated diets that do not allow Water When carbohydrates are ingested because it supposedly "hinders digestion", nutrition specialists say that this measure causes foods such as potatoes, bread, rice and other carbohydrate-rich fat to grow fatter.

Water, they insist, does not increase the caloric value of no food.


A clinical trial published in 2010 of the American Chemical Society in Boston , concluded that those who drank two glasses of water of two hundred and thirty milliliters just before a meal consumed between seventy-five and ninety calories less during that meal.


The advantages of drinking water in a diet


According to Virtual Water Information Center of Mexico , it is effective for the diet because:


1. It suppresses the appetite and helps the body to metabolize fats more efficiently. Drink a glass of water 10 minutes before eat , allows to reach the table with less anxiety. Also, the more water you drink, the more fat leaves the body.


2. If you are predisposed to retain fluids, drinking more water helps control it. When your body senses that it is dehydrated, it resists eliminating every drop, so you swell. When you drink enough water, the body removes excess water.


3. Often hunger pains are truly signs of dehydration, so drinking water can help eliminate them.


The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends consuming two liters of water a day. However, many people stay in a liter and a half or even less. Since the first symptom of dehydration is thirst, you have to drink water despite not feeling the urge.

To achieve this, it is better to drink at regular intervals several times a day, rather than a large amount when the need is felt.


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