Water and drinks for diabetes

The most important component of our diet, of course, is water. Good water has no taste, no smell, no color, but we still love it so much that we cannot live without it!

By itself, water has no nutritional value, but it is an integral part of every cell in our body. The human body consists of 50-80% water (the younger he is, the greater part of his body is water, and not only blood, which contains 85% of it, but also bones: 20-30% of bone tissue is water. Without food a person can live for tens of days, but on one condition – he will have fresh water. But without water, life will last only a few days. Acute dehydration, which occurs with some serious diseases, for example, with intestinal infections, can lead to impaired consciousness (if loss make up only 6-8% of body weight), at 20% death occurs.No wonder pediatricians are so afraid of diarrhea and vomiting in young children – they can develop dehydration rapidly, quickly reaching critical levels. then, the liquid part of feces and urine loses about 2-3 liters of liquid.At high air temperature and low humidity, these losses increase many times. 

Those who have been to Israel are familiar with such a phenomenon as khamsin – a dry, hot wind blowing from the side of the desert. On the days when it covers the country, it is recommended to drink a lot, since the hot and dry air practically sucks moisture from the body, leading to severe dehydration. Whichever house or store you enter, you will definitely be offered water.

Fluid consumption also increases with physical exertion, especially in hot weather. What does the water we absorb go to? After all, it does not contain any nutrients and, moreover, is not a source of energy. And yet water is the internal environment in which various (complex) biochemical reactions take place, it transports internal biologically active substances from the place of their formation to the place of use, and delivers unnecessary metabolic products to the place of disposal. It moisturizes oxygen entering the lungs; standing out in sweat, regulates heat transfer, thereby maintaining a constant body temperature; removes toxic substances from the body. This means that drinking every day, and a lot, is a vital necessity. Daily water requirement 

Approximately about 40% of the liquid in the body comes from food – meat, cereals, fish, dairy products, even bread is 50% water, and the remaining 60% must be obtained in the form of drinks. Let’s calculate: a person weighing 70 kg needs about 2.5 liters of water on cool days. He “will eat” 1 liter, and 1.5 liters should be drunk

On such hot days as in the summer of 2010, the need for water increases sharply: with moderate physical activity, up to 2.5-3 liters per day. People who have to work in conditions when the ambient temperature reaches 38-40 “C, in order not to suffer from dehydration, need to drink up to 6 liters per day.

Water “intoxication”

Limiting the use of water is necessary for those who suffer from heart and kidney failure, and the rest should consume it as much as required by the norms. Just don’t drink the daily allowance in one fell swoop! In medicine, there is the concept of “water intoxication”, when too much water is absorbed into the blood at once. This leads at least to dysfunction of the digestive system, and as a maximum – to cerebral edema. In the middle between them there is acute heart failure, when the myocardium is not able to pump the sharply increased volume of blood. This means that you need to drink often, but in small portions.
You can not drink cold drinks – they can be lower than body temperature by no more than 10-15 ° C, otherwise such liquid, once it gets into the throat, will cause a spasm of the vessels that feed the mucous membrane of the tonsils. As a result, there will be a sharp decrease in local defenses and viral and bacterial inflammatory processes will rapidly develop in the throat. The people will say. “Cold” “She is. No wonder the incidence of angina on very hot days is the same as in winter in severe frosts.

What shall we drink?

Today the food industry offers us a huge range of drinks, especially sweet carbonated ones. By tradition, we call them lemonade, although they have nothing to do with true lemonade. These are Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Russian “bells” – “Buratino” and others. Scientists from the United States, a country whose food industry has been so successful in making and distributing such drinks around the world, called them liquid candy. Drinking a can of Coca-Cola and other similar liquid, a person seems to eat up to 12-15 teaspoons of sugar. In the heat, as everyone knows very well, I don’t particularly want to move. Where do these sugar calories go? That’s right, they are deposited in the roundness of the abdomen and thighs.
It is impossible to quench your thirst with sweet drinks – it persists, and the person drinks can after can. Perhaps this is what enterprising manufacturers were counting on, because if you quickly quench your thirst, sales will be low: why buy more if you no longer feel like drinking? In addition, these drinks also include additional ingredients: flavoring additives, dyes, flavorings. All this will have to be processed by the liver, which already has enough worries, especially if a person is overweight. And the effect of such drinks on the teeth cannot be called beneficial either. It has been proven that people who consume “light” versions of such drinks gain weight even faster than those who drink “classics”. Probably due to large volumes.
Therefore, preference should be given to ordinary homemade drinks – tea, unsweetened compote (especially from dried fruits), fruit drinks, as well as mineral water.

Mineral water

The history of human use of mineral water goes back millennia: people in ancient times were able to notice the miraculous power of some springs. They not only drank such water, but also took healing baths: archaeologists still find the ruins of hydropathic establishments all over the world. In the epics of many peoples, there is a mention of the fabulous living and dead water – this is from generation to generation the stories of our ancestors are passed on about the wonderful properties of mineral water.
Already in the 1st century AD, the Greek physician Archigenes suggested that the healing properties of mineral water are related to its composition. He systematized mineral waters, dividing them into what later became ferruginous, alkaline, salty and sulphurous. In Russia, mineral waters began to be used especially actively during the time of Peter I. The emperor was keenly interested not only in shipbuilding. By his order, the first hydrotherapy resort was created in Zaonezhie and the development of life-giving springs began in Lipetsk, which are actively used to this day.
Probably, every region of Russia has its own sources of healing waters. Mineral water is extracted from underground sources that break out in the form of springs, or from artesian wells. At its core, mineral water is water from rains that fell on the earth many hundreds of years ago. Passing through many layers of the earth’s rock, it was cleared of all terrestrial impurities. Having dissolved the minerals that the rock was rich in, such water has preserved them in itself to this day.
All natural substances in natural mineral water are accumulated naturally. The deeper the water is in the ground, the more saturated it is with carbon dioxide, as well as micro- and macroelements. The properties of water depend on the content of certain minerals, because mineral water is a remedy, and you need to know how to use it correctly. Attempts to replace ordinary drinking water with it can lead to serious changes in the mineral composition of the blood, and after them – to the development of metabolic disorders, for example, urolithiasis.

