The Healthy Gut Cookbook: How to Keep in Excellent Digestive Health with 60 Recipes and Nutrition Advice. Marguerite Patten
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GETTING ENOUGH WATER
The normal chemical processes within our body (metabolism) produce about a third of the total fluids we need, but what about the remainder? What we drink supplies about 60 per cent of our daily fluid intake, what we eat supplies the rest. It may surprise you to know that bread and cereals provide a source of water, and fruit and vegetables in a balanced diet can supply about 18 per cent of our needs. It is well to remember that eating plenty of soft fruit and vegetables provides water in addition to vitamins and minerals. If you are travelling and find yourself in a place where it may be difficult to get water, or where you do not trust the available drinking water, consider enjoying a freshly cut melon or a well-washed peach to quench your thirst.
It is difficult to say exactly how much water to consume because the body’s requirements vary from person to person. Our level of activity and state of health influence our needs for water, as do environmental aspects like temperature and humidity. Obviously it is sensible to increase the fluid you drink if you have perspired heavily, or if the weather is hot and dry; but by how much? The answer varies according to both vogue and scientific opinion. The middle ground seems to be between four and six glasses (1½–1¾litres/ 2½–3 pints) of water per day, with additional quantities drunk when needed to compensate for fluid lost through heavy exercise, weather and illness.
Like everything else in life, it is possible to get too much of a good thing: you actually do yourself harm by drinking too much water. Sports experts warn that some athletes – principally runners – put their health at risk in this way. Writing in the Telegraph, Peta Bee pointed out that, while hydration is important during sport, statements like ‘you cannot drink too much water’ and ‘don’t worry about the heat, just drink more’ are wrong and dangerous. Water intoxication and other problems can occur that disrupt the body’s salt balance, leading to dizziness, respiratory problems and even collapse. For those participating in strenuous exercise, such as long-distance running, a safe rule is to drink about half a glass (about a quarter of a pint) of water for every hour of exercise. Or, weigh yourself before and after exercise: replenish your fluid levels by drinking two medium glasses of water for every pound of weight lost.
• Build your meals around fruits and vegetables.
• Add foods high in complex carbohydrates (such as wholemeal pasta and bread, potatoes, rice, maize).
• Enjoy a single serving of high-protein foods (meat, eggs, dairy products, soya) at each meal.
• Top it off with a little of what you fancy. Unless you have a known medical condition that prohibits this luxury, a glass a wine or a small dish of ice cream will not break the nutritional bank.
• Cut down your intake of deep-fried and other fatty foods and refined carbohydrates (white bread and pasta, sugar), and limit your alcohol consumption. These foods are liabilities when it comes to good gut health.
Just like any other part of the body, a healthy gut requires a balanced intake of foods supplying the full complement of essential vitamins and minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. In fact, the gut needs a more constant flow of nutrients than many other organ systems because the processes of digestion scour surface cells from the gut lining at an amazing rate: the lining of the gut is replaced every 72 hours. This rapid turnover increases its vulnerability to ulceration and inflammation.
What sets the nutritional needs of the gut apart is its need for fibre. This indigestible form of carbohydrate ferments in the gut with the help of local bacteria, and provides the bulk needed to push waste materials from the body. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds supply fibre, making them essential for a balanced diet. Most experts tell us that a balanced diet includes at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day because these foods are rich sources of necessary nutrients, and because they are an excellent source of soluble fibre (the differences between soluble and insoluble fibre are discussed below).
The composition of a balanced diet is a hotly debated issue. As this book is being written the main excitement among slimmers concerns low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets; these appear to miraculously shift the body’s chemistry so that unwanted fat melts away. This is an attractive idea seized upon by millions, but it has a drawback. Eating low-carbohydrate foods means restricting the consumption of fibre, and this can lead to the most common form of gut complaint: constipation. If you read Chapter 5, about diverticulitis and the various health problems involving constipation, you will see why this common condition should be avoided. There are ways to get around problems presented by low-carbohydrate diets. Laxatives are the most popular solution – but they can become habit forming and do not provide the benefit of minerals and vitamins found in a well-balanced diet.
High-protein diets are only one reason the problem of constipation is accelerating. The modern Western diet invites trouble by being based on foods that are low in fibre and high in refined sugar and saturated fats – all of which are bad for the gut. As a result, every day more of us are afflicted by indigestion, gastric ulcers, flatulence, diverticulitis and constipation, leading to serious bowel disease, including cancer. Both soluble and insoluble fibre help reduce this risk. Eating brown rice, bran and nuts provides insoluble fibre. Fresh fruits and vegetables, brown bread, oats and pulses are rich sources of soluble fibre. Dried fruits and whole grains provide both. When planning a balanced diet, include sources of both types of fibre.
There are significant differences in the two types of fibre. Insoluble fibre has no known health benefit other than providing bulk to discourage constipation. Like the soluble form, it consists of complex and indigestible carbohydrates. To a limited extent, insoluble fibre helps sustain the normal bacterial flora of the gut, which also add to the weight and bulk of the waste – or stool – as it works its way through the lower bowel. Without bulk, the muscular walls of the intestine get flabby and relaxed, and fail to be efficient.
Soluble fibre, on the other hand, gives up its form and dissolves in the watery environment of the digestive system. Consider what happens when you prepare porridge. As the oats cook and pieces of grain swell, the simmering water or milk begins to thicken and become viscous due to the release of soluble fibre. In the gut, the same molecules that thicken the porridge can absorb various substances (such as bile) during digestion, preventing their transfer into the bloodstream. Considerable research evidence suggests that this nutritionally inert substance not only supports good gut health, but also helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and prevents sharp fluctuations in blood sugar.
The right foods help prevent cancer. In 1997, a major research report by the World Cancer Research Fund, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer, announced that what you eat dramatically affects your cancer risk. One recommendation stands out СКАЧАТЬ