The healing properties of mineral water

These properties of mineral water are easily determined by the quality and quantity of mineral and organic substances dissolved in it. The salt content in the water affects the degree of its mineralization: the more salts, the higher the mineralization and the more pronounced the healing properties.
Mineral waters are considered to be dining if they contain no more than 1 g of salts in 1 liter. They can be drunk like regular drinks. Water with a salt content (mineralization) of 2-8 g per 1 liter belongs to the group of medicinal table. These are “Narzan” “Darasun”, “Kherson” and many others. Such water can also be used as ordinary drinking water, but with some restrictions.
If the salt content in the water exceeds 8 g per 1 liter, this is already medicinal water. You have to be careful with it, as with any other medicine. For example, 1 liter of water “Augela” contains 62 g of salts. It can be drunk 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon and only as directed by a doctor. In this regard, the label of each bottle of mineral water contains information about its composition and total mineralization. So, in particular, the now popular water “Donat Mg” has a total mineralization of 13-13.3 g per 1 liter. Medicinal waters also include waters with low mineralization, but a high content of certain microelements, such as iodine or iron.
The composition of water is determined by all salts dissolved in it, which are in the form of charged particles – ions. Positively charged ions (cations) are represented by sodium, calcium and magnesium, and negatively charged ions (anions) are represented by chlorine, sulfate and bicarbonate. It is this six that defines the countless varieties of mineral waters characteristic of different geographic regions.
Composition of mineral water
According to its chemical composition, the following classes of mineral water are distinguished:

• hydrocarbonate;
• chloride;
• sulfate;
• mixed.

Carbon dioxide not only determines the effervescence and makes the taste of the drink more pleasant. It is directly involved in the formation of mineral water: it is under the influence of carbon dioxide that minerals pass from the earth’s rock into water, and later, thanks to it, the chemical composition of the water remains constant. In this regard, when bottled, natural mineral water is additionally enriched with carbon dioxide – so its healing properties will last longer. However, if such water is prescribed to patients with increased secretion of gastric juice, it must be eliminated from excess gas before use. To do this, water is either poured into a glass in advance and allowed to settle, or stir vigorously with a spoon, which significantly accelerates the release of carbon dioxide dissolved in it in the form of bubbles.

In addition to the main ones, many mineral waters contain many other minerals, but in much smaller quantities. They contain iron, cobalt, molybdenum, fluorine, manganese, iodine, bromine, lithium and even arsenic, and this is not all – otherwise we would have to list almost the entire periodic table.

The most pronounced medicinal properties of iron, bromine, iodine

Ferruginous mineral waters are often found in Siberia and the Caucasus. Even low-mineralized water is considered curative if it contains iron. This element is well absorbed from mineral water, therefore it is prescribed for anemia (anemia). It is impossible to drink water with a high iron content uncontrollably, because an excess of this trace element is very toxic. There is a lot of iron in the water of the Marcial and Polyustrovo brands.
Mineral water with iodine has a beneficial effect on the condition of the thyroid gland. It should be remembered that in some cases, additional intake of iodine may be undesirable, therefore, before you start drinking such water regularly, you should consult with an endocrinologist and conduct an examination of the thyroid gland.

Bromine water has a calming effect on the nervous system, so it is used not only as a medicinal drink, but also for taking medicinal baths.
Many drinking waters, along with minerals, also contain organic substances, but their composition is currently little studied, and the properties of such additives have not yet been studied.

Mineral water temperature

Mineral water is also distinguished by the temperature at which it comes out to the surface of the earth: cold water (up to +20 ° С), subthermal (from +20 ° to +37 ° С), thermal (from +37 to +42 ° С) and hyperthermal (more than +42 ° C). When bottled, the water loses its original temperature, but if you drink it at the resort from natural sources, you can get a full therapeutic effect, including due to the initial temperature of the drink. Although, I must admit, this is not always tasty .. But how nice swim in a warm spring!
Unfortunately, not everyone can take a course of treatment “on the waters”. More often we have to be content with bottled mineral water. Before it enters these containers, it is additionally passed through several filters (it is impossible to boil mineral water, otherwise it will lose all its healing properties, and the safety of the drink, meanwhile, must be ensured): asbestos, ceramic or plate. Then the water is enriched with carbon dioxide and only then bottled. Each bottle must have a label indicating not only the name and composition of the water, but also the place of its bottling and the date when it happened. The shelf life at which the water retains its medicinal properties and is safe is usually one year. 

Artificial mineral water

Currently, artificial mineral water is being made: certain salts are added to ordinary spring water, and sometimes just tap water. Previously, such water is well purified and then solutions of various salts are added to it. This water has no medicinal properties, and according to GOST it refers not to mineral waters, but to soft drinks. However, it does no harm, and it can quench your thirst.